John 8: 33
” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’”
Imagine for a moment that you personally are standing in the Temple courtyard during the time of Christ. You have been celebrating the Feast of Booths with your family and neighbors. Suddenly you hear a commotion in another part of the courtyard. You walk towards the crowd to see what is going on and you hear someone say in a loud voice, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Before you can react to what you have heard, someone near the center of the crowd, near the man who had spoken yells angrily, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Others around him yell supportively, “Yeah, who are you calling slaves?” The reaction of the crowd surprises you. Could the man who caused all of this be the one they call Jesus?
An older man next to you at the back of the crowd turns toward you and you prepare for more anger. Instead, he half-whispers, “I wonder what all of the fuss is about?”
“Huh?” you reply.
“Well, we are effectively slaves under the Romans these days. You certainly can’t say we are free at any rate. And we were slaves in Egypt for 400 years. I suppose they forgot that part.”
Q: Why was what Jesus said so incendiary?
It was a touchy topic, very political and volatile – the type of thing your would argue about with you uncle at Thanksgiving 😆
HaHaHa!
So free or not free? That was the question?
Jesus hit a nerve. Jesus calls us to make a decision on who He is. When He does, it is not subtle and invokes a strong reaction.
To deny your sin nature leads to denying your slavery to it.