Christian Pathway

John 8: 31-38, 48-end

This reading is so apposite at the moment, the world craves freedom. Freedom from what they see as a corrupt government, or at least one that doesn’t represent their wishes, freedom from what some see as too much immigration. People are marching up and down looking angry in London, in the USA we have Donald always claiming to be the biggest the best. The world takes sides and measures everything you say to see what side you are on. All of them claiming to be the side of beauty and truth.

This is pretty much what’s happening here, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

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?”

These guys are saying they are the virtuous ones, they don’t need freedom offered they have it by right of being born into the right camp, they by birthright are patriots,   and Jesus is calling them sinners. This automatically puts him in an opposing camp. So, they try an attribute a thing from the opposing camp, asking are you a Samaritan (the religion of the opposing camp).  This sort of name calling goes on all the time on social media, today we have people who claim allegiance to the right or the left.  Once placed in that camp people attribute all the characteristics of that group to you.  Like Jesus doesn’t matter what you say after that you are marked.

Jesus not at all worried by such trivial matters tries to get them to look up from the mundane and say, you are sinners, and if you follow me you wont die. They aren’t ready for this statement as it rather reinforces what camp they think he is in? They say

Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. ³ Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

Jesus makes matters even worse by saying you glorify yourselves and instead you should  be glorifying God.  This is the final straw, because being in the right camp means that right , and of course God is on your side.

Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. ⁵⁵ Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

So he has told them (or at least they heard) that they are in the wrong camp, that their heroes would disown them if they were alive today and be pleased for him, sort of accused them of being untrue to their faith. 

This is the final straw, all conversation is at an end, first of all he isn’t in the right camp, accused us of being in the wrong camp, and said our heroes would have thought badly of us, when all we do is glorify them and their memory. Anyone we like or subsume into our camp is good, and everyone we don’t like is bad.

You can see this today with the patriots on either side  glorifying those of the second world war, claiming their hard work as heritage , and their work today as defending the memory.

Jesus at this point puts all the thing in perspective,  just as our reading up to this point is being repeated today, camps divided, the politics of the day being assigned to people they adore, and seek to honour, Ripping them out of context and being made to mean what they want them to mean.

Jesus puts it all in perspective, sounding in my head  (that’s how it sounds when I read it in my head )rather annoyed at them when he says

⁵⁸ “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

Basically saying you guys have totally missed the point, all this  petty politics, is irrelevant I am here present tense in the past , and I am here in the present. Because of course Jesus is with them right now part present and future, at all times in all ways. For him time is irrelevant and therefore all things are present tense, nothing is in the past everything at all times the same god is with them.

So what’s this compared to some camp devised by humans that will be tomorrows chip wrappings. I am omnipresent and not above such things but just by my very nature this stuff that you take sooooo seriously, get over yourselves, there’s a game of which you don’t pay any attention to afoot. Its me, and you have all taken your eyes off me. I was, am and will be far above such stuff, and if you follow me so should you be.

They literally were  lost  for words at this point , and so they do the last resort, they just wanted him to shut up.

 ⁵⁹ At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

amen