Wednesday, May 13, 2020
In the eighth chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus utters those famous words, “You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” And some of his listeners take umbrage, “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by the saying, ‘You will be made free?’”
Funny the relationship between bondage and lack of truth, and sort of ironic, given that those making the noise about their freedom were pretty much under the thumb of hated foreign rulers at the time. And of course, one of those foreign rulers, Pontius Pilate, is famous for sardonically asking Jesus at his trial, “What is truth?” A noble question if you are searching for an answer. Not so much, if you are a political hack who has pretty much abandoned the idea that there is any such thing.
And concern for truth is not confined to the Gospels. Right smack in the middle of the Big Ten we find, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” Proverbs 14:5 says, “An honest witness does not deceive, but a false witness pours out lies.” Now I know, chasing down the truth can be a challenge, but I still think Mark Twain was on to something when he said, “If you tell the truth, you won’t have to remember anything.”
And so a frequent prayer of mine lately is that of the Psalmist (120:1), “Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips and a deceitful tongue.”
Grace and peace to you all.