Set Free

Introduction

A new study came out proving that when presented with indisputable facts and proofs, people are more than likely not change their minds.

I'm not convinced.

It doesn’t matter how true some things - we have a hard time handling it. That’s what Jesus is dealing with in John 8.

Context

Jesus has just made a stunning claim in John 8:12

John 8:12 ESV

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Jesus says this during the Feast of Tabernacles which celebrated God as their guiding light through the wilderness, and as their guide in righteousness as he revealed his instruction on Mt. Sinai. Now Jesus is saying that he is the ultimate determiner of what is good or evil, that he is the light that reveals the way of God, and even scarier - he reveals us in our sinful and broken state.

But as the light Jesus shows us a way out of the darkness so that we will have the light of life. The light that shows us how life ought to be lived and the light that leads to eternal life.

The Problem

The problem is that, even after being shown the truth, most people end up rejecting it.

When confronted with the truth of Jesus, why do we choose the darkness?

John 8:31-36 | True Discipleship

Because we’ve been lied to.

John 8:30 starts off with some good news:

John 8:30 ESV

30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

Awesome! That’s what Jesus wants! Jesus saves everyone who believes in his name!

But we need to remember that there are a variety of faiths in the Gospel of John that are not respected by Jesus.

Change slides to include Original language

John 2:23–24 ESV

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed (πιστεύω) in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust (πιστεύω) himself to them, because he knew all people

Just because you believe in Jesus doesn’t mean he believes in you! There’s something more than just being impressed by Jesus or even assuming that he must be from heaven. Faith needs to go beyond merely thinking that Jesus is real and embrace the new life that he calls us to live.

In John 8:31-32 Jesus draws out this distinction:

John 8:31–32 ESV

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

There are disciples, and then there are those who are truly disciples. Disciples in whom Jesus believes in. Disciples that chase after Jesus, not just the food he offers. Disciples who embrace the hard teachings and make Jesus the very substance of their lives.

True disciples abide in his word.

Abiding in the Word

John uses the word ‘abide’ a lot in his gospel - a lot more than anyone else in the bible. It’s also translated as lived, remained, dwell, stay with, and the like.

It’s the word that Jesus uses to describe his relationship with God the Father. They’re two, but one, and the same, but different, and all God, but still distinct. Jesus reveals God because You can’t look at one of them without seeing the other they’re so alike.

That’s the relationship we need to have with God’s word. We need to not just read God’s word and study it as some academic exercise - we need to live in it. And the way we live, as true disciples, needs to be a life where people have a hard time not seeing the gospel when looking at us.

Knowing the Truth

And Jesus goes on to explain the practical realities of being a disciple.

If you abide in his word you will know the truth

If you are his disciple - that means you’ve been freed

To know Jesus’ word is to know truth. To be a disciple is to be free.

Free from what?

Free From Sin

John 8:33–36 ESV

33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Anyone who practices sin is a slave to it. Jesus, as the son, is inviting us out of our chains and into the household of God and to enjoy freedom.

Freedom from the power of sin and death

Freedom from it’s temptations and compulsions

And, relevant to our point here this morning, free from the deceptiveness of sin.

Connect: The Deceitful Irony of Sin

There’s some irony going on here. The people talking to Jesus are Jews and are denying that they’ve ever been enslaved.

Except for that time in Egypt

And all those times in the book of Judges

And when Babylon took Israel captive

And then the Persians

Then the Greeks

And in the days of Jesus, Rome

Sure, they’re not in chains breaking rocks with pickaxes - but they are far from being free.

We fool ourselves in just the same way. Just as they denied their enslavement throughout history, we deny our enslavement to sin.

Only those who practice sin are slaves to it. I struggle with mine and feel guilty about it so I’m not enslaved!

The word practiced is used 9 other times in John 8, but it’s not translated the same. Jesus does nothing of his own authority. He does the things pleasing to God. The Jew do the things of their father and don’t do the works of Abraham.

If you’ve done a sin it doesn’t matter how good at it you are - you’ve been enslaved. Every single one of us has had the chains and shackles wrapped around our hands - controlling every actions, and around our feet preventing us from ever running away.

We feel free in our sin because we get to do whatever we want to do! We’re free to choose our own lives! Free from that overbearing God! Free to enjoy anything and everything - all of the time!

But that’s not freedom.

Did you feel like you were the one in control the last time you gave in to temptation? Were you in charge as you lost control your temptation? Did you feel like the boss as you vented your anger?

Do you feel like Paul in Romans 7:18-19?

Romans 7:18–19 ESV

18 … I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

And no matter how much self-discipline you muster, no matter how many life-hacks you learn, no matter how much meditation, positive thinking, or mindfulness you practice - you can’t beat it.

We’re not wrapped up in chains - but are we in control?

As blind as we are to our sin and it’s mastery over us, God isn’t.

Trim 41 down in Proclaim

John 8:37–41 ESV

37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” 39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.”

They take comfort in being Abraham’s offspring. God promised that through Abraham’s descendants, through these people speaking to Jesus, that blessings would flow into the world. How can they be slaves to sin when God has given them such incredible privilege?

Bu the truth of Jesus’ claim is found in their actions - they want to kill him.

John 8:36 ESV

36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

The freedom Jesus offers is not to do whatever we want, but to do as we ought. He gives us the freedom to become what we were created to be and full of life and light. He gives us freedom from the power of sin as we inherit eternal life. He gives us freedom from the shame of it all through his forgiveness.

