Have you ever heard someone say, “I can quit anytime I want”? Not everyone who is enslaved knows it (or wants to admit it).
The next few articles are from John 8:31-58. This recounts a conversation between Jesus and some other Jewish people. While it’s not normally polite to listen in to others’ conversations, I think that we can make an exception when God chose to record that conversation in the Bible. So, let’s jump right in…
To the Jews who had believed him, 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.”
John 8:31-32 NIV
Let’s not miss the fact that being Jesus’ disciples includes holding to His teaching, as well as believing in Him. The following conversation may take some twists and turns, but let’s remember how it started, with Jesus’ statements here in these two verses. (This statement also might remind us of a conversation between Jesus and His disciples, around the time of the Last Supper, when He responded to a question from Thomas, in John 14:5-7.)
Now that Jesus has made a statement, let’s see what the people said in reply.
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?”
John 8:33 NIV
Like Nicodemus (see John 3:1-21) and the Samaritan woman (see John 4:1-26) whose encounters with Jesus were studied in past articles, the hearers seem to be interpreting Jesus’ comments as applying to the material world, rather than appreciating the spiritual aspects of the freedom that He is offering.
I’m also not sure what this group meant when they said that they had never been slaves. Not only did the Hebrew people live as slaves in Egypt, but both Israel and Judah were overthrown by other nations later in their history. And, in the first century when this conversation took place, the Roman Empire held sway over the Jewish nation.
Perhaps Jesus’ audience here felt that they were free as a people, despite their current situation. Maybe they were expecting a Messiah to lead them out from under the rule of the Romans, and were looking ahead to that day as if it had already occurred. After all, God had made promises to them, going back to Abraham, so if we give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they were banking on those promises.
Regardless of the audience’s logic, Jesus has a lesson here that is higher than a mere political or national situation.
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
John 8:34-36 NIV
Here, Jesus explains the kind of slavery that enslaves the people (not just his current audience, we learn elsewhere from the Bible, but everyone who has sinned and not accepted His offer of freedom). This isn’t one person oppressing someone else. Instead, it is the slavery that results from sin.
The term slavery has been used throughout history to refer to a variety of practices, including some that resulted in downright dehumanizing treatment of others. However, as our society focuses on bad examples from humankind’s history, it’s not wrong to let past failures teach us to do better in the future, but we can’t let a focus on human failures in the physical world overshadow slavery to sin.
Sin’s slavery is not only worse for us than the most offensive forms of human slavery (i.e., one human being believing that they can own another person), but it is also endemic to all of us who have sinned. While I believe that Christians should seek to end modern-day slavery, we can’t let that cause us to forget about the worse kind of slavery [i.e., to sin] that billions of people experience today. The Lookout suggests that, “Slavery to sin can be a form of terrible solitary confinement”, but emancipation is readily available.
Jesus doesn’t leave His audience in the consequences of their sins, though (which Romans 6:23 identifies as “death”). He offers them true freedom, which comes through Himself. Not only is Jesus a permanent part of God’s family (being God the Son), but He also offers a permanent place for us in that family, through adoption (see Romans 8:15, 23, for instance).
So, let’s embrace the freedom that Jesus offers, while also remembering that it only makes sense because we were previously enslaved to sin.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for January 7, 2024
References:
- The Lookout, January 7, 2024, © 2024 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – John, by Beauford H. Bryant and Mark S. Krause. © 1998 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 
I love this!!
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