There is plenty of consolation, and more than enough challenge in verses 31 and 32 of the Eighth Chapter of the Gospel of John. Jesus is in Jerusalem and he is talking with some of those who claim to be his disciples. Jesus’ words, once again, act as a threshing of grain, separating those who say they believe and follow from those who remain faithful to him, even though (like us?) they don’t always understand where he’s coming from and what he is really trying to say. They just know that, for them, it’s better to follow, to listen and to let the Spirit work it out inside them. They sense that there is something special about Jesus, and they want to be part of it. Jesus says, “If you remain in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
The first, and most basic task of a disciple of Jesus is to immerse ourselves in his word, and in the Word that he is from Abba-God. The verb in Greek can be translated as remain, abide, continue, but the image it invokes is to make oneself at home in Jesus’ word – the Good News, the Gospel of God’s Kingdom of mercy and love. Let this be the base and the space from which we live, speak and act. Let ourselves be formed and transformed through intimate connection with God who is Love speaking within us in words we cannot hear with our minds. This is what makes a follower into a true disciple of Jesus.
From this intimate experience, over time, we come to have a sense of what is truly from God and what is not. This is the basis for discernment. We develop an inner inclination about what is genuine and what is false. This knowing allows us to see more clearly and to choose more in line with Jesus’ lived and living values and desires. It’s not a head thing. It’s a feeling, an acquired radar for identifying the truth (and the Truth – who is Jesus).
With the third phrase we come to the big spiritual outcome. This truth we come to recognize and follow will set us free. Of course, we can object, like the adversaries of Jesus, that we are not unfree. But as long as our lives, or any facet of our lives, are rooted in anything false, we are caught, trapped, enslaved to that falsity. The more radically we are grounded in truth, the freer we are. The hardest part is detaching ourselves from our favorite untruths, the lies we tell ourselves and others, the ones we have cultivated so painstakingly over the course of our lives. What can give us the courage we need to risk the truth is the promise of Jesus, “The truth will set you free.” There’s nothing to hide. The truth of God is infinitely more beautiful than any false images we have about ourselves, others, the world.
Jana Buckley says:
This writing provokes a desire for me to reread the Gospel of John, eighth chapter, verses including and surrounding 31 and 32. First for the setting in which you had identified it and secondly for the message which you draw from it.
The space between paragraphs helps to identify your points of what comes as a result of reading, reflecting/contemplating God’s Word. Your message here is very evident as witnessed by how you, Tim Buckley, live your life.