Truth

I posted a few days ago about the virtues of truth, justice and the American way. I only scratched the surface with that blog, so I decided to devote some time to each one separately. So, in order of appearance, and importance, we’ll start with truth.
What is truth? That’s something that people have always asked, even though the answer is usually obvious. A perfect example is Pontius Pilate. He was face to face with the man who claimed to be the Truth personified and asked him what truth was.
I know this is usually the part where non-Christians begin to tune out,  saying, “Well, the Bible may be true for you, but it’s not true for me.” Here’s what I have to say. The Bible is either true for all, or true for none. It’s that simple. If Jesus was, and is, who He claimed to be, He is Lord of all, whether one chooses to believe that He is not. Likewise, if He was merely a man, then he is not Lord of all, whether one chooses to believe that He is. There is no relativity about it. He’s not just a man for some, and God to others. He is one or the other to all. Two contrary statements cannot both be true at the same time. A room cannot be dark and brightly lit at the same time. And if you’re sitting in a brightly lit room and close your eyes, you can claim that the room is dark, but that does not change the fact that the lights are on.
Now, we pose the question again – “What is truth?” Is Jesus the way, the truth and the life, or is the truth elsewhere? Well, the easiest way to answer that would be to examine the veracity of the biblical accounts. And I know that raises some hackles on non-believers as well, who refuse to accept that the Bible is accurate. Historians, and not just Bible historians, will agree that there is enough extant manuscript evidence to show that the texts we have today are the same as those originally written. So, that just proves that the texts are the same, but if the stories were not true when first written, they would not be true today, right? Right. So, here are a couple of things to look at:
Even secular historians agree that there existed a man named Jesus, and that he was most likely crucified. Where the disagreement begins is in the resurrection. But here’s where theories against the resurrection fall apart. First point – all the Romans or Jews had to do was produce the corpse of Jesus. Had they been able to do that, there would have been no doubt that Jesus was not who he said he was. But, there was no corpse.
Second point – Jesus’ followers fled after the crucifixion, certain they would be next. Peter went so far as to deny he knew Jesus. But something happened, something miraculous, which changed these men from being afraid to die to dying martyr’s deaths, with the name of Jesus on their lips as they died. No one would be willing to die for what they believe to be a lie.
Third point – Paul, a man whose sole purpose in life was to find and kill Christians, whom he believed were heretics, had an encounter which caused him not only to stop persecuting Christians, but instead to become one of the chief spreaders of the gospel, enduring hardships such as prison, stonings, shipwrecks, and blessing the name of Jesus through it all. He wrote his epistles at a time when people who had lived in the time of Jesus were still around. The four Gospels were written no later than forty to sixty years after the Resurrection. Any one of the people of that day and age could have stepped up and said no such thing ever happened. But there was no such person. All possible explanations for anything other than the Resurrection of Jesus were discounted many times over. Which leads to one conclusion only – Jesus died and rose again, just as He said he would. His followers died, and still die, professing Him as Lord. He was, and is, who he said He was. If you’re looking for Truth, you need look no further than the ultimate personification of Truth, the one who never lied, never sinned. Look to what He says, and you will see the truth. And if you choose to close your eyes and claim that truth is relative, it will not change the brightness of the Truth one bit, but you might find yourself missing the beauty and the glory of that Light of the World.