Question:
How could the Jews say, as in John 8:33, that they were never in bondage to any man when, even at that time, they were under Rome and looking for the Messiah to deliver them? They had also been in bondage before, as under Babylon, etc.
Answer:
The Jews could not have made such an assertion truthfully. The men talking to Christ at that time had rejected the Messiah, the great Author of truth, and were seeking excuses to put Him out of the way. They were under the influence of the great “father of lies,” it is not strange at all that they should speak falsely. In recording conversations of that character, the Bible, to tell the truth, must recite things just as they were spoken. The text is authority for the fact that the Jews said that particular thing, but the text does not say that the Jews were telling the truth when they said it.
