Word to the Wise
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 - Wednesday in the Fifth Week of Lent
[Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95 and John 8:31-42]If you remain in my word, you will be truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
In his interview with Jesus, Pilate asks, "What is truth?" A politician and brutal ruler like him understood only one "truth," and that was power. The real truth was standing right in front of him! The scribes and Pharisees understood only one truth, the Law of Moses. The real truth of that law stands before them in this gospel passage. Even if they can claim "descendancy" from Abraham, they cannot see Abraham's maker right in front of them. Furthermore, by seeking to kill Jesus they are not acting like Abraham and Jesus confronts them with their plotting. Thus they do not understand the truth of what Jesus says and will remain slaves instead of being freed by the knowledge of truth. They cannot see that Moses wrote about Jesus! The truth that sets us free is not like the learning of data and facts. We have no personal relationship to such things. We can have a personal relationship with another person in which we come to know (usually in a long process of self-revelation and being together) the "truth" of that person - who they really are. The Gospel of John shows us several examples of persons who encounter Jesus and come to "know" him step by step: the Samaritan woman, the Royal Official, the Man Born Blind. Ultimately it comes to the acceptance of who Jesus is, and not a list of "facts" about him. Those have meaning only in the context of the relationship of faith. A life lived in accord with that faith will be a life that is set free from the bondage of appetite and passion for material things. It may be that some will resist coming to know Jesus because they sense the demands that faith will entail. However, if they see the freedom of Jesus' disciples, perhaps they will be encouraged to make the effort. Invite them! AMEN