Ep. 39 John 8: 31-41 From Slave to Son – True Freedom and True Family

In Episode 39 of Engage the Scripture, Jeff and Brent explore John 8:31–41, where Jesus calls believers to move beyond shallow faith into true discipleship. Discover what it really means to abide in His word, the difference between slavery to sin and freedom in the Son, and how your daily life reveals which family you truly belong to.

This powerful teaching reminds us: It’s not about your religious heritage — it’s about whose child you really are. If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to EngageDescripture Podcast. Exploring the culture. Languages. And the event that's taken writing. We are excited to be with you today as we engage the scripture together. To learn more, visit our website at engagedscripture.com.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Hello, hello, and welcome back to Engage the Scripture. Thank you for joining me. We have Britt back in the chair with us today. Good to have you back, my friend.

SPEAKER_02 0:33

Thanks, Jeff. Hey, I've missed being here. But yeah, I'm ready to engage the scripture with everybody today.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Alright. Let's take a minute and recap where we've been in chapters 7 and 8 before we move on. We want to do this because this section can feel a little confusing if you're not familiar with it. In John 7, we were in the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, that major seven-day festival which is full of deep symbolism. The religious leaders are fed up with Jesus. They send officers to arrest him because of the growing excitement among the people, but the officers come back empty handed, saying, Never a man spoke like this man. The tension keeps building through the rest of this chapter. Then on the last day of the feast, the seventh day, Jesus stands up and says, He is the source of living water. If any man thirsts, let him come to me. That's John 7, 37 through 39. Well, the people are divided, some believe in him, others don't believe, and just want him gone. Then we hit a very important section in the Gospel of John, from John 7 53 to John 8, verse 11, we have the well-known story of the woman caught in adultery. Most Bible scholars agree this passage was not original to the text or written by John. Scholars believe it was added later by scribes. If you missed that, go back and listen to episode 36 for those details. So if we start with the added section in chapter 7, verse 53, it says, Then they all went home. This little verse was likely added to create a clean break. It signals that the feast day is over and everyone has gone home for the night. Then the next morning, Jesus returns to the temple, that's John 8, 1 and 2, the story of the woman caught in adultery unfolds. And right after that, in John 8 and 12, Jesus says, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Because of this inserted story of the woman caught in adultery, many scholars believe John 8 and 12 takes place on the eighth day of the festival, known as Shimony Atzeret. It was the solemn closing day that follows the seven-day feast of tabernacles. Even though the main week of feasting is technically over, the imagery from the festival is still incredibly fresh. Every night during tabernacle, these giant lampstands in the temple courts lit up the entire city of Jerusalem. So when Jesus declares, I am the light of the world, and then the very next morning comes to the temple to teach, he is stepping into that powerful kind of visual and saying, I am what those lights are pointing to. And this is classic Johannine theology. John loves to show Jesus as the true fulfillment of the Jewish festivals. The added story of the woman caught in adultery creates a slight shift in the timing, but it doesn't break the overall message. It gives us this beautiful moment where Jesus offers mercy to the woman and then immediately presents himself as the light that overcomes darkness.

SPEAKER_02 3:58

Wow, you guys have covered a lot of ground in the past two weeks since I've been out. Just shows you how much you can miss in just a couple weeks' time.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Yeah, you're right, and it's a lot, and that's not all. From verse 12 onward, right after Jesus declares, I am the light of the world, the Pharisees, they want to challenge his words. But Jesus makes it clear that his words are true because the Father Himself stands with him and confirms that what he says is true. Then Jesus gives a warning. He says, I am going away, and you will seek me and you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am He. Well, the Pharisees misunderstand what he meant. They thought he was talking about going to some far off place or dying, but what Jesus was really saying was that they would die separated from God if they keep rejecting him. This connects directly to what Jesus says in verse 23 about being from above or from below. From below doesn't mean hell. It means belonging to this fallen world that resist God. From above means coming from the Father, from heaven, from God's presence and purpose. Jesus' followers are not of this world. Their identity is tied to him, not to the ways of this fallen order. So up through verse 30, we see Jesus revealing who he really is. We also see him confronting unbelief, and we see him inviting people to trust and follow him. And the good news is that some actually believed, which leads us to our discussion today, starting in verse 31. Jesus turns to those who believed and begins to tell them what real discipleship looks like. Brent, if you will, let's begin there. Please go ahead and read for us verse 31 through 33, and we'll make a few comments.

SPEAKER_02 6:02

Okay, let's get started. Verse 31 to 33. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. They answered him, We are offsprings of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free?

