Emmanuel Lutheran Church

September 2019

What is truth? Pilate asks this question of Jesus after Jesus responded to one of his questions by answering “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” What is truth? Jesus never responds to Pilate’s question. Just what is truth? Who can we rely on for “truth?” Everyone today seems to have the “truth.” Who or what can we believe?

How do we discern “truth” from the deception that goes on around us every day? It seems like everywhere we turn, people have taken the example of the serpent from Genesis and use deception to entice. Why not – it works! However, what initially seems like truth can turn out to be falsehood once fully investigated. But who has time to research the facts? Can you even trust the “fact checkers?” I am not convinced, especially if those fact checkers have a particular bias.

It seems to me that we all simply “blindly” trust (like sheep without a shepherd, Jesus would say) and this is our greatest enemy. This is nothing new. It has been going on for centuries. When someone has something to “sell” they will say or do whatever they can get away with to do it. Think of all the “miracle cures” that were advertised in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s into which people bought. Some of those ads are just plain ridiculous! This still goes on today in a variety of forms, some more subtle than others.

So we come to Pilate’s question for Jesus “What is truth?” It is a very relevant question for the time in which we live today. What is truth? Jesus (very wisely) didn’t answer. Rather, he allowed “truth” to be played out for the whole world to see. The truth is sin. “…All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:22). Sin put Jesus on the cross, not Jews; not Romans. But that isn’t all there is to it. On the cross, Jesus looked at a lifelong sinner hanging next to him who said “we are getting what we deserve…but this man has done nothing wrong…Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus responded “…Today, you will be with me in Paradise.” Even before the resurrection occurred, Jesus promised the repentant one Paradise.

The greatest truth, the truth above all truths comes through the cross – God’s extreme mercy. Mercy triumphed over sin. Sin, in whatever form it comes, brings death (not necessarily literal death). Mercy brings life. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36). No longer bound by sin, the baptized (Christ’s church) are free to be merciful, just as God is merciful to us.

“Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.” (Galatians 6:7-10)

We are God’s merciful voice in a society bound by sin. When we get caught up in that sin, and we do, we need only remember our baptism and our freedom in Christ who is our friend, teacher and our guide. No, no, those are limiting words, and if we rely on those alone, deceptive because they blind me to the truth (see how subtle that was?). That truth is that Jesus is our Savior and Lord, God’s only truth for the world. “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68

Blessings,
Pastor Alan