Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. 36 So if a son frees you, then you will truly be free. 37 I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. 38 I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence; then do what you have heard from the Father.” 39 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. 40 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. 41 You are doing the works of your father!” [So] they said to him, “We are not illegitimate. We have one Father, God.” 42 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.
In John 8:31–42, Jesus calls those who had believed in Him to move beyond mere assent to a living, transformative faith. True discipleship, He teaches, is found in abiding in His word, which alone leads to the knowledge of the truth and the freedom it brings. When His listeners appeal to their lineage from Abraham as a guarantee of spiritual privilege, Jesus exposes the deeper reality: they are not free, but enslaved to sin. Whoever commits sin, He says, is its slave, and only the Son has the authority to grant lasting freedom. He distinguishes between physical and spiritual sonship, declaring that only those who do the works of Abraham—works rooted in faith and obedience—are truly his children. Their desire to kill the one sent from the Father reveals not kinship with Abraham or with God, but a profound estrangement from both.
This confrontation recalls the repeated prophetic critique in Israel’s history: that lineage or external observance is meaningless without interior conversion. The Exodus narrative (Ex. 13:3) prefigured not only liberation from political bondage but, more profoundly, the liberation from sin that Jesus now offers. Proverbs 5:22 describes the sinner bound by his own guilt, an image fulfilled in the spiritual enslavement Jesus identifies. The contrast between Isaac and Ishmael (Gen. 21:10) underscores that not all physical descendants inherit the promise—only those born through faith, as Paul later affirms (Gal. 4:22–31).
Although Israel was called God’s “firstborn son” (Ex. 4:22), Jesus echoes the message of the prophets: not all who bear the name are truly sons unless they live in covenant fidelity (cf. Rom. 9:6–8). Abraham was justified not by bloodline but by faith (Gen. 15:6), and it is this faith that Jesus finds absent in those who now reject Him. The call to “circumcise the heart” (Deut. 10:12–16; Jer. 4:4) emphasized inner renewal over ritual identity—a call Jesus renews as He speaks to those who claim to know God yet refuse to receive the One He has sent. The laments of Isaiah and Malachi against a disobedient and dishonoring people (Isa. 1:2–4; Mal. 1:6) are fulfilled in this encounter.
Altogether, this passage offers both a judgment and an invitation: heritage alone does not make one a child of God. True sonship comes through the freedom Christ offers, and the only path to that freedom is to remain in His word, believe in the One sent by the Father, and walk in the obedience of faith.
This passage unfolds God's plan of salvation by revealing that true freedom and divine filiation come only through union with Christ, who is sent by the Father (Jn. 3:16–17; Rom. 8:14–17). Jesus, the new Moses (cf. Deut. 18:15), offers a greater Exodus—not from Egypt, but from sin and death (Rom. 6:6–7). The rejection of Jesus by many of His hearers echoes Israel’s historical rejection of the prophets, yet God's salvific plan moves forward through those who receive Christ in faith (John 1:12–13).
John 8:31–42 is a poignant call during Lent to examine our hearts: Are we truly free? Have we embraced Christ's word and let it transform us? Lent is a time for conversion, turning from slavery to sin (cf. Joel 2:12–13) and rediscovering our identity as God's children, won through Christ’s Passion.
Lord Jesus, You are the Truth who sets us free. As You once led Israel from slavery, lead us now from the bondage of sin. Circumcise our hearts, that we may be true children of the promise, not by blood, but by faith. Grant us the grace to abide in Your word, to love the One the Father has sent, and to walk in the freedom of Your light. Amen!
Sources
- McSorley, Joseph. An Outline History of the Church by Centuries (From St. Peter to Pius XII). 2nd ed., B. Herder Book Co., 1944.
- Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
- Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: The Pentateuch. Four Courts Press, 2017
- Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, 1990.
- Charpentier, Etienne. How to Read the Old Testament. Translated by John Bowden, 1981.
- Komonchak, Joseph, et al., editors. The New Dictionary of Theology.
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