Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message. I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.” “Our father is Abraham!” they declared. “No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example. Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. No, you are imitating your real father.” They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.” Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me! Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.” The people retorted, “You Samaritan devil! Didn’t we say all along that you were possessed by a demon?” “No,” Jesus said, “I have no demon in me. For I honor my Father—and you dishonor me. And though I have no wish to glorify myself, God is going to glorify me. He is the true judge. I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!” The people said, “Now we know you are possessed by a demon. Even Abraham and the prophets died, but you say, ‘Anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!’ Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?” Jesus answered, “If I want glory for myself, it doesn’t count. But it is my Father who will glorify me. You say, ‘He is our God,’ but you don’t even know him. I know him. If I said otherwise, I would be as great a liar as you! But I do know him and obey him. Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.” The people said, “You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham? ” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am!” At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.

John 8:31-59

Dear God, this starts with Jesus speaking to “the people who believed in him.” But at what level did they believe in him? Did they just think they believed in him and his teaching as a prophet, or did they think he was your son–the Messiah? It seems that they were more on the prophet side of things, even though they might have though of him as the Messiah. But maybe they didn’t understand who the Messiah was. Perhaps they saw a warrior champion who was going to lead the people, and your plan was to turn that on its head and die for them and their reconciliation to you.

As I read this, I couldn’t help but think about the Christians who attacked the capitol last week. There was Christian music playing. There were Jesus banners. There was a Christian flag. One man reportedly yelled, “Give it up for Jesus!” and the crowd cheered. The a good number of the people there were Christians. Thinking about it and comparing it with this passage, I think they’ve started to get the same misconception these early “believers” had. They think this is about winning. They think this is about political power. They think this is about influence on a broad scale. They think this is about legislating morality from the top down. They think it is about the Supreme Court and its rulings. They are like the crowd Jesus addressed. Let’s just take Jesus’s words here and see what they might have to say to them (and me):

• “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
• “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message. I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.”
• “…if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example. Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. No, you are imitating your real father.”
• “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me! Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.”
• “No, I have no demon in me. For I honor my Father—and you dishonor me. And though I have no wish to glorify myself, God is going to glorify me. He is the true judge. I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!”
• “If I want glory for myself, it doesn’t count. But it is my Father who will glorify me. You say, ‘He is our God,’ but you don’t even know him. I know him. If I said otherwise, I would be as great a liar as you! But I do know him and obey him. Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.”
• “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am!”

First, I have to confess that if I had been there at the time, I would probably have been on the people’s side. I would not have believed Jesus was your son. How could I have? What are the odds that this simple man would be the one? Surely, your son would be more grand than this guy was! So I can recognize my own limitations, and I am sorry I’m not better.

Second, they are looking for greatness and Jesus seems to just be looking for humility. All he wants them to do is know the truth, repent of their sins and be set free. That’s it. That’s how this starts. And they cannot handle that. They cannot handle their need for humility.

Third, I am a little surprised Jesus got into this back and forth with them. I don’t remember too many times he did this. It’s actually a pretty long conversation/argument.

Father, I don’t know that I’ve come up with any answers about Christians and their role in last week’s riot/insurrection. I know that I’m worried about them as individuals and for our Christian church as a whole. I heard an interesting question yesterday. Why do we have U.S. flags in some churches? As I thought about the question, the Catholic church I attend has a U.S. flag. I attended a Methodist church for a long time, and it has a flag too. Why? As an American I pledge my allegiance to you first and then to my country as a citizen. But that doesn’t make me better than the Canadian, German, Nigerian, or whomever is worshipping in their church that morning. So why would the church have an American flag in it? A sign of allegiance by the church to the country? I don’t know the answer, but it’s certainly made me consider the separation of church and state in a new way. I don’t know. Now I’m just rambling. Just help me today, Father. Help me to understand the world through your eyes, do the things you need me to do, and love the people you need me to love.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen