31 Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples,
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
Jesus has been trying to explain to the Jews the nature of his relationship with God and his mission and it has fallen on deaf ears. John now tells us that Jesus has directed his attention to “the Jews who had believed in him”. John’s usage of “Jews” typically refers to the Old Covenant people who resided specifically in Judea, not all members of the Tribe of Judah but it depends on the context, here it is referring to a particular geography.
To the Judeans that believed in Jesus, he tells them that if they continue in his “word” they are truly his “disciples”. This is an example of where “logos” does not simply mean a collection of letters, Jesus’ “word” is his commandments which entail and entire turn around of ones life (repentance) and living like him. This is also what a disciple is. A disciple is not a fan of Jesus, a disciple is a student and in the ancient context that Jesus lived, both Hellenic and Judaic, a disciple was expected to eat, sleep and live like their teacher, not just call him “Lord”.
The benefit of living like Jesus, imitating him in everyway and abiding by all his commandments is that you will know the “truth”, spoiler: Jesus is the truth so if you imitate him perfectly you will know him and he will set you free. This presupposes a position of bondage, which we all understand to be sin and to the devil but Jesus’ original hearers would be confused at what they are to be freed from which is why they go on to say in the next verse.
33 They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham, and have never been in bondage to any one. How is it that you say, ‘You will be made free’?”
He is still talking to those that “believe in him” so we should keep that in mind thattheir questions are not likely to be hostile but honest confusion. Their response to his declaration of their freedom is basically “We are of Abrahams house, nobody owns us, so what do you mean?”. The Hebrews understood the “nations” (everyone other than themselves) as being enslaved to demons, they as descendants of Abraham are of Yahweh and are therefore not slaves. Obviously for a time they were in bondage in Egypt before the Exodus so it is likely they Jesus’ audience are referring to their current lives, not the history of their people. They right now are a (perceivably) independent people that serve God and no one else, so how could they be set free?
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin.
They might be of Abrahams House but they aren’t perfect and there is no offer from God to make them so that they have received as of yet. They are not free from sin, therefore they are still slaves to sin despite their membership of the Abrahamic Covenant.
35 The slave does not continue in the house for ever; the son continues for ever.
36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
When it comes to inheritance, slaves get nothing. There are also no promises extended to them. The Hebrews had assumed that the current covenant they enjoyed was the pinnacle of the relationship with Yahweh. They saw themselves as already being sons and worthy of an inheritance. Jesus is making it clear that currently they are more like slaves in a household, yes they’re in the household but they do not have a relationship with the father of that household like his children do. A son as a representative of the father also shares the fathers power, because of this he has the ability to make the slaves share in his inheritance. This is how ancient households worked, if they choose to, and that is how God the Son is explaining it to them. He has the perfect representative of the father can make them sons and enjoy the same inheritance that he enjoys.
37 I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you.
Jesus is fully aware of their lineage, but he points out that their actions say otherwise. Basically if you were true sons of Abraham, true inheritors of his faith, you would accept Jesus but they don’t, they in fact seek to kill him. What’s interesting here is that John has specified that these Jews that Jesus is speaking to are ones who believed in him, yet Jesus here makes it clear that simultaneously they seek to kill him.
Is Jesus confused? No. Jesus is not wrong, he is abiding by what we call the “Natural Model”. When a group of people are unified in a covenant, a divine contract ratified by God. They are like a cosmic body, a body has limbs, organs and a head. We use the same language to describe the New Covenant. When a person chooses to commit a crime, their head has made a decision but we do not say that only the head is guilty and their hands are innocent. If your right hand steals something we don’t incarcerate only your hand and allow the rest of your body to be free. The head of the Old Covenant people was in the teaching and priestly authorities. The same way that Jesus as our head can win our victory despite our failures, the failures of the head of the old covenant apply to all of the old covenant people. You can whine and complain about how unfair that is if you want but its on the same level as arguing with gravity.
38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
Jesus again refers back to his Father being the focus of his actions and what he teaches. Everything he speaks about is because he has seen it from it his Father. He relates this into their natural understanding of how they know what they know from their own fathers. The difference is obviously the scale but Jesus regularly uses natural forms to explain divine ones since the divine forms are invisible to the human senses.
39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did,
40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God; this is not what Abraham did.
41 You do what your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.”
In the same way that Jesus uses God the Father as his witness, his audience speak to who they think their father is as theirs, Abraham. Jesus points out again that if they were truly imitating what Abraham did they would accept Jesus as a whole people. Jesus now hints at who their father really is which he will say more explicitly outside of these readings. They reject him as a people because the head of the people, the head of that apocalyptic covenant body, rejects Jesus which is rejecting God which is the sin of Satan and why he fell. This is also a subtle accusation of idolatry which goes hand in hand with adultery and fornication but they perceive Jesus as only saying they are not biological descendants of Abraham which is not what Jesus meant. They go further, not only are they definitely biological children of Abraham but they say God is their father. Some assume this was a notion that was unheard of until Jesus but the truth is that the Hebrews perceived this spiritual sonship to God but they were wary of saying it since it is very bold to claim and felt like an undignified way to talk about God.
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God; I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
They moved from claiming to being freemen, to sons of Abraham to sons of God and they are wrong on all counts. If any of this were true, they would love Jesus as he proceeded and came forth from the Father. This is all very rich trinitarian language that you might think is limited to theological treatise but its all here in John’s Gospel. Jesus comes from the Father, in obedience.
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