John 8:31-42   Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So if a son frees you, then you will truly be free. I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence; then do what you have heard from the Father.” They answered and said to him, “Our father is Abraham.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works of Abraham. But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God; Abraham did not do this. You are doing the works of your father!” So they said to him, “We are not illegitimate. We have one Father, God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”   Reflection THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE. Continuing his discourse, Jesus declares, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (vv 31-32). Faith leads to discipleship; discipleship, to truth; and truth, to freedom. Truth (alētheia in Greek) is to be without cover, not to be hidden, thus, to be in the open, to be in the light. To be false is to hide, to be in darkness. Veritas liberabit vos. The truth will set you free. How true it is in daily life. When we lie, we tend to hide, and to hide implies fear and inquietude. On the other hand, when we are in the truth, we are not afraid to speak, to come out in the open, to come out into the light; we have genuine inner peace, even in the face of evil or threat. Nowadays, so much falsehood is manufactured especially in the realm of social media. There is even a new term that is coined, a pretentious term, “post-truth” or “alternative truth.” This is nothing but deception and evil. Truth cannot expire; truth is forever. Let us not be deceived by contemporary distortions and rejection of the truth.   SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2018,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.