p the Son of man, then
shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my
Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with
me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that
please him."

The evident earnestness and profound conviction with which Jesus spoke
caused many of His hearers to believe on Him; and these He addressed
with the promise that if they continued in that belief, and shaped their
lives according to His word, they should be His disciples indeed. A
further promise followed: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free." At these words, so rich in blessing, so full of
comfort for the believing soul, the people were stirred to angry
demonstrations; their Jewish temper was immediately ablaze. To promise
them freedom was to imply that they were not already free. "We be
Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou,
Ye shall be made free?" In their unbridled fanaticism they had forgotten
the bondage of Egypt, the captivity of Babylon, and were oblivious of
their existing state of vassalage to Rome. To say that Israel had never
been in bondage was not only to convict themselves of falsehood but to
stultify themselves wretchedly.

Jesus made it clear that He had not referred to freedom in its physical
or political sense alone, though to this conception their false
disavowal had been directed; the liberty He proclaimed was spiritual
liberty; the grievous bondage from which He would deliver them was the
serfdom of sin. To their vaunted boast that they were free men, not
slaves, He replied: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever
committeth sin is the servant of sin." As a sinner, every one of them
was in slavery. A bond-servant, Jesus reminded them, was allowed in the
master's house by sufferance only; it was not his inherent right to
remain there; his owner could send him away at any time, and might even
sell him to another; but a son of the family had of his own right a
place in his father's home. Now, if the Son of God made them free they
would be free indeed. Though they were of Abrahamic lineage in the
flesh, they were no heirs of Abraham in spirit or works. Our Lord's
mention of His Father as distinct from their father drew forth the angry
reiteration, "Abraham is our father", to which Jesus replied: "If ye
were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye
seek to kill me, a