vv 31-32 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
You can pick up so easily the petulant undertones of the mob here! “Hey – we aren’t slaves! So what do you mean by being set free?” Perhaps our reactions might have been much the same! But here is another example of Jesus being totally misunderstood. Most people – those Jews included – saw freedom as a political statement, just as they saw slavery as a political issue. Freedom for them was a matter of seeing off the Roman conquerors and being able to govern their own Kingdom. How wrong they were! Jesus saw freedom as an inner, personal condition. It would not be gained by force but by holding on to the truths He had revealed to them. Nor was this an intellectual matter; they had not ‘discovered’ the truth, it had been revealed to them in the person and teaching of Jesus.
Our faith is for ordinary people and is not a hidden mystery grasped only by certain clever people. Here, for me, is the great mystery of our Faith! God has designed the pathway to forgiveness, salvation and eternal life to be accessible to all. So all I can do is say “Thank you, God! Hallelujah!”
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