Gospel John 8:31-42
Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, 'You will become free'?" Jesus answered them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free. I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. I tell you what I have seen in the Father's presence; then do what you have heard from the Father."
They answered and said to him, "Our father is Abraham." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works of Abraham. But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God; Abraham did not do this. You are doing the works of your father!" So they said to him, "We were not born of fornication. We have one Father, God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”
Reflection In so many passages we see the Jews misunderstanding, misinterpreting so much that was in the Torah. It seems strange that they would say that they were never slaves when freedom from slavery was a major theme in the Old Testament. So we know that they were not only close minded, but they were not well educated. They didn't know the scriptures.
And that's a frightening thought that those who become authoritarian in religion don't really understand the heart of the gospel. And we know that that heart is forgiveness, compassion, empathy.
Closing Prayer Father, we need to study, to reflect, to look at Scripture and learn from the story itself. Because so often we're just working out of what we've heard from a pulpit on a Sunday and not digging into the truth that is so beautifully presented in the Scripture. Open us to a hunger for the Gospel and we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.