You Will be Made Free
Gospel Reflection for Wednesday March 20th, 2024
“Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in Him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ They answered Him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham, and have never been in bondage to anyone, How is that you say, ‘You will be made free?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.’” John 8:31-34
Today’s gospel begins a two-day reading of the discourse between Our Lord and the Pharisees in John 8 which climaxes in the immensely important, “Before Abraham was, I AM” statement from Christ. Today though, Our Lord begins that discourse with a revelation on sin and its connection to slavery. Here, Our Lord juxtaposes slavery to freedom and sin to truth, in order to bring His listeners’ attention to the spiritual state in which our souls fall into through sin.
Ironically, the Pharisees, perhaps from their pride, say to Christ that they have never been in bondage. Even a brief overview of the Old Testament tells us that this is not the case. From their slavery in Egypt to their oppression by the Philistines to their captivity in Babylon and their occupation by Rome in the time of Christ, the Israelite people have constantly been in bondage. This is the point that Christ is making to His listeners.
When we read the Old Testament in the context of the New Testament, we ought to see the many times the Israelite people had been in bondage as more than just a historical account. Each time the Israelites were enslaved or sent into exile, it was a historical event that pointed to a deeper, spiritual reality, that of sin. Our Lord teaches us today the meaning of these historical narratives in the Old Testament. These events embody mankind’s slavery to sin and subsequent need for freeing by Christ.
This is the context of today’s Gospel. Christ is trying to tell the people that they need to stop worrying about their physical freedom and turn their attention to spiritual freedom. The Jews of the time of Christ were awaiting a Messiah who they thought was going to be a warrior and one who would set up an earthly kingdom. This is why there are times in the gospels when the people try to take Christ and crown Him king.1 They wanted so badly to be freed from their physical slavery from Rome that they made the Messiah in their image. This is not what Christ came for.
Instead, Christ came to set man free from the slavery we were in through sin, both Original Sin and our own personal sins. At its core, sin is always the antithesis to freedom. Many in our culture think that freedom means being able to do anything that we want, sin included. Christ tells us differently here.
During a homily he gave while visiting the United States in 1995, Pope St. John Paul II said, “Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”2 JPII states exactly what Christ is saying in today’s Gospel. We are not meant for a perverted version of freedom that mistakenly allows us to do whatever we want, that is how we end up in spiritual bondage, like the Pharisees of Jesus’ time. Instead, we are called to a radical freedom in which we rise out of the chains of sin through the power of the cross and exercise true freedom in Christ, that is, a freedom in doing the Good.
JPII continues in the same homily, “We must guard the truth that is the condition of authentic freedom, the truth that allows freedom to be fulfilled in goodness.”3 The Truth of Christ is the condition of this freedom. Just as Christ tells us in today’s gospel:
“The Truth will set you free.” John 8:32
As we move toward Holy Week and the end of Lent, today’s gospel is a call to radical freedom. Christ is calling us to His truth a truth which will manifest itself to mankind in only a few short days. Instead of taking an earthly throne, Our Blessed Lord takes for Himself the throne of the Cross, His eternal sign of true freedom. Let us run to His cross and embrace the freedom He desires to give us.
Cf. John 6:15
Homily, Eucharistic Celebration, October 1995.
Ibid.
Amen, spot on! Thank you!