He makes us free indeed.

John 8:37-47 | Revealing Our Hearts

Jesus goes on now to reveal why some people can stare freedom right in the face and still embrace their chains.

John 8:42–43 ESV

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.

Jesus’ word will set them free but they can’t bear to hear it.

Their misunderstanding doesn’t come from Jesus’ teachings being to complex or confusing. It’s willful blindness. Jesus’ message isn’t incomprehensible - it’s rejected.

They can’t bear to hear what Jesus is saying because it’s too damaging to their self-perception. How would you like to hear that your entire life’s goal and passion has been for nothing? How would you like to hear that the one you serve and have dedicated your life to is nothing like you expected?

What these Jews have done is created an idol that looks like God. They take bits and pieces, some pretty big chunks, and leave those alone:

We’re the special chosen people

God is going to do something big and save us from our enemies

And the parts they didn’t like got thrown away

They were God’s chosen people for the sake of everyone else

They didn’t like that God intended to save the Romans from the actual enemy - sin and death.

They want to desperately hold onto a god that was made in their image that tells them they’re already doing a great job - not the Living God who confronts them in the person of Jesus.

Moving the Goalposts

I have a lot of other preachers from churches of Christ on Facebook, I’ve read lot’s of church of Christ articles and books, I like to keep a general idea of some of the thoughts current in churches.

And with that many church of Christ sources I see a lot of lessons on how we ought to worship on Sunday.

The way they teach you’d come to believe that God doesn’t care about anything but our baptism and that we didn’t use instruments when we sang on Sunday. Over and over again it’s the same lessons around biblical authority and the right way to worship. In my experience some of the sermons that get the rave reviews are just sermons that confirm what we’re already doing.

Those aren’t unimportant lessons - I teach my own.

But I wonder if these issues are so prominent so that we don’t have to think about the harder issues Jesus presents us with? Issues like:

Sacrificing yourself for your enemies

Being charitable to people who can and never will pay you back

Striving for a holiness that fights against sin instead of passively accepting it

Just recently I saw one guy comment on Matthew 23:23

Matthew 23:23 ESV

23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

And he went on to explain and defend the practice of fussing over the small things. Jesus doesn’t condemn the Pharisees for being fastidious!

Jesus is condemning the lack of justice, mercy, and faithfulness and every time I see this passage brought up it’s in defense of already established practices and never about the weightier matters that Jesus sees lacking.

This is a woe to the Pharisees - not a pat on the back.

Can we bear to hear God’s word when we turn Jesus’ warnings into our own praise?

Their Father

John 8:44 ESV

44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

If you’re not doing God’s works then your actual father is the Devil.

We can’t bear to hear Jesus’ word because we want to listen to the lies that tell us something easier.

My sin really isn’t such a big deal

I can handle it all on my own

I’m actually doing what God really wants me to

I’m going to be in heaven no matter what

We minimize, we excuse, we refuse help, and comfort ourselves with our privileged position as God’s children to soothe our conscience.

And when the light comes to expose the darkness we live in, we might even lash out at the one exposing us. And just as the devil lied to Eve in the beginning and brought her death, we tell ourselves those comforting lies and fight back against anyone who would convict us.

John 8:48-56 | Self-Glory

And we do these things because our ultimate concern is ourself.

John 8:48–54 ESV

48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’

It’s verse 50 and 54 that put the problem at it’s most basic. Do we look for our own glory and honor, even if we have to lie about it? Or do we reject all of our self-reliance and comforting lies so we can find glory in the only one who brings freedom?

The Jews ask Jesus “Who do you make yourself out to be?” What makes the sinless son of God who has authority over everything anything special?

Who Do We Make Ourselves Out to Be?

What lies do we believe in to comfort our egos?

What truths do we reject to keep our ego in tact?

Jesus is rejected as the light of the world because he shows us for who we really are. We are sinners, incredibly broken people who hurt ourselves, our family, and God, and who keep running back to the same bad habits over and over again.

We glorify ourselves when we think that we can handle these things on our own.

It’s what the Jews thought as children of Abraham

It’s what we think when we think we can be better people all on our own

If we glorify ourselves, our glory is nothing. Nothing but a self-soothing lie of a slave who thinks he’s free.

We glorify ourselves in our fear as well. It sounds backwards because we often feel weak and small when afraid. But what are we afraid of when thinking of our sin?

We don’t confess our sins to God or each other because we’re to conscious of our reputation. We put on the appearance of having it all put together while we crumble down to dust at home.

We fear losing our reputation

We fear losing the love and care of people around us

We fear losing the grace of God

Maintaining our own glory is just as motivated by fear as it is by pride.

But Jesus doesn’t want you to be afraid. Jesus doesn’t just reveal our brokenness, he reveals the solutions.

Sin tells us something different though. Sin wraps the chains of guilt and shame around us. It tells us that the light of Jesus come from the fires of his judgement. It tells us that when our sins are revealed that everybody will know, and that nobody will love you anymore.

Jesus is inviting you into his word so you can see the glory of God’s forgiveness. The glory of Jesus dying to forgive you. The glory of God going to every extreme to free you from the shame and guilt you carry around.

Conclusion

Jesus wants you to be free:

Free from the sin that controls you

Free from the lies we tell ourselves

Free from the need to take care of ourselves.

You can abide in his word and be free from the mess you’re in. You don’t have to come forward in front of everybody. Just find me and I’ll help me you find Jesus and a way out of the dark.