John 8:31-36
The Reformation Shines the Spotlight on The Truth!
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (NIV1984)
Dear fellow heirs of the Lutheran Reformation,
While we may be a little bias when it comes to the blessings that we enjoy as a result of the Reformation, there is no denying that through the Reformation God blessed His Church in a myriad of ways. For example, God gave Martin Luther both the ability and the desire to translate the Bible into the language of the people so that they could hear and learn the truths of Scripture in their mother tongue. Through the Reformation God saw to it that a clear emphasis was placed on music and singing so that the truths of Scripture could be taught and learned by means of hymns. Through the Reformation God restored what we now know as the Priesthood of All Believers, namely, that every Christian has the right to approach God directly in prayer on behalf of others and every Christian has the right to speak to others on behalf of God. While we may indeed be a little bit bias when it comes to the blessings that we enjoy as a result of the Reformation, there is no denying that the Reformation was a powerful tool through which God Himself blessed His Church in many wonderful ways.
One of the clearest examples of this is found here in our text for today. This morning as we gather together to celebrate the Festival of the Reformation let’s see how these words of our Savior remind us that: The Reformation Shines the Spotlight on The Truth!
Jesus spoke these words of our text while He was in the Temple in Jerusalem. (See 8:20) A large crowd had gathered to hear Jesus teach. This crowd contained many people who believed in Jesus and what He was teaching. In fact, in the verse directly preceding our text John tells us, “Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him” (8:30). At the same time this crowd also included people who rejected Jesus and what He was teaching. It is because of the fact that this crowd was divided that John writes, “To the Jews who believed in him Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”
There are two things we need to highlight here. First, there is only one way to be a disciple of Jesus. Everyone who wants or claims to be Jesus’ disciples must “hold” to His “teaching.” The word that is translated here as “hold” very literally means, “to remain, stay, abide, live, dwell.” The word that is translated as “teaching” can also be translated as “word” or “message.”
As Lutheran Christians we understand that our discipleship, our “connection” to Jesus is based on “holding” to His “teaching.” When we “remain” or “abide” in the sphere of His “word,” when we “live” or “dwell” in the sphere of the “message” He has given to us then we have the joy and the confidence of knowing that we are His disciples! (Pointing to the cross) Any and every deviation from His “word,” any and every rejection of the “message” that Jesus has given to us jeopardizes our “connection” with Him and damages our discipleship. That’s why Sola Scriptura, Scripture Alone, is one of the central pillars in the Lutheran Reformation. My opinion does not count. Your opinion does not count. The only thing that counts is Scripture!
That reality leads us directly into the second point we need to highlight here. That point is found in Jesus’ words, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Note very carefully that Jesus equates His “teaching,” His “Word,” with “the truth.” When you “hold” to or “abide” in Jesus’ “word” then you have “the truth.” Without or apart from Jesus’ “teaching” there is no “truth”! Jesus emphasizes this exact same point when He prays to His heavenly Father on the evening of Maundy Thursday, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). We also cannot overlook how Jesus clearly emphasizes that His “teaching,” His “word,” is “the truth”— not “a truth,” not “one of many truths” but “the truth”!
By the grace and power of God the Reformation once again shined the spotlight on “the truth.” It is this emphasis on “the truth” of Scripture that brought true spiritual freedom to Martin Luther. It is this emphasis on “the truth” of Scripture that continues to bring true spiritual freedom to us. And it is this emphasis on “the truth” that we are able to bring true spiritual freedom to others. Why do we need “the truth” to “set us free”? Just look at what John records for us here in our text. “They (the people in the Temple who rejected both Jesus and His Word) answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free’”?
Somehow these “descendants of Abraham” overlooked the fact that they were once slaves in the land of Egypt. Somehow these “descendants of Abraham” overlooked the fact that they were now living under the iron fist of the Roman Empire. Politically they were anything but “free”!
If, however, they were talking about spiritual freedom and not political freedom, Jesus had a very strong eye-opening message for them. He said, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Scripture proclaims “the truth” when it says to us that by nature we are all born “slaves.” We are born “slaves” to sin. We are born “slaves” to death. We are born “slaves” to Satan. And since by nature we are all born “slaves” there is nothing that we can do to “free” ourselves. In his early life as a monk Martin Luther felt the soul-crushing reality of this truth. He had been taught and he believed that he had to earn God’s favor, he had to earn his salvation by doing good works. But deep in his soul Martin Luther knew. He knew that if his eternal salvation depended on what he did, if he had to earn God’s forgiveness, if everything depended on his efforts— he was lost.
In His grace and in His mercy God the Holy Spirit took away Luther’s fear by shining the spotlight on the “the truth”! In His grace and in His mercy God the Holy Spirit led Martin Luther to the central truth of Scripture, the truth we heard in our Epistle Lesson for today (Romans 3:19-28), “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” This is how and this is why Sola Fide, by Faith Alone, became one of the central pillars of the Lutheran Reformation!
This is the spiritual “freedom” that everyone needs! Why? Because of what Jesus tells us, “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” The fact that all people are born “slaves to sin” automatically means that if left on their own everyone is ruled by sin. Everyone is helpless and defenseless against sin. No one could avoid or break away from sin. And ultimately this means that if left on their own everyone will endure the “wages of sin” which is “death”— physical death, spiritual death, and eternal death.
This reality gives even more power to Jesus’ words, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” This brings us right back to “the truth” that everyone so desperately needs to hear. This is “the truth” that the Reformation once again brought back into clear focus. This is “the truth” that is summarized in the words Sola Gratia, by Grace Alone. God’s amazing grace led Him to send His own Son into this world to live a perfect life in our place and then willingly endure the punishment that we deserve. (Pointing to the cross) God’s amazing grace assures us that the Son of God Himself has done everything that was necessary to “set us free”— “free” from our slavery to sin, “free” from our slavery to death, “free” from our slavery to Satan. God’s amazing grace guarantees to us that through faith in what Jesus has done for us (Pointing to the cross) we have been given a “place” in the “family” of God! We “belong” to Him— forever! That’s why Sola Gratis, By Grace Alone, is one of the central pillars of the Lutheran Reformation.
Sola Gratia. Sola Fide. Sola Scriptura. By Grace Alone, by Faith Alone, by Scripture Alone. Through Martin Luther and through the Reformation God Himself shined the spotlight on “the truth.” That’s why we celebrate the Reformation each and every year. As heirs of the Reformation, as people who by the power of the Almighty “abide in the truth” of God’s holy Word we need to understand that we are now the ones through whom God continues to shine the spotlight on “the truth.” Look around you, my friends. Look around in your life. Look around in our community. Look around in this world. There are so many people who are still “slaves to sin.” There are so many people who still need to hear “the truth.” What can you do? What can I do? What can we do? Let me suggest two things.
As heirs of the Reformation we can take the blessings that we have inherited from our spiritual ancestors and share them with others— especially the next generation! By both word and example we can impress on others— especially the next generation— how important it is to belong to a church that believes, teaches and confesses “the truth” as God has revealed it to us here in His Word.
Second, as heirs of the Reformation we can use the time, the talents, and yes, the treasures that God has graciously entrusted to our care to support the mission and the ministry of God’s church both here at home and all across the world.
While we may indeed be a little biased when it comes to the blessings we enjoy as heirs of the Lutheran Reformation, my prayer is that we will always shine the spotlight on “the truth”— we are saved by Grace Alone, by Faith Alone and by Scripture Alone!
To God be the glory!
Amen
