Month: April 2022

…And Nothing But The Truth

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There is plenty of consolation, and more than enough challenge in verses 31 and 32 of the Eighth Chapter of the Gospel of John. Jesus is in Jerusalem and he is talking with some of those who claim to be his disciples. Jesus’ words, once again, act as a threshing of grain, separating those who say they believe and follow from those who remain faithful to him, even though (like us?) they don’t always understand where he’s coming from and what he is really trying to say. They just know that, for them, it’s better to follow, to listen and to let the Spirit work it out inside them. They sense that there is something special about Jesus, and they want to be part of it. Jesus says, “If you remain in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 

The first, and most basic task of a disciple of Jesus is to immerse ourselves in his word, and in the Word that he is from Abba-God. The verb in Greek can be translated as remain, abide, continue, but the image it invokes is to make oneself at home in Jesus’ word – the Good News, the Gospel of God’s Kingdom of mercy and love. Let this be the base and the space from which we live, speak and act. Let ourselves be formed and transformed through intimate connection with God who is Love speaking within us in words we cannot hear with our minds. This is what makes a follower into a true disciple of Jesus.

From this intimate experience, over time, we come to have a sense of what is truly from God and what is not. This is the basis for discernment. We develop an inner inclination about what is genuine and what is false. This knowing allows us to see more clearly and to choose more in line with Jesus’ lived and living values and desires. It’s not a head thing. It’s a feeling, an acquired radar for identifying the truth (and the Truth – who is Jesus).

With the third phrase we come to the big spiritual outcome. This truth we come to recognize and follow will set us free.  Of course, we can object, like the adversaries of Jesus, that we are not unfree. But as long as our lives, or any facet of our lives, are rooted in anything false, we are caught, trapped, enslaved to that falsity. The more radically we are grounded in truth, the freer we are. The hardest part is detaching ourselves from our favorite untruths, the lies we tell ourselves and others, the ones we have cultivated so painstakingly over the course of our lives. What can give us the courage we need to risk the truth is the promise of Jesus, “The truth will set you free.” There’s nothing to hide. The truth of God is infinitely more beautiful than any false images we have about ourselves, others, the world. 

Upping the Ante

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Life is a high stakes proposition. We are invited, if we choose to enter the game, to gauge our options, to build up our resources, and when the moment is right, to move all our chips to the center of the table. Of course, out of fear, we can choose to stand around on the edges and watch.

Jesus (Matthew 7:12) quotes what we refer to as The Golden Rule. “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.” According to Jesus this “rule” sums up all the teaching of the Law and of the prophets. Basically it encourages us to treat others as we would like to be treated. The opposite also applies. Don’t treat others as you don’t want others to treat you. But Jesus also says (Matthew 5:17), “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the prophets, I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”

Jesus aligns himself, and his mission, squarely and surely with what God has been doing through the Law, that great spiritual treasure, and the prophets, those strong, irritating, and comforting voices speaking out on behalf of God. He has no intention to destroy those pillars of belief and of practice. He has come to bring them to their fullness – beyond anything imaginable. Jesus, in his very being, and in his teaching/healing ministry, sums up and surpasses what went before.

In the light of Jesus, the bar for The Golden Rule is now raised to, Do into others as God has done to you. We are invited and challenged to treat ourselves, others and creation as God has treated us –  with true care. This is the biblical description and understanding of justice – way above and beyond our quid pro quo notions of what’s right and fair. What payback can there possibly be for all God has done, and is doing for us? All we can do is pass the goodness along, to any and all.