The truth, apparently, can be a scary thing.  I can see, in my mind’s eye, Jack Nicholson in the movie “A Few Good Men,” yelling, “You can’t handle the truth!”  Well, apparently the people around Jesus had trouble handling the truth, too.  In fact, they seemed afraid of it.

    As Pilate questions Jesus, we hear Jesus answer, “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” (Jn. 18:37).  Apparently the truth didn’t sit too well with the religious leaders of Jesus’ day.  Jesus revealed to them the truth about God and about themselves, and they did not like what they saw.

    They also did not like Jesus revealing the truth about God and about themselves to the “common” people.  In fact, they felt so threatened by Jesus that they made sure that he ended up crucified.  No wonder there is so much fear evident in the Passion Narrative from John’s gospel.  Peter is afraid to admit that he is one of Jesus’ disciples.  Pilate is afraid when he hears that Jesus “has claimed to be the Son of God” (Jn. 19:7-8).  And both Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who bury Jesus, are secret disciples because they are afraid of the religious leaders.  Fear seems to be everywhere because of the suppression of the truth.  And so, what is this truth that was so threatening to those religious leaders?

    The number one issue seems to have been that Jesus challenged their own self-righteousness.  Jesus showed them that they were righteous in their own eyes, but not in God’s eyes.  They were all about appearances, while God could see their hearts.  They focussed on minute details of the law that they could keep - like giving 10% of the herbs from their herb garden to the Temple - while at the same time they ignored things like justice and mercy.  And, as Jesus pointed out from the Scriptures, justice and mercy are far more important in God’s eyes.  The religious leaders also thought that the Messiah and the Son of God would want to hang out with important, righteous, God-fearing people like them.  Of course, when Jesus chose to hang out with sinners and outcasts, they could see him only as a threat and a fraud.

    So – what about us?  Can we handle the truth?  When we listen carefully, we will also hear Jesus telling us that we are not righteous in God’s eyes.  On the contrary, we are sinful human beings who do not do and think what is right.  When left to our own devices, we are turned in on ourselves - self-centred - unable to live as God intended us to live.  Should you have any doubt that human beings in general are like this, simply take a look at the world around us.  You don’t need to look very far to see the effects of sin.

    However, the good news is that Jesus knows this about us and came anyway.  As Romans says, “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (5:8).  In fact, God knows us through and through, sees our hearts, and loves us.  At the same time, God’s intention for us is so much more than to live in sin.

    We were created in order to live in love for God and for one another, but of course sin gets in the way.  However, through Jesus, those relationships can be restored.  Through Jesus, our hearts within us can be healed and put right with God.  Through Jesus, our sins are “put away” from us, hung with Christ on the cross.  Through Jesus, the power of sin and death are broken and “the power of God for salvation” is revealed (Rom. 1:16).

    Yes, through Jesus, the truth about ourselves and about God is revealed, which ultimately is the truth of God’s love.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16).  The truth has, indeed, come into our world.  Can we handle it?  Amen.

Good Friday                                    John 18:1 - 19:42
April 2, 2010
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2010 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved