“We are Abraham's seed, and have never yet been in bondage to any man:”
“and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free . They answered unto him, We are Abraham's seed, and have never yet been in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, you shall be made free? Jesus answered them, verily, verily I say unto you, Every one that commits sin is the bondservant of sin… If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” – John 8:32-34, 36
Jesus declared knowing the truth would set them free – free from sin. But they were so self-centered that they could only think in terms of submission to others, and even in that, they lied , for Roman soldiers were then garrisoned in Jerusalem , and the Passover was a reminder of the Exodus from 400 years in Egypt .
Compelled by pride, their denial has been repeated countless times by each of us. “If you cling tightly to your own weakness, your faults, shortcomings and your twisted past, to all events, facts and situations which you prefer to cut out of your own history, you're only hiding behind a hedge which everyone can see through. What you've done is narrowed your world to a small hiding place, where you try to conceal yourself, suspecting rather pitifully that everyone has been seeing you all along.”- Henri Nouwen We must know the truth about ourselves to be set free from ourselves and our shame.
Seeing ourselves, we may look away to Jesus, bearing our shame. Seeing him we understand that his self-emptying calls for ours in response. To admit our sins is to surrender our pride and ourselves, but we receive him in return - an exchange that unites us with him forever. “For you died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”- Colossians 3:3
12/1/05 wm