February 26, 2026 | Be Connected
Jesus Speaks about God's True Children
Scripture: John 8:31-47(NIV)
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 and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”
39 “Abraham is our father,” they answered.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing the works of your own father.”
“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
Devotional
Reading this chapter made me think again about what is a true disciple. Jesus discusses what it means to be a disciple to the Jews (John 8: 31-33 ) “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 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?”
Pastor Mark has given a few sermons on what he thinks is needed to be a disciple, and they all made sense to me. Now it is my turn to attempt to create my own definition of a disciple. Jesus tries to make the Jews, who consider themselves disciples, understand why He considers them slaves instead of disciples.
(John 8: 39-42) “Abraham is our father… “We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.
Jesus says one must act as Abraham. Abraham wasn’t always a believer but found his way to being a believer and following the word of God. Showing his love in his actions and prophesying everywhere he traveled. Is this all there is to being a disciple? Absolutely not, but we don’t want to be slaves to the devil. We must learn to show our love for God through prayer and being a good human to others. This overlaps actions as we can show our belief by serving the church, community and each other in our prophesying of our belief to others.
When the devil gets into our lives and begins to steer us into inappropriate actions and words we then become slaves of the devil. This makes it easier to understand how the Jews could not understand the idea of being a slave, as was defined by Jesus. Putting this all together as John is attempting to teach us discipleship, here goes-my personal definition of a disciple, for today.
- Showing your love for Jesus
- Living your life through His teachings
- Faith living through actions
- Calling others to be disciples
This is NOT everyone’s idea of a disciple. What is yours?
