The Word of God Sets You Free!

Reformation Sunday

Rev. Steven  D. Spencer – Pastor Messiah Lutheran Church

John 8:31-36

31 To the Jews who had believed him, 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?" 34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Grace, peace and mercy from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen!

The text appointed for the Festival of the Reformation from John’s Gospel, the 8^th chapter. Especially these words: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).

Dear baptized in Christ! Today we observe Reformation Sunday. But in reality Reformation Day is actually on October 31st. It was on the day that preceded the Festival of All Saints’, which was historically known by the Christian Church as Hallows’ Eve; the day before that of the “Hallowed Ones”. But since that auspicious Hallows’ Eve in the year 1517, when Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, this day is now celebrated by us Lutherans as the Festival of the Reformation. It commemorates the Reformation of the Church in which Luther rediscovered the pure Gospel message of Jesus Christ that had been lost over the centuries through neglect of the Scriptures. Luther uncovered the blessed Christian truth that is in fact, the very words of St. Paul’s in our Epistle reading today from Romans 3:28, “one is justified by faith apart from works of the law”.

Some of you may remember these from your own Confirmation / Catechism Classes.  This is the 10 Commandments and the Explanations.

1st:    You shall have no other gods.

What does this mean:      We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.

2nd:   You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.

What does this mean:  God's name in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.

3rd:   Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

What does this mean:  We should fear and love God that we do not despise preaching and his Word, but regard it as holy, and gladly hear and learn it.

4th:   Honor your father and mother, that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.

What does this mean:  We should fear and love God that we do not dishonor or anger our parents and others in authority, but honor, serve, and obey them, and give them love and respect.

5th:   You shall not murder.

What does this mean:  We should fear and love God that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need.

6th:   You shall not commit adultery.

What does this mean:  We should fear and love God that we lead a pure and decent life in words and actions, and that husband and wife love and honor each other.

7th:     You shall not steal.

What does this mean:  We should fear and love God that we do not take our neighbor's money or property or get it by dishonest dealing, but help him to improve and protect his property and means of income.

8th:     You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

What does this mean:  We should fear and love God that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, or give him a bad name, but defend him, speak well of him, and take his words and actions in the kindest possible way.

9th:     You shall not covet your neighbor's house.

What does this mean:  We should fear and love God that we do not scheme to get our neighbor's inheritance or house or obtain it by a show of right, but do all we can to help him keep it.

10th:     You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, workers, animals, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

What does this mean:  We should fear and love God that we do not force or entice away our neighbor's spouse, workers, or animals, but urge them to stay and do their duty.

   Now having reviewed the 10 Commandments with their explanation, I have a question for you. Have you kept the commandments perfectly?  (pause) Have you always feared, loved and trusted God above all things. Let’s be honest. Haven’t you more than often trusted what you could touch, what you could own, what you could control rather than trust God? And that’s only the first commandment there’s still nine more.  

In our text today Jesus is talking with the Jewish people in the Treasury of the Temple. It was a place anyone could go and make a financial gift. And no doubt the Pharisees and the Priest of the Temple were present. For just verses before our text it said they desired to arrest Him but they couldn’t for it was not yet His time. Jesus says: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”

It was an axiom of the Jews, “That no man was free, but he who exercised himself in the meditation of the law.” The Pharisees and Priest of Judaism had abused their position in the church by controlling people with the heavy hand of the Law.  They oppressed the people by constantly reminding them that they had sinned and fallen short of God’s expectations. The only way for people to be delivered from God’s wrath was to give more to His church, offer more sacrifices and do more benevolent and kind acts towards their neighbors.

We just went through the 10 Commandments.  Imagine if you had no way to receive forgiveness for your sins. Imagine the weight of knowing you had to make type of restitution for those sins. That’s what the people of Jesus day were feeling.

Now let’s fast forward nearly 1500 years. The Christian church of Luther’s day was facing the exact same peril. People were being crushed under the Law. People were being told they needed to give more, make more sacrifices in their personal lives for the sake of the church. Man was being taught to focus on the Law and live life in utter obedience. Live in fear for the fires of Hell were licking at the very souls of your feet.

