It’s not only excitement, but a sense of freedom has gripped me as I am writing this first post from John 8. Today, I pray whoever reads this will receive freedom and joy without limits!
“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.
John 8:4-6 (NLT)
As I read this chapter, I wondered and wondered what Jesus wrote in the dust with his finger, until God began to show me the equation between the slave and the master.
We all know that Hebrews had slaves. I read about the Greek, Roman, and Hebrew laws of slavery and found this one truth – slaves had no identity of their own.
They were not even given the full right to be citizens of the country. They would continue serving in the house of the master and even for the generation to follow. Coming to the life course of a slave, a slave could not be free until the owner sets him free or the slave earns enough to buy his own freedom.
When the Pharisees brought the woman caught in adultery to Jesus, they truly brought you and me before the Lord. When they accused her, they accused you and me before the Lord. When they asked Jesus to judge her, they truly asked Him to judge us!
Now here comes the manumission deed. Below I have attached the manumission deed of an 11 year old slave boy named George. In order to set the slave free, the owner had to write a manumission deed:
Now mankind after the fall was owned by sin. Sin was the master that never allowed manumission. But Jesus knew that true manumission was possible only when He Himself became sin. The One who never sinned, the One who is the epitome of holiness, became sin to sign our manumission deed, to set the adulterous woman free! Later in the chapter, we see it explained:
A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.
John 8:35 (NLT)
The Son had to become sin to legally take the right of manumission from sin (our old master).
Dear fellow believers, this not just a study on John 8. This is a picture of a God who can go to any extent to sign your manumission deed. He is willing to get His hands dirty to pick you out of that muck of sin. The same fingers that knit you in the womb, that used the dust to create your form, even today is writing the manumission deed of your freedom in the dust.
So tell me? Have you received your manumission deed? Have you been set free? There is One who stands with your freedom papers, even today!
Photo by Austin Ban on Unsplash
