Standing for the truth and what is right has become a hard nut to crack in this age of conspiracy theories as insecurity, fear and distrust increases everyday, inflated by the political space. As things are now, the one who stands for the truth stands alone and suffers many consequences. The one who “says things as they are” is considered harsh, imprudent, unpatriotic and stoic, but the one who paints and sugar coats the truth is nice, prudent, patriotic and diplomatic. And everyone wants to be considered nice, patriotic, prudent and diplomatic. No one wants to be embarrassed for standing for the truth. Everyone wants to preserve friendship circles and family ties even if it involves hiding the truth and telling lies. Isn’t it?
Today Jesus tells us why we should NEVER be embarrassed for standing for the Truth, and why we should NEVER build anything (business, friendship, family, relationships, etc) on lies. If you wish to know read slowly…
John 18:33-37
‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Pilate asked. Jesus replied, ‘Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others spoken to you about me?’ Pilate answered, ‘Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?’ Jesus replied, ‘Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind.’ ‘So you are a king then?’ said Pilate. ‘It is you who say it’ answered Jesus. ‘Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.’
POINTS FOR REFLECTION
1. Child of God, for the condemnation and execution of Jesus to be made possible a lie have to be told. What lie you ask me? The Jews have to conspire and lie that Jesus was self acclaiming himself king. And you know what that means- usurpation of power is a crime, and no authority, government, or society tolerates it. So to make a big case against Jesus before Pilate, he was accused of making himself king, which is an attempt to run a parallel government with Pilate. But it was all conspiracy.
2. But is Jesus truly king, and did he claim to be king. Why was that lie possible to convict him? Jesus is truly King, prophecy and scriptures not only reveals it (Dan 7:13-14), but He declares it himself: I was born for this, I came into the world for this… But his kingdom isn’t of this world. Worldly kingdoms are built on conspiracies and lies. But that of Jesus is stands on the foundation of TRUTH which is eternal and never fails, and the CITIZENS of His Kingdom are all those who are on the side of truth and listens to His voice. It is not enough to be on the side of Truth, you must also listen to the voice of Jesus to be part of the kingdom.
3. Child of God, Truth is absolute, immutable and cannot change or be destroyed. Truth may be hidden, frustrated or delayed but cannot be destroyed. The Truth must prevail. The guarantee of truth lies in the fact that Truth is a person, and that person is Jesus for He says in John 14,6: I am the Way, the Truth and the Live, and elsewhere He says: my Words are True and they are Life (Jn 6:63). The book of Revelation calls Him the Truth and the Amen; the alpha and Omega, the Beginning and End of all things (Rev 1:7-8). When truth triumphs, God reigns!
But many today have adopted a view of truth known as “relativism”- which is a belief system that says there’s no absolute truth. When they hear us Christians make biblical truth claims, they say: “well that may be true for you, but it is not true for me.” And with that, they often run into contradictions as they approve everything and every immoral act to their detriment.
TASK: NEVER build anything: friendship, relationship, marriage, business, family, etc on lies or conspiracy. It shall not last. It must crumble.
– Stand for the truth always. No embarrassing moment can kill you or harm you, for scripture says: we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth (2 Cor 13:8).
– Demonstrate that science, maths, logic technology, etc discover truth because God made humans in His image and likeness endowing us the ability to know him through what He created.
– Use the Bible which is God’s foundation for Truth to help yourself and others, applying it to all areas of life: prayer, work, business, relationship, etc.
I Pray for You: Have men gathered in conspiracy to tell lies against you? Over you, I declare the word of God of Isaiah 54:15: they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against you shall fall for your sake, in Jesus’ name. Over every lying lips and tongues against you, I declare Psalm 120:3-4, hot coal and fire shall burn, in Jesus name. Amen
