(John 8:31-36)
The trial is winding down. Closing arguments are being made. Shortly, the jury will reveal its judgment on the man accused of murder. The family of the victim has of course expressed its hope that justice is carried out and that the truth prevails.
A husband has his suspicions. His wife has been working at the office much later into the evening in recent weeks. On more than one occasion he has entered the room to find her texting, followed by a rather frazzled explanation of who it was on the other end. They haven’t spent any meaningful time together for several months. He’s worried that she’s cheating on him and he’s ready to confront her because he has to know the truth.
Suppose the truth is discovered in each of the above scenarios. The man accused of murder is found guilty. The wife suspected of being unfaithful was in fact having an affair. The truth prevailed. But where does knowing that truth leave the family of the victim? What has changed for the husband whose suspicions have been confirmed with the truth of an affair? Yes, there is certainly something to be said for the truth being brought to light. There is peace of mind that results when a suspicion or a gut feeling is finally confirmed and uncertainty is erased.
Sadly though, the truth won’t bring the victim alive and back to the family. The truth of the affair won’t restore the trust that was broken in the marriage commitment. I point this out to underscore how out-of-place it is when we see the words of Jesus from John 8 snatched out of context and lazily applied to the general pursuit of truth in any imaginable situation. When Jesus’ words, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (v. 32), are invoked in the noble name of truth alone, with all due respect, no, that truth may not set a person free. In both of the previous scenarios, the truth came out, but ask the ones left picking up the pieces if they’d use the word “free” to describe how they’re feeling. I doubt it. When this Bible verse is often quoted in similar settings, it misses the mark. No, not just any old truth will set a person free.
But there is a truth that does. And 500 years ago, a German monk discovered that truth. These words of Jesus had a profound impact on him. That impact not only changed the trajectory of his own life, but also the direction of the church of his day that had lost its way. Martin Luther’s discovery of the truth of Scripture that freed him from the prison of his own unrighteousness drove him to hammer his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517. The truth that he discovered freed him to boldly stand up to church and state authorities to debate and defend it. To appreciate the courage that took, let history display the embers and ashes of those who went before him, burned at the stake for having had the audacity to question church authority. What truth would be worth that sort of a risk?
That truth is beautifully summarized by Jesus himself so simply in verse 36: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Jesus’ words are so straightforward and succinct so as not to be confused or mistaken. If a police officer lets you go with just a warning, then you are free and under no obligation to pay a ticket. If your server knowingly throws in a menu item free of charge, then you are under no obligation to pay for it. If Jesus frees you, then you are free. There are no strings attached, no future favors expected in return, and no disclaimers or fine print hiding some loophole. If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Who is in need of that kind of freedom? Those listening to Jesus didn’t think they were. Notice how his listeners bristled at the notion that they would need any kind of freedom. “They answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’” (v. 33). The Jewish people listening to Jesus were hearing him offer something that they didn’t think they needed and hadn’t ever needed. They were very well aware of their status as God’s special, chosen people.
Jesus explained it for them. “Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin’” (v.34). Their minds were set on physical slavery. But Jesus did not come to promise freedom from any physical chains or earthly master. Rather, Jesus was speaking of spiritual slavery to sin.
Kind of a harsh way to describe our relationship with sin, isn’t it? Is Jesus possibly overstating things just a bit – using hyperbole, as he often does – an extreme statement to make his point?
No, and it’s just as true today as it was in Jesus’ day. If you sin, you are a slave to sin. That, after all, is how sin plays the game. It refuses to be the servant and insists on being the slave master. Sin does not invite us to try it out for a time and then respectfully understand when we decide we’d like to be done with it and move on. No, sin is like an invasive plant. When it is permitted to grow without removal or restraint, it refuses to give up any ground gained until it takes over everything.
And your own experience has taught you this! Sin stakes its claim in our hearts and once it does, does not willingly or easily give up ground. In fact, it demands more of us. It wants to expand its rule in our hearts. A chip on our shoulder expands into full-fledged bitterness. A quick glance here and a brief look of lust there explode into raging addiction. A polite discussion in person or online becomes a heated argument bent on being right and pride puffs up to pummel the other person and put them down. A few dollars now and again that we’ll surely pay back becomes significantly more until the concern of paying it back is replaced by the concern of covering our tracks.
Sin does not play the role of servant! It demands to be in charge. Jesus’ words are true; everyone who sins is a slave to sin. If that were not the case, we would stop today. Right now. But we cannot. Because we are helpless. We are enslaved.
In Luther’s day, those who turned to the church looking for freedom from that slavery to sin were offered a variety of solutions… which would cost them a pretty penny. One could pay handsomely for a slip of paper called an indulgence, which declared forgiveness for its bearer. There were holy relics and sacred sites, which could be viewed and visited… for a price or donation. Of course, these options appeared all the more appealing against the message of hell and torment and eternal punishment that echoed from preachers and pulpits!
Today we are thankful for those who stood their ground before us, contending for the truth of the gospel and capturing the essential truths of Scripture articulated in our Lutheran Confessions. Thankfully, we who by nature are slaves to sin know exactly where to turn for freedom. It is not to a corrupt church. It is not to an unholy pope. It is not to our own bank account as if we can buy or purchase it. Freedom from slavery to sin was, is, and only always will be granted only through Jesus Christ.
Now please do not make the mistake so many in our day are making and presume that means you don’t need the body of Jesus Christ, that is, his church, made up of all believers. To think that, to detach oneself from the body of believers is to slowly sever oneself from Jesus Christ himself. Do not buy Satan’s lie that freedom is somehow found outside the church and away from the gathering of the saints around the Word of God and Sacraments. That would be a grave mistake.
A passenger of a ship in the middle of the ocean recalled a bird aboard the ship escaping from its cage. The bird left the ship behind and flew off to embrace its newfound freedom by exploring the unlimited reaches of life not confined to a small cage on a ship at sea. Hours later, however, the passenger made a peculiar discovery: the bird had returned. Having become exhausted in flight and unable to find food or land in the middle of the ocean, he returned to the ship and place of his former cage. What had been previously perceived as a prison suddenly offered more than he realized, and what he had previously presumed would offer freedom was not at all the true freedom he expected.
So it is with those who celebrate that they have “escaped” from some perceived prison of the local church or organized religion. The thought goes that freedom is not being constricted by or confined to some set of dogma or doctrine. To throw off those shackles, whether they were imposed at an early age by parents or some previously misguided pursuit of spiritual enlightenment – that is real freedom, or so many think.
One of the popular phrases that captures this version of woke Christianity is “deconstructed faith.” It’s really nothing new, but the same old buffet-style false religion with a false god by which an individual determines what to pick and choose in search of “true freedom.”
But Jesus’ words this morning don’t permit that. How exactly did Jesus stress that a person can know the truth and the freedom that comes through it? “Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (v. 32-32). Whose teaching? Not mine. Not yours. Not whatever else anyone else may construct or deconstruct, but Jesus said “my” teaching. His. Sure, you and anyone else are free to pursue your own teaching, but you won’t find freedom there. Nor will you find it anywhere else. Only the Son sets free, and only in the Son is truth that truly frees.
Where do we find that Jesus? Where his believers gather around Word and Sacrament. Where Jesus’ words of the freedom of forgiveness are pronounced each and every Sunday in the Absolution. Where grace trumps guilt. Where justification (the term that describes God’s declaration that in Jesus, we are “not guilty”) wins over judgment. That is where Jesus longs to be found, known, and believed.
Where Jesus is, dear friends, we find the truth, and where we find the truth, we find freedom. “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (v.36).
