“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”

“Slave” and “slavery” are words that carry a lot of weight. When Jesus tossed out that word in talking to the Jews who had believed in Him, it did more than just catch their attention. It would have thrown up all kinds of warning bells and whistles and put them on the defensive, as you heard in the text. I suppose it’s akin to throwing around the word “racist” these days as a way of insulting those who don’t share one’s opinion. In a way, the words “slave” and “slavery” do that still today.