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Another important principle with reference to the truth is the imperative necessity for
its "right division" (II Tim. 2: 15). This, too, is so fundamental to all our witness, and its
application so evident in every issue, that we do not propose to deal with the matter here.
Accepting, then, the Scriptures as the vehicle of truth, and their right division as a
necessity, we propose in this series to occupy the reader's attention with some of the
applications and implications of the truth. We find our opening theme in the words of
John 8: 32:--
"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
It would take us too far afield to set before the reader in any detail the section of
John's Gospel of which this verse forms a part. We will give the barest possible
indications so that some benefit may be received by the realization of the wider context
of the passage.
John 7: 11 - 8: 59 records a series of arguments with the Jewish leaders at the
feast of tabernacles. They are divided for us by the Holy Spirit in five different places
where we read of the failure of the Lord's enemies to apprehend Him. As these are
key-passages we quote them below:--
(1) "Then the Jews sought Him . . . . . no man spoke openly of Him" (John 7: 11-13).
(2) "Then they sought to take Him: but no man laid hands on Him, because His hour
was not yet come" (John 7: 30).
(3) "And some of them would have taken Him: but no man laid hands on Him"
(John 7: 44).
(4) "And no man laid hands on Him, for His hour was not yet come" (John 8: 20).
(5) "Then took they up stones to cast at Him, but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the
temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by" (John 8: 59).
The reader will find food for thought and much profit in carefully comparing the
teaching of the intervening sections. This, however, is outside the scope of our present
enquiry. Our immediate concern is with the section between the citations from
John 8: 20 and 8: 59. If at some subsequent time we take up the study of
John's Gospel, we shall naturally devote more space to the analysis of these passages, but
for our present purpose, the following will suffice:--