Jesus’ words today demonstrate a deep rift that existed between those Jews who believed in him and who tried to follow his teachings and those who saw him as a heretic and who wanted to destroy him. Jesus sometimes speaks in language that confounds and confuses the people. He talks about them being set free, but the people cannot get beyond those words, thinking that God had already set the Jews free in their liberation from slavery in Egypt. We listen to words, we try to understand them, but sometimes we see them from our own perspective, not in their true context. I think of how the word “fear” is used in Jewish scripture. We hear the word “fear” in our 21st century modern American mentality, and we think of how we are scared and afraid of something, afraid of punishment or violence or retribution. But to the Jewish mind, fear of God meant to have awe and wonder and respect for him. Let us open our mind and hearts to God. Let us try to learn the original intent of the word of God, of how it speaks to us today.
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