Those folks could have responded many ways. For example, they could have jumped up and down, yelling, "Yippee! We'll be free!" I, for one, wish they had asked, "Lord, explain what it means to abide in Your word." But they didn't say any of that.

Instead, huffily, they answered. "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, 'You will become free'?" (John 8:31-33 NASU).

Sure enough, in Egypt Abraham's descendants became "enslaved and oppressed." They were compelled to do back-breaking labor, subjected to impossible demands and beaten if they didn't meet those demands. Different Bible translations use these phrases in Exodus 1:11-13 to describe the conditions: "brutal slave drivers," "hard labor," "heavy burdens," "harshness," "severity," "worked them ruthlessly," "rigorously," "crushing them under the cruel workload."

Like the Jews of Jesus' day, we may not feel we can identify with such bondage. But 2 Peter 2:19 puts the matter in a different light. It says, "People are slaves to whatever has mastered them" (TNIV).

The Greek word translated "has mastered" has several meanings. A more complete translation might be: "People are slaves to whatever controls them, whatever defeats them, whatever makes them worse, whatever categorizes them as inferior."

So maybe each of us needs to ask, "Who or what controls me? Defeats me? Makes me worse? Categorizes me as inferior?"

If anything is ruthlessly driving us and cruelly fettering us, we're enslaved. If anything is brutally beating us down, we're oppressed. We too need the freedom Christ offers. Ah, but are we crying out, "Deliver us!" or have we simply settled into slavery, color-coordinating our prison cells with a black-and-blue theme, accessorizing our wardrobe to match our shackles?

Way back in New Testament days, Paul expressed deep frustration with such resignation. In 2 Corinthians 11:20, he cried, "You even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face" (NIV).

What's more, where there's bondage, there often are multiple bullies. In Egypt, Pharaoh was the chief tyrant. But the taskmasters were oppressors too.

In Isaiah 14, we see clearly how despots treat people - and the ultimate outcome. Isaiah announced, "On the day the LORD gives you relief from suffering and turmoil and cruel bondage, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended! The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers, which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows" (vv. 3-6 NIV).

One and all, oppressors misuse authority. They use their scepters to strike people with unceasing blows. Quite often, the oppressor should not even have authority, but it has been foolishly or wrongly handed over.

Remember the folks who told Jesus they had never been enslaved? He responded, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin" (John 8:34 NASU).

Uh oh. By giving in to sin, we give power to a despot. Sadly, every one of us has done it.

So let's take inventory. Which of the tyrants below have caused suffering, turmoil and cruel bondage in your life?

• The devil. His modus operandi is not creative, but highly effective: entice, enslave, ruin (2 Tim. 2:25- 26; 2 Peter 2:18-19). His oppression sometimes manifests in physical illnesses (Acts 10:38-39).
• Spirit beings or other things we serve that "by nature are not gods" (Gal. 4:8-9 NIV). Anything or anyone we idolize enslaves us.
• Addictive substances (Titus 2:3).
• "All kinds of passions and pleasures" (Titus 3:3 NIV).
• People who wrongly use their riches or power (James 2:6).
• "The filthy conduct of the wicked" (2 Peter 2:7 NKJV).

We infuriate oppressors when we obey God. Ah, but we empower oppressors when we disobey God. So you'll know: It's far better to anger a tyrant while rightly related to a righteous King than to give yourself over to the tyrant.

We're particularly susceptible to tyranny when we're filled with pride. Isaiah 3:5 warns that, when we collectively become proud, "People will oppress each other - one against another, neighbor against neighbor" (TNIV).

In church culture, it often happens this way: Over time, we build structures - ministries, programs, organizations, entities. In some cases, we thought up the structures ourselves. In other cases, God inspired what was created and worked through it - but, as is His way, He always moves on. As is our way, we camp. Instead of going with God, we tend to settle in, trying to reproduce the pattern of how He once worked.

Either way, we have our structures. We become quite proud of our structures. What's more, we need hierarchies in order to run our structures. And so, we vie for positions. Once in those positions, we draw our significance from them. In order to maintain our positions and our structures, we oppress each other. If we do not see what we're doing and repent, we throw the door wide for evil spiritual forces to oppress everyone linked to our structures.

When Paul confronted the Corinthians for putting up with "anyone who enslaves you," he was rebuking them for going along with people in the church who claimed authority because of titles (that were not God-given) and misused that authority to cause turmoil and bondage.

It's shocking to realize, "I'm enslaved and oppressed." It's even more shocking to realize, "I've been an oppressor." Either way, we desperately need deliverance. But here's another thing we self-reliant folk tend to forget: Deliverance requires a deliverer.

Hurray! Jesus came as Deliverer of the captives - all who have been enticed and enslaved. He came as Deliverer of the oppressed - all who've tried to stand against the enemy's evil and, as a result, have been ruthlessly, maliciously pummeled.

Why is "recovery of sight" mentioned between "freedom for the prisoners" and release of "the oppressed"? I suspect it's because the Lord knows we will not welcome Him as Deliverer until we see those areas where we're bound or beaten down.

In proclaiming Himself Deliverer, Jesus was echoing the announcement God made to Moses hundreds of years earlier regarding the enslaved Israelites:

"You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. I have remembered my covenant with them. Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will free you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with mighty power and great acts of judgment. I will make you my own special people, and I will be your God. And you will know that I am the LORD your God who has rescued you from your slavery in Egypt. I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It will be your very own property. I am the LORD!'" (Ex. 6:5-8 NLT).

Don't miss the significance of God's three-fold announcement, "I am the LORD." God was invoking His covenant name - the name no one today even knows how to pronounce, the name Abraham and Jacob heard God speak but did not see Him manifest.

Basically, He was saying, "Get ready. I'm going to show you what My name means by how I act. I'm going to reveal who I AM by what I do."

What actions would unveil His personal, eternal, covenant identity? "I will free you . . . redeem you . . . make you my own special people . . . [rescue] you from slavery . . . bring you into the land."

The proclamations of Exodus 6 and Luke 4 announce: The LORD - our Father - is Deliverer! The LORD - His Son - is Deliverer! The LORD - the Holy Spirit - is Deliverer!

So what are we doing in bondage?

Isn't it time we quit bowing and scraping to tyrants and acting like bullies ourselves? Isn't it time we started clamoring for the freedom the LORD Himself has come to bring? Isn't it time we shouted with a great shout, "Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us"! (Psalm 79:9 NIV).