Reformation Sunday | 26.10.2025 | John 8:31-36 | Judson F. Merrell |

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, „If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.“
³³ 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?“
³⁴ Jesus replied, „Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.
³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
 (Joh 8:31-36 NIV)

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate it, the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and ordinary lecturer therein at Wittenberg, intends to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in that place. Therefore he asks that those who cannot be present and dispute with him orally shall do so in their absence by letter. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, „Repent“ (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.[1]

And so began what we know as the Ninety-Five Theses, or as Luther called it The Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences.  By starting debate, Luther was asking the church to be truthful in its message about God.  It is fitting that our Gospel lesson for this Reformation is always the same, and begins with Jesus saying the following to the Jews who believed in him:

^31b „If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.“
(Joh 8:31b-32 NIV)

What is that truth? In last week’s sermon we heard John 14:6 quoted: “⁶ Jesus answered, „I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Joh 14:6 NIV)  In this, it is not just the teachings of Jesus that are the truth, but Jesus himself is the very essence and embodiment of truth.  And there is the problem.  A problem not for God, but for humanity.  If Jesus is the very essence of truth, we are not, and we cannot possibly be.  We can’t even go so far to say we understand it.  Even Pilate is quoted as asking Jesus “What is truth?”

To answer Pilate’s question, I would like to use a phrase that is familiar in our southern vernacular.  “The truth” is “clear as mud.”  Now what do I mean by that?  I mean that if Jesus himself is the essence and embodiment of truth, we cannot possibly understand it because we cannot fully understand God.  That doesn’t mean that we don’t strive to be in a deeper, more intimate, more holy relationship with God.  We want to seek out truth.  We want to know the divine, to live into the calling that God has for each of us and into the child of God that we were made through the waters of baptism.  We want to understand the Holy Trinity and to see it in all its glory.  We want to be the faithful people God has called us to be.

The truth is clear as mud….why?  Because we have made it that way.  By “we” I don’t just mean use as individuals.  Luther meant the church had done the same.  Things that were not right had been lifted up as Spirit inspired.  Emphasis was put not on the God’s Holy Word but on human things such as money and property.  Sin abounded.  Society influenced the church more than the church influenced society.  Sounds a little bit like the times we live in, doesn’t it?

As followers of Christ, what then are we to do?  How are we to find the truth?  How are we to embrace the God we cannot see?  We start by listening to the words of our Lord:

^31b „If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.“
(Joh 8:31b-32 NIV)

Jesus tells us to cling to his words.  Cling to the Holy Scriptures and all the lessons we learn from it.  Cling to the work of the Father in the creation, the work of the Son in redemption, and the work of the Spirit in making all things holy.  Learn from those that have gone before us and  lift up the many great witnesses to God’s Word.  This includes Luther, who issued a similar call at the end of his 95 theses:

94. Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, death and hell.
95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through the false security of peace (Acts 14:22).[2]

Through his Holy Word, God has given us the truth, his Son Jesus Christ.  And as the scripture tells us in Hebrews 13: ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Heb 13:8 NIV)  He is the truth, he is what we cling to no matter the situation, and he is our hope as we walk in this sinful world.  May we never replace his words with falsities, but instead lean on him constantly until the day we join with all the saints in light singing God’s praises forever.In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

©The Rev. Dr. Judson F Merrell, STS
judsonmerrell@bellsouth.net
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
Lexington, SC USA

[1] Martin Luther’s 95 Theses Accessed 10/20/2025
[2] Martin Luther’s 95 Theses accessed 10/20/2025