Gospel: John 8:31-42
Jesus went on to say to the Jews who believed in him, “You will be my true disciples, if you keep my word. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves of anyone. What do you mean by saying: You will be free?”Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave. But the slave doesn’t stay in the house forever; the son stays forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be really free.I know that you are the descendants of Abraham; yet you want to kill me because my word finds no place in you. For my part, I speak of what I have seen in my Father’s presence, but you do what you have learned from your father.”They answered

him, “Our father is Abraham.” Then Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do as Abraham did. But now you want to kill me, the one who tells you the truth—the truth that I have learned from God. That is not what Abraham did; what you are doing are the works of your father.”The Jews said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one Father, God.” Jesus replied, “If God were your Father you would love me, for I came forth from God, and I am here. And I didn’t come by my own decision, but it was he himself who sent me.

Reflections

“If the Son makes you free, you will be really free.”Truth will set you free. That is a very popular saying of Jesus. Even non-Christians quote it. Now what is truth? For Jesus, truth is he. That what he testifies is truth and it must be believed or taken as true. It must be liberating, not enslaving. Freedom is not attained by blood relations, like being descendants of Abraham. Freedom is associating with Jesus and taking to heart his teaching.Those who do not possess the truth are bent on killing Jesus. They are slaves still. They have murderous heart. They can be identified easily.Those who possess it are identified as disciples of Jesus. They have been following him since they come to know about him. They seek to know his full story. Jesus knows them.In faith, truth is not about what is exactly said or the exact count, exact data or the one who exactly did what was actually done, subject to reconstruction or investigation. The truth that Jesus is teaching is something that pertains our salvation. It is about our relationship with him and the Father. He wants us to enter into that relationship. That is truth.
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