{"id":457,"date":"2025-08-20T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=457&2025"},"modified":"2025-08-18T18:00:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T00:00:12","slug":"remembering-your-past-john-8-31-59","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/remembering-your-past-john-8-31-59\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Your Past: John 8:31-59"},"content":{"rendered":"
Focus Passage: John 8:31-59 (NIV)<\/div>
\r\n

31\u00a0<\/sup>To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, \u201cIf you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32\u00a0<\/sup>Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.\u201d<\/p>

33\u00a0<\/sup>They answered him, \u201cWe are Abraham\u2019s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?\u201d<\/p>

34\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus replied, \u201cVery truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35\u00a0<\/sup>Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36\u00a0<\/sup>So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37\u00a0<\/sup>I know that you are Abraham\u2019s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38\u00a0<\/sup>I am telling you what I have seen in the Father\u2019s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.\u201d<\/p>

39\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cAbraham is our father,\u201d they answered.<\/p>

\u201cIf you were Abraham\u2019s children,\u201d said Jesus, \u201cthen you would do what Abraham did. 40\u00a0<\/sup>As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41\u00a0<\/sup>You are doing the works of your own father.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cWe are not illegitimate children,\u201d they protested. \u201cThe only Father we have is God himself.\u201d<\/p>

42\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus said to them, \u201cIf God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 43\u00a0<\/sup>Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44\u00a0<\/sup>You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father\u2019s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45\u00a0<\/sup>Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46\u00a0<\/sup>Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don\u2019t you believe me? 47\u00a0<\/sup>Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.\u201d<\/p>

48\u00a0<\/sup>The Jews answered him, \u201cAren\u2019t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?\u201d<\/p>

49\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cI am not possessed by a demon,\u201d said Jesus, \u201cbut I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50\u00a0<\/sup>I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51\u00a0<\/sup>Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.\u201d<\/p>

52\u00a0<\/sup>At this they exclaimed, \u201cNow we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. 53\u00a0<\/sup>Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?\u201d<\/p>

54\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus replied, \u201cIf I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55\u00a0<\/sup>Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56\u00a0<\/sup>Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.\u201d<\/p>

57\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cYou are not yet fifty years old,\u201d they said to him, \u201cand you have seen Abraham!\u201d<\/p>

58\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cVery truly I tell you,\u201d Jesus answered, \u201cbefore Abraham was born, I am!\u201d 59\u00a0<\/sup>At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.<\/p>

Read John 8:31-59<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n

One thing I have always found interesting about the dialog in this passage is that it seems as though Jesus is interested in ticking the religious leaders off. The passage opens by pointing out that Jesus is addressing the Jews who believed in Him, and it ends with them picking up stones to throw at Him.<\/p>\r\n

However, one response they give Jesus stands out in my mind. In verse 33, they respond by saying, \u201cWe are Abraham\u2019s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

While Jesus is clearly referring to being trapped in a sinful lifestyle, reading the response these leaders give Jesus makes me think they have truly fallen out of touch with their nation\u2019s history. There were hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt, many back-to-back decades of slavery during the period of the judges when the people left worshiping God, and then a little event called the exile where the Assyrians and the Babylonians almost completely emptied the nation of Israel & Judah taking the people away to be slaves.<\/p>\r\n

Interestingly enough, when Moses reminds the nation of Israel about the Ten Commandments before handing the leadership over to Joshua, he shifts the reason behind the Sabbath commandment to one that focused on Israel\u2019s history (instead of focusing on humanity\u2019s origin). When God shared the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, He gives the following reason for blessing the seventh day in verse 11: \u201cFor in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\r\n

However, when Moses reminds the nation of Israel about the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5, he instead gives this reason in verse 15: \u201cRemember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\r\n

What Moses did here is fascinating, and putting his words next to the response the Jewish leaders give Jesus shows just how far they had forgotten their heritage. By saying that they had never been slaves to anyone, they are also choosing to ignore Moses, who told them to remember their former slavery in Egypt. The generation Moses told was mostly born while wandering the desert, so technically, they wouldn\u2019t have known the life of slavery like their parents had.<\/p>\r\n

This leads into the big idea I see in this passage: Don\u2019t forget where you came from, or the struggles you faced while making it to where you are right now. It is easier to see how God has moved in the past bringing you to where you are right now. Looking for God in the present is possible, but He is harder to see as clearly.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p>

Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One thing I have always found interesting about the dialog in this passage is that it seems as though Jesus is interested in ticking the religious leaders off. 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