12 “AGAIN therefore Jesus spake unto them, saying, I am the light of the world; He that followeth Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
31 “Jesus therefore said to those Jews which had believed Him, If ye abide in My word, then are ye truly My disciples; 32 and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 33 They answered unto Him, We be Abraham’s seed, and have never yet been in bondage to any man; how sayest Thou, Ye 34 shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every one that committeth sin is the bond- 35 servant of sin. And the bond-servant abideth not in the house 36 forever; the son abideth forever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
Golden Text.—“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Verse 36.
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
(1) When Jesus was in the temple during the feast of tabernacles, what remarkable declaration did He make? V. 12. Note 1. (2) What did He say to those Jews that believed on Him? V. 31. Note 2. (3) What knowledge would they gain by abiding in His Word? And what would be the consequences to them? V. 32. Note 3. (4) What answer did the Jews give? V. 33. Note 4. (5) What reply did Jesus make? V. 34. Note 5. (6) What did Jesus say of a servant? and of the Son? V. 35. Note 6. (7) How can one be made free indeed? V. 36.
NOTES.
1. “The light of the world.”—Jesus used a prominent feature of the feast of tabernacles, then being celebrated, as a symbol of this great truth. He was at this time in the treasury (see verse 20); that is in the court of the women, where were the thirteen treasure chests, with trumpet-shaped openings to receive the gifts of the people. Close behind him, says Canon Farrar, were two great candelabra, seventy-five feet high, on which, every night during the feast, lamps were lighted which shed a soft light for a long distance around. Under these lamps the people, even to the stateliest Pharisees and priests, joined in festivities. At the same time, to the accompaniment of instrumental music, the Levites, drawn up in array on the fifteen steps which led up to the court, chanted the beautiful psalms which early received the title of Song of Degrees. These lights were in commemoration of the pillar of cloud in the wilderness which gave light to the camp of Israel.
2. “If ye abide in My word.”—Here is the key to Christian life and final salvation. The blessing of such abiding is indicated in chap. 15:7: “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” It is through the Word that we must be sanctified. The prayer of Christ for His disciples was, “Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth.” Thus we see that the importance of implicit obedience is limited only by the value of salvation.
3. “The truth shall make you free.”—The Jewish idea of freedom was deliverance from the Roman tyranny. But Jesus knew that their greater need was deliverance from the bondage of sin. However, if Israel had not departed from the truth (“All Thy commandments are truth,” Ps. 119:151), they would have avoided every captivity that they ever suffered. And it is just as true to-day as it ever was that the truth, and only the truth, can make men free. Jesus Christ is the truth (John 14:6), and “if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Verse 36 of lesson.
4. “Were never in bondage.”—Showing a strange condition of blindness to the truth, or an unwillingness to acknowledge the fact that their nation had been in bondage for hundreds of years, and they themselves were in bondage to the Romans at that moment. Showing also to what lengths people will go to defend themselves against the charge of being sinners, instead of confessing and forsaking sin, and turning to Him who alone can make them free.
5. “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.”—No man can claim absolute independence; either he is a servant of righteousness or he is a servant of sin. The verb “committeth” is in the continuous present. It is not to commit a single sinful act, but to live a continually sinful life. The sinner is fettered and restrained from freely doing right. His evil nature and his bad habits have the mastery over him. “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” Rom. 6:12.
6. God had called Israel to the honorable position of His chosen people. “He came to His own, but His own received Him not.” They did not remain faithful. They became the servants of sin, and therefore could not abide. “Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant.” Heb. 3:5. “And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that He did for Israel.” Judges 2:7. Then “they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.” Verse 13. From that time on their course, with occasional times of revival, was in the main downward in the scale of trustworthy service. But the Son, together with all who are born of the Spirit and are faithful to the end of the race, will abide forever.