SPEAKER_01 6:25

All right. Jesus is now speaking to those who had believed in him, but we need to be careful here. If you remember in John's Gospel, belief can sometimes be shallow or wavering. We saw this earlier in chapter two, where many people believed because they saw miracles, but Jesus didn't fully trust them. We saw this again in chapter six, when many disciples walked away as soon as his teachings got difficult. So Jesus pushes them to go a little deeper here. He says, If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples. Alright, so let's break that down. The word abide is really important. In the Greek it's meno, which means to remain, to stay, to dwell, or to continue. It's about loyalty, staying put even when things get hard. Think of marriage. You don't just visit the house, you live there and remain faithful. Now notice he says if you abide in my word, and in John's gospel, this means his teachings, his message, everything he has revealed about the Father. Put those together and you get this picture of rabbi and disciple. When Jesus says, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciple, the word disciple is Mathetes, which means a learner, a pupil, or an apprentice. In the Jewish world, this was like being a Talmud, which is a student who stayed close to his rabbi, learned his ways, and patterned his whole life after him. A disciple didn't just listen to his teacher. He imitated him in everything. So to abide in his word means letting his truth shape your daily life, staying loyal to it even when it's difficult or unpopular.

SPEAKER_02 8:23

Man, that's a great breakdown. Let his words, his truth, shape your daily life and stay loyal to it no matter what.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

Now let's look at this wonderful promise that Jesus gives those who abide in his word. So I have a question for our listeners today. Do you want to know the truth? In a world that is full of lies and competing voices, truth can be hard to come by. But if you really want to know the truth, then abide in his words. In John's gospel, truth isn't just facts or ideas. It's knowing Jesus Himself. Jesus says, You will know the truth. He means that if you continue in his teaching, you will come to know him personally. And knowing him brings real freedom, freedom from sin's grip, freedom from darkness, and freedom to live as God's children who know right from wrong. That's the freedom Jesus is offering. Dr. Carson calls this salvation truth. Dr. Bloom reminds us it's freedom from sin, not freedom from Rome. And Dr. Michael stresses that it's relational, staying with Jesus so his words shape your life.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

Awesome. Then in verse 33, they responded, We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves to anyone.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

Now watch how they respond to Jesus. He says the truth will set you free, and immediately they push back. Why? Because they completely misunderstand him. Jesus is talking about freedom from sin, but they hear it as a challenge to their identity. These men aren't blind to Rome. They know Rome rules them. They pay Roman taxes, they see Roman soldiers on every street. So why would they claim to be free? It's because in their minds, freedom wasn't political, it was covenant identity. To them, being Abraham's descendants wasn't just family history. It was their whole sense of who they were. It meant they were God's chosen people, heirs of the covenant, the promises, the land, and God's blessings. So when Jesus says they need to be set free, they hear something very different. They hear your Abrahamic identity isn't enough. And that hits their pride. That's why they say we've never been slaves. They're not making a historical claim. Israel had been slaves in Egypt, exiled in Babylon, and was under Roman rule right then. What they are doing is making a theological claim. We are Abraham's children, we are God's free people. And this is exactly where their shallow faith is exposed. As Dr. Carson points out, they can't see their real problem, slavery to sin. So they can't understand the freedom Jesus is offering. And the Apostle Paul will later say the same thing in Galatians 3. To truly belong to Abraham's family, you must belong to Christ. Only in Christ do Jews and Gentiles become Abraham's true offspring.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

Right. The freedom Jesus is offering is freedom from sin.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Yes, and not only that, it's freedom from Satan's rule and freedom to live as true children of God. Brent, here's the real conflict in these verses. Some of the people actually believed in Jesus, but he's challenging them to count the cost of following him. True discipleship abides in his word. They stay when things get hard. They continue, they hold fast. False discipleship looks good for a while, but they stumble and fall away when things get hard. And John is pulling back the curtain so we can clearly see the difference.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

Verse 34 through 36. Jesus answered them, Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who practice sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever, the son remains forever. So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

