” 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.”
Reflect
What does it mean to be free? We talk about freedom in the political realm, describing people’s
ability to make the choices that will have great impact on their lives. They can choose their
leaders, a place to live, a job, friends with whom to gather. They might be able to choose
how to worship God and be able to speak out about the conditions they see in the world.
All of this indeed is freedom. But as today’s Gospel shows, freedom must be grounded in the
truth. As Saint John Paul II taught, freedom is not the ability to do whatever we want,
but the ability to do what we ought. If we use our freedom solely to seek our own pleasure and
advantage, without regard to our brothers and sisters, that is not true freedom. Freedom is never
about self-indulgence, but about having the ability to speak and serve the truth that comes from
God.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2023