{"id":25543,"date":"2025-10-21T18:56:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T16:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/?p=25543"},"modified":"2025-10-23T12:51:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T10:51:17","slug":"john-831-36-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/john-831-36-5\/","title":{"rendered":"John 8:31-36"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reformation Sunday | 26.10.2025 | John 8:31-36 | Judson F. Merrell<\/strong> |<\/h3>\n

31<\/sup><\/strong> To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, „If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
\n<\/strong>32<\/sup> Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.“
\n<\/strong>33<\/sup> 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?“
\n<\/strong>34<\/sup> Jesus replied, „Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
\n<\/strong>35<\/sup> Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.
\n<\/strong>36<\/sup> So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
\n<\/strong>\u00a0(Joh 8:31-36 NIV)<\/strong><\/p>\n

New International Version\u00a0(NIV)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Holy Bible, New International Version\u00ae, NIV\u00ae Copyright \u00a91973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by\u00a0Biblica, Inc.\u00ae\u00a0Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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]<\/a><\/p>\n

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<\/em>.\u00a0 By starting debate, Luther was asking the church to be truthful in its message about God.\u00a0 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:<\/p>\n

31b<\/sup> „If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
\n32<\/sup> Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.“
\n(Joh 8:31b-32 NIV)<\/p>\n

What is that truth? In last week\u2019s sermon we heard John 14:6 quoted: \u201c6<\/sup> Jesus answered, „I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.\u201d (Joh 14:6 NIV)\u00a0 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.\u00a0 And there is the problem.\u00a0 A problem not for God, but for humanity.\u00a0 If Jesus is the very essence of truth, we are not, and we cannot possibly be.\u00a0 We can\u2019t even go so far to say we understand it.\u00a0 Even Pilate is quoted as asking Jesus \u201cWhat is truth?\u201d<\/p>\n

To answer Pilate\u2019s question, I would like to use a phrase that is familiar in our southern vernacular.\u00a0 \u201cThe truth\u201d is \u201cclear as mud.\u201d\u00a0 Now what do I mean by that?\u00a0 I mean that if Jesus himself is the essence and embodiment of truth, we cannot possibly understand it because we cannot fully understand God.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t mean that we don\u2019t strive to be in a deeper, more intimate, more holy relationship with God.\u00a0 We want to seek out truth.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 We want to understand the Holy Trinity and to see it in all its glory.\u00a0 We want to be the faithful people God has called us to be.<\/p>\n

The truth is clear as mud\u2026.why?\u00a0 Because we have made it that way.\u00a0 By \u201cwe\u201d I don\u2019t just mean use as individuals.\u00a0 Luther meant the church had done the same.\u00a0 Things that were not right had been lifted up as Spirit inspired.\u00a0 Emphasis was put not on the God\u2019s Holy Word but on human things such as money and property.\u00a0 Sin abounded.\u00a0 Society influenced the church more than the church influenced society.\u00a0 Sounds a little bit like the times we live in, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

As followers of Christ, what then are we to do?\u00a0 How are we to find the truth?\u00a0 How are we to embrace the God we cannot see?\u00a0 We start by listening to the words of our Lord:<\/p>\n

31b<\/sup> „If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
\n32<\/sup> Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.“
\n(Joh 8:31b-32 NIV)<\/p>\n

Jesus tells us to cling to his words.\u00a0 Cling to the Holy Scriptures and all the lessons we learn from it.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Learn from those that have gone before us and \u00a0lift up the many great witnesses to God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 This includes Luther, who issued a similar call at the end of his 95 theses:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, death and hell.<\/li>\n
  2. And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through the false security of peace (Acts 14:22).[2]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Through his Holy Word, God has given us the truth, his Son Jesus Christ.\u00a0 And as the scripture tells us in Hebrews 13: 8<\/sup> Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Heb 13:8 NIV)\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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\u2019s praises forever.In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/p>\n

    \n

    \u00a9The Rev. Dr. Judson F Merrell, STS
    \njudsonmerrell@bellsouth.net
    \nSt. Peter\u2019s Lutheran Church
    \nLexington, SC USA<\/p>\n

    [1]<\/a> Martin Luther’s 95 Theses<\/a> Accessed 10\/20\/2025
    \n    [2]<\/a> Martin Luther’s 95 Theses<\/a> accessed 10\/20\/2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,540,727,157,853,108,110,235,233,349,3,109,125],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-25543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-johannes","category-19-so-n-trinitatis","category-archiv","category-beitragende","category-bibel","category-current","category-engl","category-judson-f-merrell","category-kapitel-08-chapter-08","category-kasus","category-nt","category-predigten","category-reformationsfest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25543"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25544,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25543\/revisions\/25544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25543"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=25543"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=25543"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=25543"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=25543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}