Luther under the heavy weight of the Law, pouring over the Scriptures discovered that, even though man is by nature sinful and unclean in God’s sight, Christ has paid the full price for all sin. Man could therefore look to Jesus in faith and hope and be comforted by the forgiveness of sins. He no longer had to cower in fear of the eternal wrath and judgment that Christ was eagerly waiting to inflict. That’s what they taught. The church had made the Lord Jesus out to be a stern and merciless judge, but Luther demonstrated from Scripture that God’s wrath has already been satisfied in the suffering and death of his Son, Jesus Christ, and that whoever believes shall not perish but have everlasting life

Martin Luther was quite drawn to the Gospel of John. He preferred it because John emphasizes the words of Jesus’ preaching, more than His miracles and other actions. He defended his choice by citing our Lord’s own words in chapter six, the words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. How appropriate it is, and, indeed, even inspirational that John focuses on Jesus’ divinity and His purpose in coming down from heaven to save us from our sins. He himself tells us why He wrote down the precious words of the Lord Jesus—“so that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that, believing, you might have life in His name” (John 20:31). John speaks of Jesus as the eternal Word, who was with God in the beginning, and in fact was Almighty God, who made all things.

One of the most beloved characteristics of John’s gospel is that it contains Jesus’ great I AM sayings: I AM the light of the world; I AM the bread of life; I AM the door; I AM the Good Shepherd; and the most telling of all: before Abraham was, I AM. There was absolutely no question in anyone’s mind what Jesus was saying. He was telling them in no uncertain terms that He is the Lord GOD of Israel, who led them out of Egypt and was now come into the flesh to redeem sinful humanity. No wonder Luther loved John’s gospel so much!

Likewise, there is no wonder that the Pharisees, who were the religious establishment, wanted Him executed. They could have a man tried and stoned for misusing God’s name in public, so Jesus’ identifying Himself as the God of Israel was equivalent to desecrating the Holy of Holies in the temple! It filled them with such rage that they would stop at nothing to have Him killed. After all, He was committing the capital crime of claiming to have the highest authority, that of God Himself.

Jesus said: If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Many in our day might hear these words about the truth setting one free and immediately think in a similar manner as the first Jewish hearers did when they heard those words: free from what? After all, we live in a “free country”--we exercise our “freedoms” of speech, religion, and even election of our rulers. The promise of being set free just doesn’t get one’s attention as quickly as, say, the promise of good health, great wealth, or prosperity would. In fact, because we live in a modern, “enlightened” society, and don’t find ourselves in bondage to anyone, freedom to us is a given, a non-issue that we simply take for granted.

For the Jews, such a promise of freedom was an insult. As the physical descendants of Abraham, they believed that their ancestry and class as people of Israel would be their ticket to eternal life. They simply needed to revere God’s ceremonial laws and statutes. But Jesus called them slaves. In our reading Jesus says: “whoever commits a sin is a slave to sin.” Jesus doesn’t say straighten up and fly right. That message didn’t work back then and doesn’t work today. You can’t free yourself from sin by being a better you.  And that’s a good thing because if you could then Christ died in vain.  

No man is truly free, but he in whose heart the power of sin is destroyed, and who has received the Spirit of adoption, through which he cries out, Abba! Father! The bondage of sin is the most grievous bondage; and freedom from its guilt and influence is the greatest of all liberties.

In telling you to abide in his word, Christ Jesus is not delivering another command, but is offering Himself to you. To abide in Christ and His word is to believe in Him and be spiritually fed by Him. You dear Christians are fed, here in God’s house where you receive His gifts. Here He sustains you in faith, faith given in your baptism. He announces the forgiveness of your sins in the words of Holy Absolution. He even gives you His very body and blood to eat and to drink. Come to His altar, and be fed with believing hearts. For this is what it means to abide in His word. This is what it means to abide in Him. To them who believe in His Name he gives the power to become the sons of God, and He promises them his Holy Spirit.

For Jesus is the very Word of God made flesh and He who sets you free. In Jesus name, Amen!

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Amen.

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