Jesus died because he told the truth. If he would have kept his mouth shut or at least not been so honest he may have saved some skin. But no, he had to go get himself killed by being honest. When the soldiers came looking for him, he asked, “Who do you seek.” “Jesus of Nazareth.” He said, “I am him.” When the High Priest questioned Jesus about his teaching he was honest and told them if there is any wrong in what he has said then please let him know. When asked by Pilate if he was king of the Jews he didn’t deny it but instead said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” “So you are a king,” Pilate asks. Jesus replies, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” Speaking the truth got Jesus killed.
Speaking the truth can be dangerous. But hearing the truth can be difficult. Jesus came to give us the truth about ourselves. He is the truth. As the truth, Jesus serves as the perfect mirror for which we see ourselves.
In the presence of his truth, our lies are exposed. In the presence of his courage, our cowardice is brought to light. In the presence of his passionate, fierce, sacrificial love for us, our own hardness of heart is revealed. In his presence we stand. In his presence we either fall down to worship him or do everything we can to extinguish his light.
I invite you to take time to be honest. Who are you really? Until we can honestly answer that question we will not be able to experience the full impact of redemption because we don’t fully understand what it is we need redeeming from. Most of us need saving from ourselves.
We can say that Jesus is true. But it only shows by the type of person we become when confronted with this truth. Truth as followers of Jesus is not about reciting certain creeds or claiming certain set of beliefs. The answer to truthfulness is the life that it produces.
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