John 8:31-33
Then Jesus 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 slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, “You will be made free”?’
Sometimes we just don’t want to know. Sometimes we know, but we just don’t want to hear it. Sometimes we don’t know and we don’t want to hear it either. Reading this passage makes me think about the movie “A Few Good Men” and Colonel Nathan R. Jessep’s dramatic courtroom confession, masterfully engineered by the young and inexperienced U.S Navy Judge Advocate lawyer, Lt. Junior Grade Daniel Kaffee’s dogged cross examination of the war-hardened colonel. “You want answers?”, the crusty colonel demands. “We want the truth”, implores Kaffee, though no one is ready for it. “YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH”, roars the now out-of-control colonel.
The Jews at the Mount of Olives thought they were free; they thought they knew the truth. After all, they were children of Abraham. But, they had never really been free nor had they lived - or even known - the truth. Their lives were chained to sin, dominated by it as surely as if dominated by the sting of a master’s whip, just as ours are today. Only by accepting Christ into one’s heart, wholly and completely, living like him day after day, minute by wonderful minute, can we escape this bondage, this slavery that is life without Christ. Freedom is not easy and certainly was never free. Can you handle the truth?
Jonathan Gray
Visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for a full calendar and join us Wednesday for midweek Lenten worship. Dinner is served at 6:15 and worship (Holden Evening Prayer) is at 7 pm. This week's faith-sharer is Kevin Drucker.
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