Truth Will Make You Free

John 8:32 You will know the truth, and the

truth will make you free."

33 They answered him, "We are Abraham`s

seed, and have never yet been in bondage to

anyone. How do you say, `You will be made

free?`"

34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly I

tell you, everyone who commits sin is the

bondservant of sin.

35 A bondservant doesn`t live in the house

forever. A son remains forever.

36 If therefore the Son makes you free, you

will be free indeed.


This is a well known, often quoted passage.
It points out that there is a link between
truth and freedom. But, it seems that
there isn't much interest in either truth
or freedom these days. As I recall, there
never has been. Maybe I've missed
something.


It's not that there isn't much talk about
truth and freedom. Talk is one thing, and
practice is another. Jesus makes his point
in verse 34, that we serve whatever it is
that we love. It's implied, that if you
really love practicing something, you are a
slave to that practice. It points out the
urge in people, that repetitive behavior is
habit forming and becomes routine.
Chemical dependency is an obvious example.


Useful habits can be formed as easily as
any other. So, it's not all bad. But,
what about freedom? According to the word
search, this word 'free' is only used seven
times in the New Testament, ancient greek.
It catches my attention that seven is an
important number. In scripture, numbers
are often used to represent something
significant, but I don't want to go off on
that trail right now. It leads off into a
whole other level of scriptural study. And
I know most folks don't like numbers as
much as I do. Besides, there is alot of
controversy surrounding the significance of
numbers in scripture. Probably that most
famous number in the holy ancient greek
text is 6-6-6. From what I've been able to
find, it's not what people generally think.
But since when was it popular to think
straight about holy scripture? That just
might lead to truth. People have been
burned at the stake for the sake of holy
scripture, because truth has never been a
very popular pursuit. For some reason,
truth, or the threat of truth, seems to
upset the apple cart.


Freedom seems to be not so popular a
pursuit either. My guess is, because
freedom demands responsibility, that sort of
takes the fun out of it for alot of folks.
There is a preference for freedom without
responsibility. You don't have to search
too far to find examples of this. It's
much simpler to be a slave. The trouble
begins when the benefits of servitude are
reduced too far, too fast. Then the urge
for freedom that has always been there gets
harder and harder to deny. It seems to me
the major reason that dictatorships are
always short-lived. As hard as they try,
they can't remove the basic desire for
freedom. It's part of the image in which
we are created. And as long as slavery
provides some desired benefit, it will act
as a substitute for freedom.


Matt 25:21 His lord said to him, `Well

done, good and faithful servant. You have

been faithful over a few things, I will set

you over many things. Enter into the joy of

your lord.`


The word 'servant' in this passage, means
slave. This particular word is used 127
times in the scripture. Jesus describes
his followers as 'free' and as 'servants'
at the same time. Given the word count,
emphasis seems to be on the idea of the
servant.


There are at least three different choices
involved. Serve self, serve others and
serve Jesus. They are three exclusive
choices. Jesus said that you can only
serve one master.

Matt 6:24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You can`t serve both G-d and Mammon.

25 Therefore, I tell you, don`t be anxious for your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will put on. Isn`t life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

26 See the birds of the sky, that they don`t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren`t you of much more value than they?

27 Which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit to the measure of his life?

28 Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don`t toil, neither do they spin,

29 yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these.

30 But if G-d so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, won`t he much more clothe you, you of little faith?

31 Therefore don`t be anxious, saying, `What will we eat?`, `What will we drink?` or, `With what will we be clothed?`

32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

33 But seek first G-d`s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added to you.

Here is the idea that there is more than
enough at hand to provide everything that
we need. Maybe not everything that we
want, but everything that we need. It
says that we will be given everything
that we need. Yes, given! In other
words, it's not a measure of what we're
worth, it's a measure of G-d's generous
provision, that knows no limit. It's an
economic model that's different from the
one that Nash developed. I haven't seen
where Jesus left a disclaimer. You know,
past performance is no guarantee of future
results.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Forbes_Nash
http://www.princeton.edu/mudd/news/faq/topics/Non-Cooperative_Games_Nash.pdf


If I were to take a stab at it, I'd say
that what Jesus tells us is that we are
free to serve him. Not everyone is, just
look around. As the social mood drifts
more and more into an Orwellian dimension,
ideas about freedom get ever stanger. At
the end of the road, Jesus tells us that
his servants will find that their service
is rewarded with joy, the currency of
heaven, rather than credit notes.
There isn't a better ending.