Alright, now John cuts right to the heart of the matter. He starts with that phrase he uses when he really wants us to listen. Truly, truly or amen, amen. We've talked about this before. The double truly means pay attention. This is straight from the Father. This is reality as God sees it. Then he says, Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. It describes someone who keeps on practicing sin, an ongoing pattern, a lifestyle shaped by sin's rule. This isn't about a believer who stumbles and gets back up. It's not a weak moment or wrestling with a hard area in your life. It's not something you hate but haven't fully overcome. And the grammar itself rules that out. It describes a person who keeps choosing sin, not a person who keeps resisting it. And all the scholars agree, Carson, Harris, Michaels, Keener, and many others. Jesus is talking about ongoing allegiance. Whose side are you really on? This is master and slave language. It's family language. Paul's going to say the same thing in Romans six. You become a slave to whoever you obey. Sin is like a cruel master that owns you. So Jesus is saying your everyday behavior shows who your real master is. Then Jesus talks about a picture that everyone in his day would understand, the household. He says the slave does not remain in the house forever. In the ancient world, a slave could live in the master's house, work there, even get some protection. But he was never truly family. A slave could be sent away. A slave could be sold. A slave had no permanent place and no inheritance. But a son, a true son, belongs forever. Jesus is drawing a clear line. You might be in Abraham's house physically. These folks were proud of their family tree, but that doesn't make you Abraham's true children. It's not about bloodline, it's about family resemblance. It's about whose house you really belong to in your heart. Then Jesus says that famous line, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. In that culture, the Son, the heir, had the legal right to set a slave free and welcome him into the family permanently. Jesus is saying, I'm that son, I have the full authority of the Father. And when the Son sets you free, you are truly free, free from sin's penalty, free from sin's power, and one day free from sin's very presence. So here's the good news for every believer listening today. Freedom is not about being perfect. Freedom is about belonging. It's about living under the Son's loving authority instead of sin's cruel one. A son may stumble, he may struggle, a son may sin and need to repent, but a son remains in the house forever. Let me be clear, this passage is not talking about weak disciples who are trying to follow Jesus. It's talking about false disciples, people who hear Jesus' words, but refuse to obey them, who claim to be Abraham's children, but live like they belong to a different master.

SPEAKER_02 16:06

Then in verse 37 through 38, Jesus goes on to say, I know that you are offsprings of Abraham, yet you seek to kill me because my words find no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my father, and you do what you have heard from your father.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

Now Jesus turns directly to their claim, we are Abraham's descendants, and Jesus says, Yes, physically, but spiritually, your actions tell a different story. This physical descent is the least important level of identity. True kinship is shown by conduct, belief, and love. Then Jesus says, My word finds no place in you. That's the issue, not ancestry, not tradition, and not heritage. It's all about whether his words find a home in your heart. Then Jesus draws this line. I speak what I've seen with my father, and you do what you have heard from your father. This is the moment the whole chapter turns. Jesus is saying, We don't have the same father. We don't belong to the same household. Yeah, they're not following the same voice. That's right. This is a family identity confrontation. And every scholar agrees. Wright, Heiser, Farley, Carson, Michaels, Harris, Lazorkian Eisenberg, they all agree this is not about Rome. This is not about politics. And this is not about Torah study. This is not about sin management. This is about who your master is and whose family you belong to. So here's what's happening in this passage. Some believed in Jesus, but they didn't abide in his word. Some claimed Abraham, but they didn't act like Abraham. Some claimed freedom, but they were enslaved to sin. Some claimed God, but they rejected his son. And Jesus is saying, Your allegiance reveals your identity. Your obedience reveals your master. Your response to my word reveals your father. For those who abide, for those who stay, for those who let his word shape their lives, the Son sets them free, and they remain in the house forever. When he says the Son sets you free, the Greek verb means to liberate, to release, to set free from bondage. The Son doesn't just declare freedom, he creates it. He acts to free you. He breaks the power of the old master.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

So it's an active, ongoing action. It's something he keeps doing, not something he did once and walked away from.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

Right. That's liberation language. That's action. He's not just giving you a label. He's breaking your old master's hold on you and bringing you into the Father's house.

SPEAKER_02 18:54

Okay, so when Jesus talks about sin being the pattern of your life, he's not talking about our struggles. He's not talking about gray areas or battles you haven't fully overcome. He's talking about ongoing allegiance, a life shaped by sin's rule. A believer may stumble, he may wrestle or be unsure about something, but stumbling is not slavery. Right. Slavery is when sin is your master. And if you belong to Jesus, sin is no longer your master, your family.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

That's right. Slavery is when sin is your master. Some folks have been taught that if you struggle, or if you mess up, or if you're wrestling with something, you're out of the family. But that's not what Jesus is saying at all. Struggle doesn't mean slavery. Struggle means you're fighting. Slavery is when you've given sin the steering wheel. Think of it like this it's all about which God you're loyal to. Struggle does not change your loyalty.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

Yeah, that's right. So stay in the fight. Keep seeking his direction. Yeah, that's right. So just stay in the fight. Keep seeking his direction. A lot of people feel beat up because they don't have it all together. But Jesus isn't asking for perfect. He's asking for loyalty.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

And Brent, that is the thing we have to remember, or the enemy will have a heyday with your mind and emotions. Proverbs says a righteous person may fall seven times, but they get back up. Falling doesn't mean you're out. Getting back up shows who you really belong to.

