The Wednesday after Cantate Sunday
Posted on May 6, 2026 by under
Scripture: St. John 8:21-36 (NKJV)
8:21 Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”
22 So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?” 23 And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
25 Then they said to Him, “Who are You?”
And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.”
27 They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.
28 Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” 30 As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
Devotion
There are many tragic dialogs in Scripture, but the extended conversation in John 8 seems like one of the worst. Imagine how blind the Jews were, who thought that our Lord was going to commit suicide when He said, “Where I am going you cannot come.” Many of them persist in this blindness to the end of the chapter, where it is clear that they intend to kill Him.
Yet, Jesus’ message is all about love. Even when He says that they will die in their sin, He says this out of love. This is because the faith that God requires of us trusts not in our own righteousness and works, but rather in Christ’s righteousness. It is only through Christ that we can have righteousness or any hope of salvation. There are only two paths—either our works and our qualities are good enough, or they are not. Since they are not, we must trust in the merits of the Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the truth that sets us free from the bondage of sin and the Law, and sets us free to follow that Law out of love and thankfulness.
Collect: O God, Who makest the minds of the faithful to be of one will: Grant unto Thy people that they may love what Thou commandest, and desire what Thou dost promise; that, among the manifold changes of this world, our hearts may there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
