Catena Aurea on John 8:31–36: John Chrysostom

Or thus: Having said that whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin, He anticipates the answer that their sacrifices saved them, by saying, The servant abideth not in the house for ever, but the Son abideth ever. The house, He says, meaning the Father’s house on high; in which, to draw a comparison from the world, He Himself had all the power, just as a man has all the power in his own house. Abideth not, means, has not the power of giving; which the Son, who is the master of the house, has. The priests of the old law had not the power of remitting sins by the sacraments of the law; for all were sinners. Even the priests, who, as the Apostle says, were obliged to offer up sacrifices for themselves. But the Son has this power; and therefore our Lord concludes: If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed; implying that that earthly freedom, of which men boasted so much, was not true freedom.