"You will be free indeed"

                          

Monday musical meditations on God's good news






















An opening prayer:

    Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word;
    Curb those who by deceit or sword
    Would seek to overthrow your Son
    And to destroy all he has done.

    Lord Jesus Christ, your power make known,
    For you are Lord of lords alone;
    Defend your Christendom that we
    May sing your praise eternally.

    O Comforter of priceless worth,
    Send peace and unity on earth.
    Support us in our final strife,
    And lead us out of death to life. Amen.

John 8:31–36

  • 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, “I tell you the truth, 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.”

Good news questions

  • Did the Jews forget their long history of slavery, all the way from their centuries in Egypt? Do they see the irony?
  • Or do they talk spiritually? Are they boasting that they are not Hagar, any of them? That as Abraham's sons, practically, they are Isaac?
  • If Jesus really has set us free now by his blood and through his Spirit, how free will we be eternally?

For others pray

  • That God spreads the good news of the kingdom of the Son he loves in Guinea-Bissau

J.S. Bach's beautiful music for today

  • BWV 55 (YouTube, "I, wretched man, I, slave of sin")
  • The cantata starts with each of us confessing our unworthiness before God.
  • And what do we pray in the end?
  • "Your grace and mercy are far greater than the sins in which I keep finding myself."

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