Know the Truth

One day, Jesus ministered to people who were deceived by Satan. They believed that they belonged to God, but they belonged to Satan. Satan had laced their knowledge of the Old Testament with many false understandings. So much so, that they were exceedingly puffed up about their “excellent” understanding of God. However, when they met God face to face in the person of Jesus Christ, they rejected Him.

What did Jesus do? Did He avoid confrontation with them? No, He told them that they needed to hold to His teaching to be His disciples. If they became His disciples, they would know the truth, and the truth would set them free. [1]

Rather than listen to the voice of God, they told Jesus, “We are descendants of Abraham.” “We are not slaves.” They assumed that they belonged to God because they were born into the right religious heritage.

Jesus told them that they were slaves of sin. He told them that a slave of sin has no permanent part in God’s family, but a son does. He told them that they needed the Son (Him) to set them free from sin. [2]

Without Jesus no one can break the yoke of sin. HE IS the sin-bondage breaker. There are many kinds of sinful bondages. There are sinful bondages to drugs, to illicit sex, to worldly desires, to self-exaltation and to pride in one’s religion. Their hatred of God’s Messiah was the sin of all sins. Godly people do not want to kill God when He shows up.

When Jesus sought to set them free, they refused to let Him. They stuck by the line, “We are children of Abraham. He is our father.” Jesus countered, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do what he did.” Abraham never tried to kill the voice of God when God spoke to him. He listened to and obeyed God. Jesus told them that they were doing the works of their father the devil. They wanted to kill Him because their father was a liar and murderer. Jesus told them, “Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” [3]

They called Jesus a Samaritan, a slur that meant He did not have pure doctrine like they did. They called Jesus demon possessed. Jesus countered, “I am not possessed by a demon. I honor My Father and you dishonor Me. I am not seeking glory for Myself; but there is one who seeks it, and He is the judge. Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys My word will never see death.” [4] Jesus told them the truth. He gave them the opportunity to hear and obey His Word, and as a result, never see death. They rejected both His message and Him.

Finally, Jesus told them that He was the Messiah. He did this by referring to Himself as “I AM.” “I AM” (Yahweh) is the name God gave Moses to call Him. Jesus told the Jews, “Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I AM!” At this, they picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus hid Himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.” [5]

Are you more enamored with a particular brand of “God” than with listening to and following the Lord Jesus Christ? Today, Jesus is saying, “Hold to My WORD! Be My DISCIPLES! Then, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

[1] John 8:31-32
[2] John 8:34-36
[3] John 8:39-47
[4] John 8:48-51
[5] John 8:58-59