Friends,

I want to look at today how we define Truth.

When Jesus was being questioned by Pilate before his crucifixion; John 18:37-38 – “Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world— to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

Earlier in the book of John we see that Jesus further clarified his answer to Pilate’s question:  “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truthwill set you free.”

In western philosophy and thought, the framework by which we understand truth is empiracal, meaning something is said to be true if it gives evidence that it is what it claims to be.  (Ex: an apple is an apple because one can observe the traits of an apple in it)  This is not how the Jews would have understood truth, however.  The Hebrew conception of truth, was more than merely empirical, it was metaphysical.  What this means is that something was true because it is the essence of that thing, and further, there was a measure of unchanging faithfulness to that essence.  Therefore, Jesus was saying that He did not merely come professing truthful things, but that He Himself was the essence of truth, the ever faithful, unchanging, essence of truth.

In 1 Peter 2:22, it is said of Jesus – “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.”  Jesus was truthful, not merely because he did not utter deceit (that would be to understand truth as the western greek philosophy does), but he was truthful because he is the essence of truth, therefore only truth would flow from Him.  All other things are only truthful in as much as they conform to the pattern of truthfulness found in Jesus – that is what it means for Jesus to be not merely truthful, but the Truth.

Let’s explain that using our example of an apple above.  If something is said to be truthful merely because it bears the traits of such a thing, how would you identify something correctly if there was no light?  Would you be able to determine in the dark, an apple from an orange with 100% certainty?  No, we need the light to be able to ascertain what is really there.

In John 8:12 Jesus says – “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

What framework of truth guides how you live your life?  For many people, their truth is ever-changing, always being molded based upon what they think will serve them best in the moment.  While we can deceive ourselves into thinking we know best, there is no life to be found there. That pattern of selfish and prideful thought inevitably leads to death and separation from God.  As a Christian, we are blessed to know that Jesus is the ever faithful, never changing, Truth.  We have been given the Bible as a picture of who He is.  In Christ, we are free from the bondange and deceit of sin, to delight in Him and know Him with the eyes of our heart.  In knowing Him, the Truth, we are also shown how we ought to live.  No one’s getting out of today’s message clean – we all have things that need to be put up to the light of God, to submit our lives further to Jesus, the Truth.  My exhortation is to pray about what those things are, and then submit to God’s call on your life – pursue and delight in the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth.

Grace and Peace,
Adam