Again Jesus said to them, 'I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.' Then the Jews said, 'Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, "Where I am going, you cannot come"?' He said to them, 'You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.' They said to him, 'Who are you?' Jesus said to them, 'Why do I speak to you at all? I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.' They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, 'When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me. And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.' As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, 'If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.'
Wow! What a bunch of confusing messages throughout this Gospel reading. This sounds like a huge bunch of drama in the middle of a Pride planning meeting. It is drama no mistake. There are individuals in Jesus' hearing who are responding to all kinds of messages, but they really do not understand what he is saying. And when they ask questions to hopefully understand, Jesus appears to be a grouch. Jesus is foretelling of his future death. But he is so vague in saying that "where I am going, you cannot come" that his audience wonders if he is going to commit suicide. In the midst of this discourse, Jesus is stating nothing more or less than who he is. The writer of John's Gospel begins not with a detailed narrative about the Virgin Birth, but with a proclamation that Jesus is the Word of God. Throughout this exchange Jesus is telling the audience that he has come as Savior and wants to lead those in captivity into a sense of freedom. I really do think that Jesus is establishing himself as the Truth, but also telling us that truth is found in knowing ourselves and being totally and bluntly honest about who we are. My very favorite song learned in my elementary music class had us singing the words: "Honesty, no matter what the consequences be, it's the very best policy."
It is wise to be very careful about different translations of verses 31 and 32 taken from this Gospel today. The New International Version (NIV) reads: "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." The New American Standard Bible (NASB) reads: "If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." The King James Version (KJV) reads: "If ye continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." There is a major interpretation problem with the NIV, NASB and the KJV reading the word then after suggesting that we continue in Jesus' words. As Christians we believe that Jesus is the Word. Throughout this Gospel Jesus is giving us some indication of who he is and who God is in relationship to Jesus. We are not Christians just because we abide in what Jesus said, but also because of who Jesus is, as well as what Jesus did. The NIV, NASB and the KJV appears to be leaving us in the lurch by suggesting that following Jesus is only a matter of what Jesus said. If we cling only to what Jesus said then we risk thinking that we do not have to bother with how Jesus brought closer to God and the household of Faith those who are on the margins of society. We know from reading the Gospels such as Matthew 25: 31 - 46 that it is as much our responsibility for us to include those whom society and the Church excludes as it is to love the words of Jesus.
The commentaries linked with John 8: 31 and 32 in the New Oxford Annotated New Revised Standard Version as well as the New American Bible (America's Catholic version, as poorly worded as it is), suggests that the truth Jesus brings that sets us free is freedom from slavery to sin. This is another one of those passages of Scripture that is used by anti-gay evangelistic and Catholic preachers to suggest that if LGBTQ people accept our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression that we are evading the truth that Jesus wants to set us free. This is again an example of how conservative Christians bend and twist the words of Jesus to suggest anti-gay rhetoric from the Bible when in fact it is not there.
To be enslaved to a lie within ourselves that we should be heterosexual, when we have physical and emotional attractions to members of the same sex, is to live in sin. When lesbian, gay and/or bisexual individuals continue to torture ourselves because of the anti-gay messages of conservative Christians to try to be someone we are not, we are living in sin. Sin not only attempts to tell us that something wrong is right, sin also deceives us into believing that we are the most horrible people if we go against the status quo that is defined by conservative Christians and Catholics. If anyone is at all like me and you found yourself literally crying after masturbating because you just couldn't get rid of those same-sex attractions and heard some interior voice telling you what a shameful thing you did, that too is sin. The sin is not that we have attractions towards the same-sex, nor is there really anything sinful about a physical relationship between two people of the same sex. That false guilt that we sometimes allow to speak to our interior body that says we shouldn't be this way, because some Bible thumper said so? That is sin. Some ex-gay ministry that says that they can "cure" us of the inner gay, that is sin, because it is spiritually violent as well as fraudulent. Ever wondered why ex-gay ministries sound a lot like the serpent in the Garden of Eden from Genesis 3 promising that we will be like God, that is perfect if only we were not LGBT or Q? If they sound all too much a like it is because they are promising great things, while leading us so very far from the truth. The same goes for the truth about transgendered people. Transgendered individuals are created with a wonderful sense of transforming themselves from who they are on the outside, into who they are both inside and out. Transgendered people are Christian missionaries by helping us know that there is within each of us a person who is so wonderful and holy, that we must be willing to transform our outer bodies to bring that wonderful and holy person out into the open.
What about claims such as Pat Buchanan suggesting that gay marriage is like incest, polygamy or prostitution? How about the former Catholic Archbishop of Belgium asking a raped child not to report his uncle who raped him? If these are examples of "remaining in" Jesus' "word" that we may "know the truth and the truth shall set" us "free" then we have a big problem. Spreading lies and hate and making bribes with someone about their rape is far from helping to set people free so that they will know the truth. We are not exactly keeping Jesus' words so that the truth will be known and make us free when we are lying to ourselves about our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression and not calling upon the Church and society to repent from their spiritual and political abuses that keep us and a lot of other minorities from being included. As Ninnie Threadgood on Fried Green Tomatoes said: "Truth is a funny thing sometimes." As much as it can sting and make us look weird admitting who we are is knowing the truth, it is keeping to the words and actions of Jesus. When we tell our stories of coming out, our relationships and share with friends, families, our churches and communities that being LGBTQ is wonderful, holy, we are sharing the truth that will set us free from bigotry and cruel violence. And that is a truth that will set us free from sin, and isn't that why Jesus Christ came into the world?
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 17, Book of Common Prayer, Page 233).
O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Collect for Peace, Book of Common Prayer, Page 99).
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. (Prayer Attributed to St. Francis, Book of Common Prayer, Page 833).
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