If

“Therefore, if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.”  John 8:36

If – The quintessential proclamation of freedom comes from Jesus.  It is far deeper than Lynyrd Skynyrd (Freebird), the Declaration of Independence, or anything from the great civil rights leaders.  We, of course, have viewed this as a statement of release from the bondage of sin, a prison more hideous than any dungeon made by Man.  We think, “Yes, Jesus sets me free.  Sin doesn’t own me anymore.  Now I am saved.  I will go to heaven.”  But is that all?  Is Jesus simply making a remark about my eternal residence?  Or is he saying something so penetrating, so radical, so demanding that it will change forever your understanding about “freedom”. 

Notice that Jesus is the active agent.  He does not empower me to become free.  He is no civil rights attorney.  He does not entitle me to be free.  He is not a constitutional framer.  He does not encourage me to be free.  He is no celebrity icon.  He says that he alone can make me free if he chooses to do so.   It’s not up to me, is it?  I don’t go up to the judge’s bench and say, “Oh, by the way, your Honor, I would like to be free.”  The truth is that I don’t have anything to say about it.  The context of this verse suggests that everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  They have no ability to undo that slavery.  They can’t break those chains by wishing them away, crying them away, appealing the their master or getting angry about them.  If someone else doesn’t set them free, they are doomed to a life of bondage.

Do you truly realize that you and I are helpless to change our status as slaves?  Jesus has to want to rescue us.  The Greek ean (if) is the first thought here.  If therefore.  This is the concluding point of a previous argument.  You are slaves.  Sin has made you so.  There is no self-initiated escape.  There is no uprising.  There is no civil war for freedom.  If you are going to be free, it will be at the good graces of the Son.  He is the active agent.  He sets you free. 

There is a question that looms on the horizon.  If this is not a freedom of my choosing, then what kind of freedom is it?  It is his kind of freedom.  Today we need to let the thought of our helplessness and his choice sink deeply into consciousness.  Tomorrow we will see what this kind of freedom means.  Don’t be surprised if it is not what you thought “freedom” was all about.  After all, you didn’t do the choosing here, did you?