Today’s gospel has one of the most quoted one-liners from scripture ever: “and the truth shall set you free.” I feel like this one-liner gets used out of context and is quite convenient when I need to win an argument or to prove I’m right about something. It’s the first half of this scripture that really resonates today, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” So the truth that will set you free is not my personal truth or what I’ve made up in my mind as the truth? Or the truth is not a statement such as, “you have your truth and I have my truth”? Isn’t the truth connected to how I feel? If it feels true, it must be true? No, IF I remain in the Word or Jesus, THEN I will be a disciple AND in my discipleship the truth WILL BE revealed and when truth is revealed that means lies are dispelled or uncovered and in the tearing down of those lies, I will be free. The only way to know the truth is living in the Word, which is indeed a person, Jesus. Living in Jesus means to love like him and to THINK like him. Our mind is the enemy’s most fertile battlefield and we need to take back that surrendered ground, which is to remain in the word.
I just listened to a talk that spoke to this very point in a way that was fresh and new and powerful. Steve Backlund said, “So every area of my life where I know truth, I am free, and every area of my life where there is a lie I am in bondage. We get saved because we believe IN Jesus, but we will experience transformation and freedom because we believe LIKE Jesus.” How do we believe like Jesus? We remain in the word. Scripture reveals Jesus and how he thinks. We need the mind of Christ in order to have the heart of Christ. Both are necessary and both are poured out through the Holy Spirit on the pages of scripture. The thing about reading the Word, is that we actually receive his presence every time we do. In liturgy we believe that the hearing of the Word is as much a reception of Jesus in the flesh as Holy Communion. “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” If we do this daily, consistently, faithfully, and wholeheartedly, we will put on the mind of Christ and the mind of Christ does not listen to, believe, or entertain lies of any sort. The mind of Christ only hears and knows the truth. Lies hold us in bondage and the truth releases us from bondage. Lies are anchored or chained to the past, whereas the truth is propelled by hope.
In today’s gospel, the Pharisees are still struggling with their own identity, as are most of us if we are being honest. Jesus gives us a way for us to know our true identity, “remain in my word.” God’s love letter to His children is the Word made flesh and it is there that we will find whose we are. Our DNA is the Holy Spirit and the only way to know that is to spend time in that. Jesus teaches us that to remain in his word we must show radical mercy, unconditional love, tenderness, kindness, welcome to the sinner, unrestricted forgiveness, and we must lay down our life for our friends. In his word there is no condemnation, no fear, and no judgment, but there is peace, peace, peace, and more peace. To love God first is the only way that we can love each other. These are the truths that will set us free.
The gospel of John is known as the relationship gospel and Jesus has been really emphasizing that if we know him personally then we know the Father. Yesterday in the memory care unit, we had the most amazing discussion about our parents. Dementia really affects short-term memory, but somehow long-term memory remains in tact a lot of times. I was hesitant to even begin the discussion for fear that no one would have anything to share about their parents and that their lack of memory would make them feel shame, however, I was so overwhelmed by their response. When I asked them to share about their parents and the important lessons they taught, my friends who have a very hard time communicating in the now or five minutes ago, took me on a journey to their past where they knew exactly who they were. They shared details of their upbringing and affectionate stories of their parents that warmed my heart and made my eyes wet. A few of them cried themselves in the remembering and I was humbled by the grace that entered the room as each person’s identity was restored. In that moment they remembered who they were and in that place of identity, truth set them free. My friends, who are often trapped in confused minds, were set free by their identity in love. I was wrecked, as I often am these days in memory care, wrecked by mercy, saved by grace, and set free by the truth that love is who I am, because He first loved me. “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” It is well with my soul.
Reading 1 DN 3:14-20, 91-92, 95
King Nebuchadnezzar said:
"Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
that you will not serve my god,
or worship the golden statue that I set up?
Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made,
whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet,
flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe,
and all the other musical instruments;
otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace;
and who is the God who can deliver you out of my hands?"
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar,
"There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you
in this matter.
If our God, whom we serve,
can save us from the white-hot furnace
and from your hands, O king, may he save us!
But even if he will not, know, O king,
that we will not serve your god
or worship the golden statue that you set up."
King Nebuchadnezzar's face became livid with utter rage
against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual
and had some of the strongest men in his army
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
and cast them into the white-hot furnace.
Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles,
"Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?"
"Assuredly, O king," they answered.
"But," he replied, "I see four men unfettered and unhurt,
walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God."
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed,
"Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him;
they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies
rather than serve or worship any god
except their own God."
"Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
that you will not serve my god,
or worship the golden statue that I set up?
Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made,
whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet,
flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe,
and all the other musical instruments;
otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace;
and who is the God who can deliver you out of my hands?"
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar,
"There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you
in this matter.
If our God, whom we serve,
can save us from the white-hot furnace
and from your hands, O king, may he save us!
But even if he will not, know, O king,
that we will not serve your god
or worship the golden statue that you set up."
King Nebuchadnezzar's face became livid with utter rage
against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual
and had some of the strongest men in his army
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
and cast them into the white-hot furnace.
Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles,
"Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?"
"Assuredly, O king," they answered.
"But," he replied, "I see four men unfettered and unhurt,
walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God."
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed,
"Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him;
they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies
rather than serve or worship any god
except their own God."
Responsorial PsalmDANIEL 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56
R. (52b) Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages."
R. Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever."
R. Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim;
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever."
R. Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven,
praiseworthy and glorious forever."
R. Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
And blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages."
R. Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
R. Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever."
R. Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim;
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever."
R. Glory and praise for ever!
"Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven,
praiseworthy and glorious forever."
R. Glory and praise for ever!
Verse Before The Gospel SEE LK 8:15
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
Gospel JN 8:31-42
Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him,
"If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham
and have never been enslaved to anyone.
How can you say, 'You will become free'?"
Jesus answered them, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
A slave does not remain in a household forever,
but a son always remains.
So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.
I know that you are descendants of Abraham.
But you are trying to kill me,
because my word has no room among you.
I tell you what I have seen in the Father's presence;
then do what you have heard from the Father."
They answered and said to him, "Our father is Abraham."
Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children,
you would be doing the works of Abraham.
But now you are trying to kill me,
a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God;
Abraham did not do this.
You are doing the works of your father!"
So they said to him, "We were not born of fornication.
We have one Father, God."
Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me,
for I came from God and am here;
I did not come on my own, but he sent me."
"If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham
and have never been enslaved to anyone.
How can you say, 'You will become free'?"
Jesus answered them, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
A slave does not remain in a household forever,
but a son always remains.
So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.
I know that you are descendants of Abraham.
But you are trying to kill me,
because my word has no room among you.
I tell you what I have seen in the Father's presence;
then do what you have heard from the Father."
They answered and said to him, "Our father is Abraham."
Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children,
you would be doing the works of Abraham.
But now you are trying to kill me,
a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God;
Abraham did not do this.
You are doing the works of your father!"
So they said to him, "We were not born of fornication.
We have one Father, God."
Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me,
for I came from God and am here;
I did not come on my own, but he sent me."
Beautiful Jen! I love you telling stories from the memory care unit, this is definitely where you are meant to be at this moment. May God bless you. Love you.
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