JOHN 8:31-59
If we hold on to Jesus’ teaching, actually putting it into practice, then we are truly his disciples. This is not merely a grasp of theoretical doctrine, but a full immersion into his teaching and a complete submission to his will. By ‘knowing that truth’ (v32) in this way, we will be completely set free from our slavery to sin. There is an irony in the Jews’ literal response: claiming freedom on the basis of being Abraham’s descendants and therefore never having been slaves; so what about those 430 years in Egypt then!
But, in any case, Jesus is referring to the slavery to sin – the driving force within the natural person that biases them towards rebellion against God’s ways. Jesus contrasts the Jews’ status as spiritual slaves – and with no eternal inheritance – to his disciples, who are son’s and heirs in God’s household, and whom Jesus has set free from their slavery to sin. Romans chapter six addresses this doctrine further.
Jesus goes on to deny that these Jews were truly children of Abraham – at least, in a spiritual sense – since they had not inherited the faith of their forefather and were not willing to recognise Jesus as God’s Son in the way that Abraham did. Neither were they children of God. Finally, He confronts the Jewish leaders with the unvarnished truth that their spiritual father was the devil and not Abraham – Jesus was clearly not too concerned about offending the Jewish people! What this gained in truth, it certainly lacked in subtlety! “Your Dad is a liar and a murderer…”, Jesus told them, “…so it’s hardly any wonder that you, his spiritual children, don’t accept what I am saying, is it? Like father, like children!”. This was not well-received.
“If you want to live forever, obey the Word of Christ, and you will”, he said. They Jews were unconvinced and pointed out that no less a man than Abraham had passed away quite some time ago! “Ah yes”, pointed out Jesus, “but firstly, I am not talking about physical death, and secondly, Abraham really did see me – he stated that God himself would provide a Lamb!” “Before Abraham was, I AM”, said Jesus, claiming the full “I AM” title of the Living God. Seeing their opportunity, these Jewish leaders now attempted to destroy the ‘Offspring of the Woman’, their Messiah (see Genesis 3:15), and in defiance of the rule of Rome, they picked up rocks to stone Jesus, but it was not time for him to die, so he simply slipped invisibly through the crowd.
JUDGES 20 and 21
It is to Israel’s credit that the rest of the tribes took this terrible episode at Gibeah so seriously and assembled their entire army to ensure justice. It is to the tribe of Benjamin’s shame that they defended the indefensible Gibeah citizens and even went to war against the rest of the nation. It is surprising that the Lord permitted so many innocent men to die at the hands of the Benjamite soldiers, before eventually Israel triumphed. But in the end, it was almost expected – after so many atrocities – that the entire tribe of Benjamin, women, children, and all, would be virtually exterminated. Six hundred men remained to tell the tale.
Remorse – for different reasons – then filled the whole of Israel as they realized that an entire tribe was on the verge of disappearing forever. To make matters worse, Israel had taken a solemn vow to deny the Six Hundred any of their women as wives. Everyone had a sufficient grasp of basic biology to work out that this would be the final generation of Benjamin, therefore. So, typical Israelite pragmatism prevailed and an ingenious method of circumventing the vow was put into action. This ‘sleight of hand’ rather sums up Judges for me – and ends the book on an unsatisfactory note. The very last verse (21:25) repeats the comment made previously (17:6) that “In those days, Israel wasn’t ruled by a king, and everyone did what they thought was right in their own eyes”. In an age of idolatry and relative morality, where there is no respect for God’s authority, one person’s opinion is just as valid as the next person’s. That was true then, and it is equally true today. Don’t you agree?
The Big Picture 