3/13/10 John 8
Jesus is Truth
(Jn 8:32)32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
John 8:32 is certainly a popular verse that people quote, but to know what it means takes more than memorization. Notice that this verse begins in the middle of a sentence. So to understand it correctly we must know the whole sentence. The prior verse states that Jesus was saying this to the Jews who had believed. We learned in the last chapter that there were many Jews who were divided over Jesus. What He says first is important. “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;” What is important is continuing in His word. This means if you are going to know “truth” as a person (Jesus) you must hear, listen, and obey His word. Remember back to John 1:1 what was in the beginning, and was with God, and was God? The Word. We learned from the remainder of chapter 1 that the Word referred to Jesus. Jesus is the very word of God and we know that God cannot lie. When we realize that Jesus words are in fact God’s words then we can know true freedom.
When a person meets Jesus and believes in Him and His word that person is freed from the penalty and domination of sin in his or her life. Whether you know it or not if you have never come to Jesus in repentance and faith, then you are not free, but in fact a slave to sin.
I thank Jesus for speaking face to face with those who desired to kill Him and was “a man who has told you the truth” (Jn 8:40). No matter what the circumstances or consequences were Jesus was a man who told the truth, because He is truth. He cannot do otherwise. Jesus makes a comparison between Himself the “truth” and the devil in whom “there is no truth” (Jn 8:44). The devil can do nothing but tell lies for he speaks from his nature and he is the father of lies.
Jesus is the truth and speaks the truth, yet thousands do not believe Him. Why? The reason is that they have believed a lie rather than the truth. They do not believe because (2 Co 4:3-5)3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.
Prayer: Father I pray for my family, friends, and acquaintances who have not know the truth and been freed from the penalty and dominion of sin in their lives. I humbly seek your will that you through the Spirit would convict them of sin, righteousness, and judgment. May they see in me, a life that has been set free from the slavery of sin and has become a bond-servant for Jesus. Great and Mighty God confront those in my life with the fullness of Jesus and bring them to repentance that leads to life everlasting. I praise your for the Truth, that is Jesus. Amen.