The Truth Shall Make You Free (John 8:31–47)

The texts below are quoted verbatim from public-domain English translations; nothing is paraphrased.

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St. John Chrysostom (c. 347–407)

Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homily LIV (on John 8:31–47) Source: trans. in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 14. Public domain. Full text: https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf114.iv.lvi.html

On the bondage from which Christ promises freedom:

But He desired not to show that they were slaves of men, but that they were slaves of sin, which is the most grievous slavery, from which God alone can deliver; for to forgive sins belongeth to none other.

On "If the Son therefore shall make you free":

Seest thou the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father, and how He declareth that He hath the same power as the Father?

That the power to loose from sin is proper to God alone:

Here He showeth that He Himself is pure from sin, and alludeth to that freedom which reached only to a name; this even men give, but that God alone.

On "Ye are of your father the devil":

He then addeth a blow, telling them that they not only are not Abraham's children, but that they are even children of the devil ... And He said not merely, "ye do his works," but, "ye do his lusts," showing that both he and they hold to murder, and that envy was the cause. For the devil destroyed Adam, not because he had any charge against him, but only from envy.

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St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444)

Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book V (on John 8:31–36) Source: trans. P. E. Pusey, Library of Fathers, 1874. Public domain. Full text: https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/cyril_on_john_05_book5.htm

On continuance in the word as the passage from the shadow of the Law to the Truth Himself:

For it too persuades those who have once believed gladly to depart and remove from the worship according to the law, instructing that the shadow is our guide to the knowledge of Him, and that leaving the types and figures, we should go resolutely forward to the Truth Itself, i. e., Christ the Giver of true freedom and the Redeemer.

On "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin":

The freedom then of man from bondage after the flesh the authority of the rulers will effect, but that which sets free from sin, is meet to be spoken of God Alone and will belong to none other save He.

On "If the Son shall make you free ye shall be free indeed":

To Him Alone (He says) Who is by Nature Son of a Truth free and remote from all bondage is found to pertain the power of freeing and to none other whatever save He.

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Theophylact of Ohrid (c. 1055–1107)

Explanation of the Gospel of John (on John 8:31–38) As preserved in the Catena Aurea on John. Public domain. Full text: https://isidore.co/aquinas/english/CAJohn.htm

On the word of absolution spoken to those who continue in the faith:

As He said to the unbelievers alone, Ye shall die in your sin, so now to them who continue in the faith He proclaims absolution.

On "I speak that which I have seen with My Father":

But when you hear, I speak that which I have seen, do not think it means bodily vision, but innate knowledge, sure, and approved. For as the eyes when they see an object, see it wholly and correctly; so I speak with certainty what I know from My Father.

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Blessed Augustine of Hippo (354–430)

Tractates on the Gospel of John, Tractates XLI and XLII (on John 8:31–47) Source: trans. in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 7. Public domain. Full text: https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf107.iii.xlii.html

On what it is to continue in the word:

By continuing ye shall be so; for as now ye are believers, by so continuing ye shall be beholders.

On the Truth that shall make free:

The truth itself is the Word of God, God with God, the only-begotten Son.

On the misery of the slave of sin, who cannot flee from himself:

Whither can the servant of sin flee? Himself he carries with him wherever he flees. An evil conscience flees not from itself; it has no place to go to; it follows itself.

On "If the Son therefore shall make you free":

Our hope is this, brethren, to be made free by the free One; and that, in setting us free, He may make us His servants. For we were the servants of lust; but being set free, we are made the servants of love.

On being children of the devil by imitation, not by birth:

This is how ye are his children, because such are your lusts, not because ye are born of him. What are his lusts? "He was a murderer from the beginning."

On "He that is of God heareth God's words":

By nature they are of God, in depravity they are not of God.

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St. Hilary of Poitiers (c. 310–367)

On loving the Son as the mark of those who claim God as Father, as preserved in the Catena Aurea on John (on John 8:42) As preserved in the Catena Aurea on John. Public domain. Full text: https://isidore.co/aquinas/english/CAJohn.htm

On why the claim to be sons of God is made good only by loving the Son:

For a true worshipper of God the Father must love the Son, as being from God. And he only can love the Father, who believes that the Son is from Him.

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St. Gregory the Great (c. 540–604)

On the servitude of sin and the hearing of God's word, as preserved in the Catena Aurea on John (on John 8:34–47) As preserved in the Catena Aurea on John. Public domain. Full text: https://isidore.co/aquinas/english/CAJohn.htm

On sin as a self-chosen yoke:

Because whoever yields to wrong desires, puts his hitherto free soul under the yoke of the evil one, and takes him for his master. But we oppose this master, when we struggle against the wickedness which has laid hold upon us, when we strongly resist habit, when we pierce sin with repentance, and wash away the spots of filth with tears.

That perverse desire tightens its own bondage:

And the more freely men follow their perverse desires, the more closely are they in bondage to them.

On "He that is of God heareth God's words" — hearing with the ears of the heart:

Let him then, who would understand God's words, ask himself whether he hears them with the ears of his heart. For there are some who do not deign to hear God's commands even with their bodily ears; and there are others who do this, but do not embrace them with their heart's desire: and there are others again who receive God's words readily, yea and are touched, even to tears: but who afterwards go back to their sins again: and therefore cannot be said to hear the Word of God, because they neglect to practise it.