Day 987: Legitimate children - John 8 vs 31 - 42

31-32 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34-36 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house for ever; the son remains for ever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

37-39 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” 40 Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.” 41 They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father - even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.” John 8:31-42 English Standard Version

We're not told who the 'they' in vs 33 were. Jesus had just said to some Jews who'd begun to believe in Him that if they continued in all He taught, they would be true disciples, and would experience genuine freedom. This led to some of those present that day to question what He meant by being 'truly free'. What was the freedom that Jesus was speaking of? (vs 34-36)

Jesus was speaking of being set free from the power that sin has over our lives. Men and women, by nature, are in bondage to sin. The Jews in Jesus' day, however, focussed more on political bondage and freedom. That's sadly true of many people today who look at the world purely in terms of politics. So what were those Jews basing their 'political freedom' on? (vs 33)

They thought that, because they were descendents of Abraham, they had a special place in God's sight. As the popular song 'Rule Britannia' says, they thought they “never, never will be slaves.” And so Jesus spoke an important truth to them. He said: “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This isn’t what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.” In other words, being born a Jew didn't make them genuine descendents of Abraham. What was the, not so subtle, jibe they gave to Jesus in vs 41?

The implication here is that, by this time, a rumour may’ve gone around about how Jesus' mother, Mary, had become pregnant before actual marriage to Joseph. Their words could be interpreted as saying “we know who our father was, do you know who yours was?” They even went as far as saying to Him: “We have one Father - even God.” But what was the crucial reply Jesus gave them? (vs 42)

That reply is just as important for religious people today as it was then. If anyone claims to know God, and be in a relationship to God, then they would have a deep love for Jesus Christ. They would long to have His words 'abiding in them' every day, because He is the Son whom God the Father sent into the world on a mission of salvation. This leads to the question of spiritual paternity. In other words, ‘who is your father?’

Did you notice that Jesus said to those who were wanting to harm Him: “I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” He wasn't only saying they were not the true children of Abraham, but that they were also not true children of the heavenly Father. The question then is, who was their father? God willing, I'll give the startling answer Jesus gave when I do verses 43-44 in the next post. The important questions from today’s verses are: “Do I believe that Jesus is the Son of God?”, “Do I believe I must follow Jesus and His words if I want to be free from the bondage of sin?”, and “Do I love Jesus deeply, because I know the Father sent Him to be Saviour and Lord?” Those things are the evidence of being a legitimate child of Abraham, and, more importantly, a child of God.