Our Moses, Jesus Christ, pulled most if not all of His mission statements together into a single all-encompassing statement of daring and bluster. We are left breathless by its electrifying and far reaching implications. He said:

          "If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will
      experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will [set you free] . . . . I tell you most solemnly
      that everyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact a slave . . . .
      So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through."
                                                                                                                John 8:31-36 [MSG]

     The freedom Jesus promises/gives is a choice we make and when we accept His terms of Lordship, we are no longer slaves. Slaves to what? Well, the many ‘mission statements’ of Jesus make it clear that we are no longer dominated by satan or the power of guilt and condemnation that sin thrusts upon us. For some believers, this information is all that is needed and they run with it. Indeed, it is truly good to realize that Jesus has come to deliver us from our sins and the eternal consequences that result. But do these realities exhaust Christ’s presumptuous, far-reaching assertion?

     Jesus had said, "So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through." What did He mean here? Was He insisting that acceptance of Him and His way of life endowed believers with "absolute" [see God’s Word version] or complete freedom? This sounds dangerous--maybe even subversive. The excitement and exuberance that new believers experience ". . . in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise"(Romans 5:2 [MSG]), often sets off an immediate alarm in more ‘experienced’ or ‘mature’ believers. And they feel obligated to temper or outright quash any such expressions as somehow ‘inappropriate’.

     The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) may not have clearly detailed what Jesus was saying, but the epistles of the New Testament do! Paul told the Roman disciples that they had not only been released from the crushing effects of sin, but also the curse of wrong-headed thinking and the emptiness of a darkened heart (Romans 1:21-22). His letter to the Galatians made explicit reference to Jesus’ startling promise; "Christ has set us free to live a free life." Not only so, but in the very next breath, he explained exactly what Jesus meant; "So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you." (Galatians 5:1). If anyone missed the obvious, Paul added; "I am emphatic about this. The moment anyone of you submits to . . . any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ’s hard won gift of freedom is squandered. I REPEAT MY WARNING [emphasis mine-e.m.]: The person who accepts the ways of circumcision [rule keeping] trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law [rule keeping]" (vs.2-5).

     Jesus promises to release His disciples not only from the tyranny of their own sins, but also from the sinful tyranny of others. Paul wrote to Roman believers who held close to heart very diverse convictions. In his instructions on how to deal with these differing beliefs, he told the Romans; "That's why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other" (Romans 14:9). It is not only inappropriate, but also sinful to compel others to embrace opinions that are not solidly grounded in the clear teaching of Scripture. Therefore, since every person is responsible for his/her own convictions and behavior before God, it is vital to charge each with the responsibility "to be fully convinced in his own mind" and to "make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification" (Romans 14:12, 5 & 19).

     Is freedom dangerous as astute followers of Christ would have us believe? Yes--Of course it is dangerous--very dangerous! We need to understand this well. We see all around us a culture of ‘freedom’ that encourages gross indulgence. And so, it is profoundly easy to make the logical connection between Jesus’ promise; "You are free indeed" with this culture of ‘freedom’. It goes like this: Since Jesus says we are free, we can do anything ‘we damn well please’! Perhaps this is true, but we won’t. Again, Paul made it clear to the Galatian Christians; "It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and [so] destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love . . . . Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom . . . . Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit" (Galatians 5:13-16 [MSG]).

     The promise and prospect of freedom probably resonates more within the human heart than any other reality we might experience. I don’t suppose there is anything else in life that has a greater attraction or appeal than the desire--and the need to be free. And understanding that the experience of being truly set free always comes from outside of ourselves, will have a profound effect upon us. It engenders a strong sense of both gratitude and obligation. God has delivered us from certain death and degradation and the result will always be thanksgiving and the desire to serve Him with all that we are and have. 
                                                                                                                                                                   

And if we don’t experience this ourselves on a daily basis, the vast network of media at our disposal reminds us that it is the constant and daily circumstance for others. This is the harsh and unrelenting reality of life in a fallen world. People fail--constantly, along with the systems they create that are intended for our good.

In large measure, I think this is what keeps people looking and searching. They are looking for the better deal--that someone or something that will make their lives easier or better--something that for them is ‘the answer’ they have been looking for all of their lives. They are looking for the person or something (a system of thought, a place, a gadget or way of living) that will give them increased security or improve the way in which they deal with the uncertainties and difficulties of life. They are looking for ‘the real deal’ that will enhance their lives with a minimum investment of time, money and effort.

I think this is why Jesus’ entrance into the world stirred such interest and excitement. He made some amazing claims ("I am the Way, the Truth and the Life . . . I am the Bread of life . . . I am the Good Shepherd", etc.). He offered astounding and extraordinary promises ("Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest . . . Whoever lives and believes in me will never die . . . Everyone who...believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day"*). Isn’t this the primary reason many people hung on His every word?

Jesus was promising security. He was promising a life that was different from their miserable and often unbearable existence under Rome’s harsh rule and tyranny. He was going to give them ‘the moon’--a way of life they had never known. And people came to Him by the droves--that is, until He began to explain the cost for that security, nourishment, rest and eternal life. It would be expensive! As a result, people who had rushed to His side because of the "loaves and fishes" began to drop off--one here, two or three there, until it was only His disciples and perhaps a few hundred others that remained. The people who abandoned Him did so as it dawned on them just what would be required of them if they were to continue to follow Jesus.

Jesus turned to the few still remaining among His dwindling number of disciples and asked: "Will you also go away?" to which Peter replied; "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life! We believe and know that you are the holy one of God" (John 6:66-69). Peter’s past experiences in life had taught him some extremely valuable lessons. His failures along the way, which included all the hurts, defeats and rejection from others, helped him understand how life as a human being will always be lived. Failure, defeat, hurt and disappointment can never be avoided, and Peter had finally figured it out. Nothing from this world; no law, no system, no power and certainly no person was going to give him what he disparately needed. Nothing was going to keep him or others from falling through the cracks. From his perspective, only Jesus, the Holy One of God provided his best shot at a life that was worth living--and dying for.

Jesus had laid out the price in a simple and clear fashion. One concise statement concerning this grand and wondrous relationship, outlined for His disciples what it would take; "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it" (Luke 9:23). This is Jesus’ call: that we renounce our arrogant self-reliance and the self-fulness of amassing and hoarding for ourselves what we value most in our lives (including our lives). It is the call to sacrifice and servant-hood--perhaps the two things that we are least inclined to do or be. It is the call to trust and to remember. But we cannot begin to sacrifice our self indulgent lifestyle or selflessly serve, until we have placed explicit trust in and are constantly reminded of the One who has laid it all on the line for us. Jesus has become "the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" and He insists that if we trust God, then we must also trust Him and constantly remind ourselves of His sacrificial death on our behalf!

Just previous to this death on the cross, Jesus gathered His disciples together for a final meal --a celebration of the Passover. As He lifted up the bread, gave thanks and broke it, He made this pronouncement; "‘This is my body which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way . . , He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me’" (I Corinthians 11:23-25 [Luke 22:19-20]). Throughout this dinner, Jesus implied how critical an abiding trust in Him as the Holy One of God was to be and His instructions were explicit in that the disciples together must consistently remember His Divine sacrifice until He came for them at the end of the age (I Corinthians 11:26).