John 8.34-35 “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.”
Notice that Jesus didn’t say “a sin” but “sin” in general. It has to do with a lifestyle of obedience to His word. The Pharisees would have been keeping track of individual actions and quickly lose track of their lifestyle. A son in a house in this time period as just like a mini-dad. He had all of the authority of the dad, all of the possessions of the dad at his disposal, etc. A slave on the other hand, had a very unstable life. He could be promised all sorts of things, and entrusted with all sorts of things, but ultimately, he was a possession just like a donkey or an axe. He would not be a part of the inheritance, or if he would be, often times the thing he would receive upon his master’s death would be himself (his freedom.)
These Pharisees are still in Moses’ seat at this time (Matt 23.2) but spiritually they have lost their place in the family. They don’t realize it, but the moment they kill Jesus and the curtain rips in the temple, they will be kicked out of God’s house and returned fully to their owner, the devil.
v.39 “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did”
In Central Asia, there are many remote villages with little contact to the outside world. Often times there aren’t many people to pick from when it comes to getting married. The rule they follow is that two people cannot marry each other if they nursed from the same woman. That means that if a boy is born and nursed by his mother, then she has a daughter and the woman dies in childbirth, the daughter may be breastfed by her aunt (the deceased mother’s sister). Since these two children were nursed by different women, they are allowed to MARRY EACH OTHER and have children. Add to that some mountains full of Uranium and Plutonium and you can get some pretty messed up villagers!
As crazy as that sounds is how crazy this teaching of Jesus is. You are not considered children according to who gave birth to you or from whom you descended, but according to the works you do. That statement might not be right. (later note, you are not considered children according to who gave birth to you, but according to the works you do when they overflow out of a sincere and believing inside.) How about if we go with what Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, then you are truly my disciples.” Anyone could have said they were anything, but their actions would prove them true or false.