SPEAKER_02 20:26

Okay, verse 39. They answered him. Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

These words from Jesus are explosive. These leaders built their entire identity on being Abraham's descendants. So when Jesus says, if you were really Abraham's children, you would act like him, he's not just correcting, he's striking at the very heart of their authority, their status, and the relationship with God. He's basically saying, Abraham welcomed God's messenger, but you're trying to kill the one God sent. And that kind of statement is pushing this conversation straight towards the explosion that's coming.

SPEAKER_02 21:08

So what exactly are the works of Abraham that Jesus is talking about?

SPEAKER_01 21:13

That's a great question, and it's really important because it cuts right to the center of their identity. The works of Abraham boil down to three things. First, Abraham believed God. When God spoke, Abraham trusted him. His whole life was built on faith. Second, Abraham welcomed God's messengers. In Genesis 18, when the Lord appeared to him, Abraham ran to greet him. He honored him and received his word. He didn't resist God's revelation, he embraced it. Then thirdly, Abraham obeyed God. His faith always led to action. When God called, he responded.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

Okay, so he is telling them if you were truly Abraham's children, you would respond to me the same way Abraham responded. Honor to God with faith, welcome, and obedience.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

That's it. And they are not doing that. Instead, they are rejecting and trying to kill the very one God sent. That's why this is so devastating. Jesus is not just challenging them, he's exposing that they don't resemble Abraham at all. And for these Jewish leaders, that would be a hard pill to swallow.

SPEAKER_02 22:22

Okay, final verse for today, 40 through 41. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You were doing the works your father did. Then they said to him, We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one father, even God.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

If you remember, Jesus already brought this up back in chapter seven about seeking to kill him. But the plot to kill him actually started all the way back in chapter five. So here he's just repeating it, using their own history against them. Their own history shows a pattern of resisting God's messengers. And Jesus contrasts that with Abraham, who welcomed God's revelation.

SPEAKER_02 23:05

So they're defending their spiritual status pretty strongly.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

Very strongly. Jesus just challenged their spiritual fatherhood, and they push right back. We are not born of fornication. We have one father, even God. And that line is loaded. There's a lot packed into it.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

Yeah, what's really behind that claim?

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Scholars generally see two main ways to understand what they meant by we are not born of fornication, sexual immorality. The most common view, they were taking a cheap shot at Jesus. They're implying his birth was illegitimate. It would be like saying, We were not born from an improper relationship, unlike you. It's a slam at the rumors surrounding Mary's pregnancy. The second main view, they're strongly defending their own spiritual legitimacy. They're saying we are not illegitimate children. We belong to God. We have one true Father. In other words, they're claiming to be the pure covenant people of God. And either view, either way, they're pushing back hard against Jesus, challenging their identity. They're refusing to accept that their actions show they don't have the same Father He has.

SPEAKER_02 24:15

Okay, and with that, we're about out of time, so let's wrap it up. Today we saw Jesus calling those who believe in him to something deeper. We learned that real discipleship means abiding in his word. We saw the difference between shallow belief and true disciples who stay low even when it's hard.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

Yes, and then we saw how Jesus exposed the difference between claiming Abraham as your father and actually living like it. And he showed us that real freedom comes only when the sun sets you free.

SPEAKER_02 24:45

Yeah, and I think the big thing to see for a day is that it is not about your family tree or your religious background. It's about whose family you actually belong to. Are you a slave to sin or have you been brought into the son's house forever?

SPEAKER_01 24:59

Great point, Brent. And if you're listening today and you feel like you're still wrestling or stumbling, don't lose heart. A true son or daughter may fall, but they get back up because they belong to Jesus. The sun sets us free and we remain in the house forever.

SPEAKER_02 25:16

Man, that's good news.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

It really is. Next week we'll finish up John chapter 8 and see how this confrontation keeps heating up as Jesus makes some of the strongest claims in the whole gospel. So be sure to come back and engage the scripture with us. Can't wait to see y'all next week. Thanks for joining us, everybody. If this has blessed you, share it with someone. We'll see you next time. Keep abiding in his word. So long, friends.

SPEAKER_00 25:45

You've been listening to Engage the Scripture Podcast, where context reveals the meaning. The Spirit reveals truth, and together they illuminate God's Word. If you have questions or want to dive deeper into today's topic, visit engagethescripture.com. Click on the link. Podcast No. This podcast is for educational and devotional purposes only. The views expressed are those of the host and guest and do not constitute professional advice. Listeners are encouraged to study scripture and seek guidance from trusted spiritual leaders. Used under a royalty free license.