May 25th - Reflection

John 8:31-38 (NRSV)
Jesus, the truth of God

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, 'You will be made free'?"

Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. I declare what I have seen in the Father's presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father."

Reflection
Truth and freedom both are connected in this passage through Jesus. Jesus is truth. Through Jesus we are set free. But being set free implies that we were caught or slave to something. And that is sin. Even as a descendant of Abraham and being one of the chosen people did not set anyone free from sin. And through our sin came the curse of death. Only through Jesus can we be set free from our sin and live a new life.

In this new life we still fall to sin. But we are not held in bondage to that sin. This doesn't give us the freedom to sin however. We recognize the stench of our sin and humbly repent and turn back to God. It's not as easy as all that sounds. It's not like we can freely and knowingly sin with the attitude that we can always turn back. It's more like we can freely live out the love of Christ with our neighbors, knowing that if we do sin, we can turn to our relationship with Jesus and seek his guidance and love and forgiveness. In this we grow as disciples and listen to God's voice and direction. In this freedom we are set on fire by the Holy Spirit in a passion of love and compassion for one another.

Prayer
Lord, teach me your truth and set me free to love others as I love you. --- Amen