Gene’s Daily Scriptural Postings

Remembering Your Past: John 8:31-59

Focus Passage: John 8:31-59 (NIV)

One thing I have always found interesting about the dialog in this passage is that it seems as though Jesus is interested in ticking the religious leaders off. The passage opens by pointing out that Jesus is addressing the Jews who believed in Him, and it ends with them picking up stones to throw at Him.

However, one response they give Jesus stands out in my mind. In verse 33, they respond by saying, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

While Jesus is clearly referring to being trapped in a sinful lifestyle, reading the response these leaders give Jesus makes me think they have truly fallen out of touch with their nation’s history. There were hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt, many back-to-back decades of slavery during the period of the judges when the people left worshiping God, and then a little event called the exile where the Assyrians and the Babylonians almost completely emptied the nation of Israel & Judah taking the people away to be slaves.

Interestingly enough, when Moses reminds the nation of Israel about the Ten Commandments before handing the leadership over to Joshua, he shifts the reason behind the Sabbath commandment to one that focused on Israel’s history (instead of focusing on humanity’s origin). When God shared the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, He gives the following reason for blessing the seventh day in verse 11: “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

However, when Moses reminds the nation of Israel about the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5, he instead gives this reason in verse 15: “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.”

What Moses did here is fascinating, and putting his words next to the response the Jewish leaders give Jesus shows just how far they had forgotten their heritage. By saying that they had never been slaves to anyone, they are also choosing to ignore Moses, who told them to remember their former slavery in Egypt. The generation Moses told was mostly born while wandering the desert, so technically, they wouldn’t have known the life of slavery like their parents had.

This leads into the big idea I see in this passage: Don’t forget where you came from, or the struggles you faced while making it to where you are right now. It is easier to see how God has moved in the past bringing you to where you are right now. Looking for God in the present is possible, but He is harder to see as clearly.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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