David Bahn – Reflections

John 8:31-38

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you willknow 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 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵ The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. ³⁸ I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

We took some of the L’Abri students to the ferry yesterday morning, and one of them – a young woman from Japan – we also brought back from the evening at the beach. She told us that she is at L’Abri to “get closer to Jesus.” She worked at a suicide prevention center in Japan and described the stress that many people in Japan are under. What made this job particularly stressful for her is that while she wished to share the Christian hope with the people she counseled, she could not. Imagine having someone who needs hope and grace and not being able to share the love of Jesus with him or her!

Her plans are to go from L’Abri to Vancouver to an English school, then back to Japan to apply for a student visa. Her hope is to study Christian counseling, and I shared with her some possible places to study. I hope she discovers that Jesus is already close to her, and that she is able to follow her dream of being a Christian counselor.

The freedom we have to follow Christ, believe in him, gather with others to worship him and learn from him is a gift we too easily take for granted. Having just celebrated our nation’s Independence Day (we even sang the Star Spangled Banner on the beach last night here in Canada!), it seems good to embrace and thank God for that freedom we have. When your friend is struggling with life and has lost hope, you are free to share the love and hope of Jesus with her. When you are facing a moral/ethical dilemma you are free to consult God’s word so that you may have direction as to the path to follow.

Jesus promises that if we remain in his word we will know the truth and that truth will set us free. His word is a home, a place of abiding, of comfort, safety, nurture, and rest. What a treasure we have to read, reflect on, and embrace Jesus’ word and teaching. We too easily and often take this freedom for granted. Not so today!

John 8:31-47

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you willknow 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 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵ The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. ³⁸ I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

³⁹ They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, ⁴⁰ 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. ⁴¹ You are doing the works your father did.” 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. ⁴³ Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. ⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶ Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?⁴⁷ Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”