Truth

From the beginning humans have wrestled with truth.

What is true? How do we know it’s true? Why is it true? Is it true for everyone? Is it true for just me?

In the garden, Eve is standing at the tree (right beside Adam, look it up). The snake questions the truth of God’s commands.

Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?  -Genesis 3:1

Then he questions the truth of God’s intent.

“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”  -Genesis 3:4-5

From that point forward, we’ve been questioning what is true. We’ve continued to question the most important truth – God himself.

Truth under pressure.

I don’t envy Pilate.

You could argue Pilate is a cursed man. All of history led Jesus to Pilate early one Friday morning 2000 years ago. God had ordained Jesus’ death, yet it had to be decreed by the governing authority…Pilate.

I don’t envy Pilate. He asked the same question the snake asked, then Eve asked, and you and I ask.

What is truth?  -John 18:38

Under immense pressure, Pilate was charged to define who Jesus was.

I recently finished the mini-series, The People vs OJ Simpson. 12 men and women were given the responsibility to determine truth in the midst of a culture war, race tensions, courtroom drama and lawmen missteps. No matter how that jury ruled, the decision would be an outrage to millions of Americans.

Pilate was put into a no win situation. His response was an outrage – no matter the decision.

Sometimes truth has that type of power.

What is Truth?

Eve wanted to know what truth is. Pilate wanted to know what truth is. The OJ jury wanted to know what truth is. You want to know what truth is.

Everyone wants to know the truth, so fake news and alternative facts are hot topics right now. Fake news is a “thing” because we are desperate to find truth that lines up with our preconceived ideas.

But truth isn’t a moral or philosophy or set of rules we align ourselves with. Truth is a person we pledge our allegiance to.

Truth is Jesus Christ.

Eve daily encountered truth walking the garden with the Trinity. If her heart and mind could have aligned for one moment, there would have been no question what or who was true.

Truth literally stood in front of Pilate. If his heart could have interpreted what his eyes were seeing, he wouldn’t have asked his famous question.

Right now you are encountering truth. It’s Jesus. Just Jesus – not what people say or write about Jesus. It’s what He says Himself, and you can read it for yourself.

You can determine what is truth by reading Jesus words for yourself!

Can you handle the truth?

This week, I watched A Few Good Men for the first time. The climax is one of the most quoted movie lines in American culture (#29 in the American Film Institutes greatest movie quotes of all time).

You can’t handle the truth!  -Col. Jessep

It’s spoken by Jack Nicholson’s character to Tom Cruise’s character, Lt. Kaffee. Jessep believes Kaffee (and most of America) can’t handle the truth of why two Marines were killed on his base. He has spent months hiding and covering up the truth because of this belief.

God isn’t hiding or covering up his truth, but the question still remains,

Can you handle the truth?

Really? Truly? Can you handle the truth of who Jesus claims to be?

If Jesus is Truth, it will change your life. It will require you to make adjustments to how you live, how you spend money, how speak and think. It will turn your world upside down. Forever.

It has mine.

And it doesn’t stop. My world continues to change as I further realize what Truth means to me.

Can you handle the truth? A lot of people can’t.