Image: Scene from I-64 West, Central Virginia, March 2018
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on John 8:21-32.
And ye shall know the
truth and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32).
What is the truth? Christ is the truth (see John 14:6). And
you shall know the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus Christ shall make you
free.
Christ brings freedom! Here is a great irony: Unbelievers
think that becoming a believer brings restrictions, but, in truth, faith brings
liberty. One is free from the fear of dying in his sins. One is free to know
and obey and serve the Lord.
The language here would have had a very deep impact on the
hearers of the first century who lived in a society in which slavery was
common.
I recently read a book describing the first century Roman
ceremony for freeing a slave, a solemn event that was held before the
magistrate (see William Stearns Davis, A
Day in Old Rome, p. 140).
An official would come forward and tap the slave on the head
lightly with a rod and say, “I declare that this man is free!”
The slave’s master would then turn and say, “I desire that
this man should be free!”
Finally, the magistrate would declare: “And I adjudge that
this man is free.”
And with that he was manumitted and became a libertinus, a free man.
When I read John 8:32 I thought of that description and of Christ
playing all those roles. I hear him saying:
I declare that this man is free!
I desire that this man should be free!
And, I adjudge (declare) that this man is free!
Meditate on the freedom one can have in Christ. Who is your
master? Who has the key to your life and your heart? Is it something or someone
in this life, or is it Christ?
The Lord Jesus Christ holds out this promise to those who
believe in him: You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free!
Grace and peace, Pastor
Jeff Riddle
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