I Am The Truth

The middle portion of John 14:6 has Jesus saying, in addition to The Way, He is The Truth. The Greek word for truth is aletheia – which means reality, sincerity, faithfulness. Jesus claims to be all that and more – namely the Ultimate Reality.

We have lived for years with truth being relative to the speaker, the conditions, the whims, and the circumstances. In a Postmodern world, there is no such thing as an objective truth. All truth depends on other things, making truth very subjective.

This is really nothing new. When Jesus stood in front of Pilate prior to being condemned to death, Pilate famously asks, “What is truth?”

That is the question of the hour – what is truth?  How can I know whether something is true or not. We have an instinctual desire to know the truth. We long for something or someone we can trust as real and dependable. We see and hear things and then talk with someone who saw and heard the same things and realize they came away with something entirely different. How can I even trust what I think I know?

Even when I speak my truth, there is no guarantee that anyone will believe me. We hear that phrase “my truth” and people holding to it, regardless of what others say. I believe we landed on the moon. I saw with my own eyes the landing. It was amazing. I was with my grandfather who had never imagined such a thing possible, having been born in the close of the 19^th Century. But we both saw it and believed. Obviously we saw it on television; we were not actually there. And therein lies the issue. Today people have written a lot about how they believe the moon landing never happened. Their truth is that the moon landing was a big scam, filmed on a sound stage somewhere. Even more serious and startling, there are those who do not believe the Holocaust occurred. They don’t necessarily doubt all the six million plus people died, but they were casualties of a massive war, not an ethnic cleansing.

My dad used to question me, regarding comments I would make, “Is that true?”  “Are you sure?” I remember in middle school telling him about some rather abusive comments a teacher had made to me in front of class. He was prepared to go to battle for me, but kept asking if this is what truly had happened. Was I embellishing? Did the teacher really say that? My dad questioned me so much at first it offended me, because it was the truth. Then I began to wonder if I was right or not. I remember sitting in class waiting to be pulled out for making up such a story. I knew I had spoken the truth, but under dad’s questioning I began to doubt. However, along with my dad believing me, the principal did too. The teacher was dealt with. But I came away with a lifelong defensiveness when my veracity is questioned.

And maybe this is because we all struggle with truth. Our nature makes us want to be believed, trusted, so we can be known to embellish in order to make things look better from our point of view. Lies, even little ones, come rather easily. We see this with little children bending the truth so they won’t get in trouble, or so they will be praised. Some go on to continue these practices into adulthood. Someone I care about has been catfished online multiple times. They so want to find someone to share their life with that they believe these compulsive liars, losing money along with their ability to believe anyone anymore.

What is truth? Jesus says He is. If we want to find truth in this life, our best shot is Jesus. When Pilate (just prior to his pivotal question) asked if Jesus was a king, Jesus responded, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into this world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” To which Pilate famously responds, “What is truth?” (John 18:37-38) Pilate didn’t understand that The Truth was standing right in front of him.

John wrote about Jesus and truth multiple times. When announcing the coming of God into the world as a human being, John wrote “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:14, 17).  “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘if you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’.” (John 8:31-32). During the last meal with Jesus’ disciples, in addition to His I Am the truth statement in John 14, he said, “When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13). And in His prayer he asks the Father, “Sanctify them by the truth; your Word is truth.” (John 17:17). John also wrote in his later epistle “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him (God) who is true. And we are in Him (God) who is true by being in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (I John 5:20-21).

Jesus said that He was/is truth. He said His word is true. He gives us an objective truth. Jesus didn’t say He was “a” truth, or His words were “a” truth. If the latter were the case, then we would need some standard for that truth to conform to, or worse, we'd see it only as "his truth" as we speak today of "my" truth, one of many. But Jesus claims to be The Truth – the standard to which all other truth needs to conform.

In a world full of subjective truth, where can we turn? How can we know what is really true? What is the answer to Pilate’s question “what is truth?”  I think we all long for those we can trust, who will be faithful and true to the confidence we place on them. But people, even those closest to us, can fail to meet our expectations. And who around us can promise truth that can set us free? As a believer in Jesus Christ I can confidently proclaim that Jesus is the answer. He is the only answer. I can safely place my trust in Jesus because He is truth, His word is truth, and He is faithful.