Have You Really Switched Your Jersey?
In 1980, a team of college-age American hockey players stunned the world by beating the Soviet Union, a team that hadn’t lost an Olympic game since 1968. But the story behind the miracle is just as telling. After a brutal exhibition loss, Coach Herb Brooks kept his team skating suicides until their legs shook, stopping again and again to ask them who they played for. They kept answering with their college team’s name, not realizing they hadn’t yet become who they needed to be. It wasn’t until one exhausted player finally shouted “I play for Team USA” that the whistle blew. They hadn’t switched jerseys yet. As I opened John 8 this morning, I found the same question waiting for us: have we really switched ours?
Jesus is speaking to Jews who believed in him, but belief alone didn’t settle the matter. He tells them, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” That’s the thesis of these verses in John 8:31-47: there’s a real difference between someone who claims Jesus and someone who actually abides in him, and the whole passage is a comparison between true disciples and false believers.
True Disciples Abide in His Word
The first mark Jesus gives is simple but piercing: true disciples abide in his word. Abide means to remain in, to stay in, to take up residence. “A true disciple of Jesus, a true follower of Jesus, believes what Jesus said and abides in his word, resides in his word.” It’s not about perfection. It’s about residence. His word takes up a permanent address in a disciple’s life and determines how they live.
I had to stop myself right there in verse one because I didn’t want to rush past it. “How do you know if you are a true disciple of Jesus? It’s if you abide in his word.” Is God’s Word the first place you go when you need to know how to live, how to parent, how to love your spouse? Or would a look at your last month make it hard to tell the difference between God’s Word and Instagram, Facebook, or ESPN? “Scripture is like a mirror that the Holy Spirit uses to give us a reflection of who we are in light of what his word says.” We need to be in it to see it.
Truth Sets Us Free, But We Have to Live It
Jesus goes on to say the truth will set us free, and I believe that freedom isn’t only from sin and death, though that’s certainly in view here. It’s freedom from the confusion of this world. “I’m not confused on how many genders there are. God’s Word tells me… There’s freedom, brothers and sisters, when we abide in His Word.”
But freedom isn’t just believed, it’s lived. “A truth not lived is a truth not believed.” When the Jews respond to Jesus by claiming their lineage, “We are offspring of Abraham, we’ve never been enslaved to anyone,” they reveal they’re still holding onto something besides him. They hadn’t switched jerseys. And if we’re honest, we do the same thing when we quietly add to our faith: Jesus and my upbringing, Jesus and my church attendance, Jesus and the fact that I’m a good person. “It’s only Jesus. Stop trying to hold on to both things. Jesus in one hand and something else in the other.” Let those things go so both your arms are free to wrap around your Lord and Savior.
Two Fathers, Two Jerseys
As the tension in the passage escalates, Jesus makes the comparison impossible to avoid. Either God is your Father or the devil is, and each one produces a people who look like him. Those who are of the devil “cannot bear to hear my word… he was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth.” Those who are of God “hear the words of God.”
“So there really are only two choices. Either you’re of your father the devil and represent him and wear his jersey, or you’re of your father God and represent him and wear his jersey.” These verses make it clear that God isn’t looking at your pedigree, your family history, your good works, or your effort. He’s simply looking to see whether you are a true disciple of his Son, abiding in his word and trusting him alone.
Discussion Questions
- Herb Brooks’s players kept answering with their old team name even after everything had changed. Where in your life are you still wearing an old jersey alongside your faith in Jesus?
- Jesus says abiding in his word is the mark of a true disciple. Looking honestly at the last month, would someone be able to tell your life apart from your screen time?
- The Jews in this passage leaned on their lineage as Abraham’s children instead of trusting Jesus. What is the modern version of that for you: your background, your good deeds, your church upbringing?
If there’s anything you’re holding onto besides Jesus, whether it’s your effort, your history, or your own sense of being good enough, I’d ask you this morning to let it go. Free up both your arms and wrap them around your Lord and Savior, because he and he alone can set you free indeed. Whether you’ve walked with Jesus for decades or you’re hearing this for the first time, the invitation is the same: abide in him, trust him alone, and know the truth that truly sets you free.
