HIS ABIDING EMANCIPATION – John 8:20-36
(v.20) Jesus was teaching in the treasury area on the Temple mount, in
Jerusalem. The treasury was in the “court of the women” on the temple mount – it consists of
thirteen chests for offerings; the thirteenth was for the offering of women only. Many believe the
other twelve were placed there in reference to the twelve tribes of Israel; each inscribed with the
name of one of Jacob's twelve sons. (Lighffoot: Adam Clarke's Commentary). (v.21-24) The Lord reiterates
the fact that He is going away, speaking of His ascension. He also warns that
apart from His divine emancipation, through faith in Him, they would die in
their sins. This is the sobering message of the gospel. (1 John 5:11, 12) And this is
the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son
has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
(v.25-27) The world continues to ask the same question today! But from the
beginning of His ministry Christ clearly declared who He was. In His
conversation with the woman at the well: (4:25, 26) – I know that Messiah is
coming…Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” (v.26) Jesus could have said
many things regarding their iniquities: their pride, wicked ambitions,
hypocrisy, hatred of the light, and malice against the truth; all of which was
deserving of God’s righteous judgment! But Jesus came declaring His Father’s
desire, for emancipation (freedom), rather than condemnation! “He who
sent me is true”; in other words, whatever God has declared through the
prophets, and His Messiah, will come to pass.
(v.28-30) Here the Lord is speaking of His crucifixion (v.28a). In Numbers
21:4-9, due to the children of Israel’s rebellion against God, the Lord sent poisonous serpents
into the camp of Israel; those who were bitten died, however God in His mercy instructed Moses
to fashion a bronze serpent and lift it up on a pole. Those who looked to the serpent would be
healed (saved); it was a portrait of the cross. Jesus became a curse for us, and was lifted up on
the cross; and all who have sinned, been bitten by the serpent, and yet, through faith in Christ,
(ttt) (3:14, 15). “When I am lifted up,” then you will
know, have evidence of the fact, that I am the Messiah! When He was
crucified: there was an earthquake, darkness, veil torn from top to bottom, bodies raised from
look to the cross, will be saved!
the dead (Matthew 27:45-54); and most importantly His resurrection – all serve as testament to
His deity, and the fact that He was indeed - the Messiah!
(v.30) “Many believed.” To them Jesus gives the definition of true
discipleship. (v.31, 32). Jesus has a lot to say about abiding in John 15; but
here He stresses that abiding is essential to experiencing freedom, divine
emancipation, in Him! Abide – meno: to stay (in a place, state, relation or expectancy).
(ttt) Psalm 62:5-8.
There are five attributes of abiding found in Psalm 62:5-8. (1) quiet confidence.
(v.5a) the Hebrew word for wait: to be dumb or dumbfounded, to “perish.” If I’m constantly
running my mouth it may be evidence of the fact that I’m not trusting (resting) in the Lord! (2)
expectation. (v.5b) I’m never really disappointed, because my ultimate expectation is in God and
not man; (3) firm foundation. (v.6) my defense, I will not be moved, despite changing
circumstances; (4) glory. (v.7) my strength - the Hebrew word for strength: my force, security,
majesty, and praise. Thus, He alone is my refuge (shelter); (5) Trust. (v.8) I can “pour out my
heart” to Him; Hebrews 4:15, 16 - we have a “High Priest” who is able to sympathize with our
weaknesses – therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace; because He can be trusted!
By abiding in His word, we gain the knowledge of life giving truth; and that
truth makes us free! Make – eleuthero: to liberate (as a citizen and not a slave). President
Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. The moment it
went into effect on January 1, 1863, every slave living in the Confederacy was legally free. But
until they knew of their freedom, the legal fact had no impact on their lives. In fact, Union
soldiers carried hundreds of thousands of copies of the proclamation and passed them out as
Many slaves, in the south, were
ignorant of their emancipation for months, due to the slow means of
communication and direct opposition to the proclamation.
they made their way through the South during the war.
Thus, many did not receive news of the proclamation until around June 1865, when Major
General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas with news, on June 19th 1865, that the war
had ended and that the enslaved were now free – some two and a half years after the
proclamation was issued. Two thousand years ago, Jesus made an “emancipation
proclamation,” of everlasting liberation! But due to direct opposition, selfimposed and otherwise, many are ignorant of this fact, that in Christ they
have been set free – made “citizens,” with full rights and privileges, of
heaven! (Ephesians 2:19) Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but
fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
Self-delusion robs us of our liberation in Christ! (v.33) They were being
delusional here. Like many today, they were willfully blind to their own
bondage. At this point in history, they were in bondage to the Roman Empire; in the past they
were in bondage to the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Empires. (v.34-36) A slave, one
enslaved under the penalty of sin, cannot abide in the Father’s, house
forever! But if the Son, the natural and rightful heir of all things, who is from
the Father, makes you free, “you shall be free indeed!”
APPLICATION: In Christ we have been “emancipated,” yet many believers,
spiritually speaking, are living under “Jim Crow” laws. After emancipation in 1890
“Jim Crow” laws were enacted by the former Confederate States of America; racist separatists
enacted separate but equal laws, which were anything but equal, in order to oppress, or keep
blacks in “their place!” The devil wants to keep you in “your place,” languishing
away under the laws of fear and intimidation. (ttt) Romans 6:12-18. With holy
resolve, we must resist the temptation to be a slave to sin! One of the post-Civil War African
American freedom songs, popularized during the Civil Rights Movement in the fifties and sixties,
was entitled “OH Freedom.” The words of the chorus: “Oh freedom, oh freedom, oh freedom over
me – And before I’d be a slave I’ll be buried in my grave – And go home to my Lord and be free.”
The “key” to daily liberation is more of Jesus, and less of me. Speaking to a large
audience, D.L. Moody held up a glass and asked, “How can I get the air out of this glass?” One
man shouted, “Suck it out with a pump!” Moody replied, “That would create a vacuum and
shatter the glass.” After numerous other suggestions Moody smiled, picked up a pitcher of water,
and filled the glass. “There,” he said, “all the air is now removed.” He then went on to explain
that victory in the Christian life is not accomplished by “sucking out a sin here and there,” but by
being filled with the Holy Spirit. How? Jesus said, “abide in My word.”
CONCLUSION: Are you free today?