Jesus Died For The Truth

What Did Jesus Do?

“For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—
to bear witness to the truth.”
John 18:37

It is amazing, shocking, deeply troubling, that so many people who call themselves Christians know so little about the One whose name they presume to take for themselves. To hear most Christians today, Jesus was all about love. Period. End of story. But, when he was on trial for his life, when we would expect Jesus to lay it all on the line, his testimony was not about love, but about truth. In fact, I believe it is accurate to say that Jesus died for the Truth.

Think about it. Did Jesus say that he was born for the purpose of bearing witness to love? No. From his own lips, at the most critical moment in his life, Jesus said he was born for the purpose of bearing witness to the truth. And, since few would contest the statement that Jesus was born to die, it is absolutely appropriate to acknowledge that Jesus died for the truth. What, then, of love? Surely love, if not the purpose of his life’s mission, was still of great importance to Jesus. It is absolutely appropriate to say that love was so much a part of the life of Jesus that we fall into great error if we do not yoke truth and love together when we consider the life of the Lord.

Truth, yes, but not alone; truth never without love. Love, yes, but never before truth; love never contravening truth. Here’s the thing, truth without love, is still truth. Yes, it may be cold, hard, unappealing, but it is still the truth. But, love without the truth, well, it isn’t really love at all. Love without truth always, let me make sure you catch this, always degenerates quickly into selfish, destructive narcissism. Make sure you get this—ALWAYS. It’s been this way ever since the first time truth was chucked in the name of love. If the occasion escapes you, go read Genesis 3. What amazes me is that we still don’t get it. Even with Jesus coming and dying for the truth, we insist on trying to make it all about “love,” the he_ _ with truth. And, the truth is, love without truth makes life hell, and, if we never hear and accept the truth, love sans truth narrows our options for eternity down to one very unpleasant destination.

I can hear the folks whose biblical knowledge goes no further than John 3:16 crying out, “What is all this about truth? Don’t you know that God sent his Son because he ‘so loved the world’?” Yeah, I know. But do you know that when the Father wanted to express his love most sublimely he did so in and through his Son, who leads us in the way of God’s agape love, teaches us the truth of God’s agape love, and, by sending the Holy Spirit to fill us, empowers us to live, in and through him, the life of God’s agape love? That’s right, Jesus, the highest and fullest expression of the Father’s love, made it plain as day—He is the way, the truth, and the life. If we truly want to know the love of God, we must come to him by way of the One who is Truth. We may claim to cherish the old rugged Cross, but Jesus died for nothing if, no matter how much we pretend to love, we don’t live in and for the truth.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4