The tension is mounting between Jesus and the Jews. As time ticks away, Jesus is trying to win over the crowd to the truth. However, it seems to no avail. He came unto His own and His own would not accept Him, as John tells us in the prologue, the beginning of His Gospel.
Throughout His life, Jesus has laboriously defended His Father and the cause of truth. He has tried to elude them from the grasp of Satan. If only they have eyes that see and hearts that believe, they would certainly put their hope in Jesus, the Son of God, and the truth would set them free. As it is, the Jews find themselves bound up in their stubbornness and ignorance. They proudly call themselves descendants of Abraham, yet in boasting of this truth, they fail to see that Jesus, Son of the Jews, is also a descendant of this father of faith.
The greatest tragedy that Jesus experienced up to the point of His death is that of ignorance of the truth. Even Pilate questioned Jesus about truth. Pilate, seemingly sidelined by the authorities of the day, gives in to popular demand rather than the truth. Often those who stand on the side of the truth are the minority, which is why they are seemingly unpopular. Every day, we are fed with lies. It is so common that oftentimes, we forget what the truth is even if it really matters. Little white lies turn into big black lies, dishonesty turns into corruption, and falsehood in turn produces the blind eye of ignorance.
“Truth” in the Bible denotes the quality of faithfulness and reliability. When we speak of God’s truth, it is the loving faithfulness of God that we are referring to. Truth is also the reliable knowledge in the factual sense. When Jesus speaks of Himself as the Truth, the truth here means the loving faithfulness of God. Jesus prays at the Last Supper that His disciples be sanctified in the truth (John 17). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth who stands by Christ and witnesses to the truth. Fr. Brian Steele, MGL
Reflection Question:
Am I living on the side of truth or am I living a life of lies?
Lord, teach me the truth for it is this that will set me free. Amen.
St. Carpus, pray for us.
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