Lenten Meditation for Wednesday, March 29, 2023
John 8:31-42
Today Jesus tells us that the truth will set us free. When Jesus says “truth,” he is referring to a mystery that is unfathomable. Later in the Gospel According to John, Jesus says that he himself is the Truth. (John 14:6) No human person can ever grasp the fullness of God as revealed in Christ Jesus: the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Human beings, though, can move toward that ultimate Truth. One of the first steps is to face reality as it is. It is hard to imagine how anyone could draw near to ultimate Truth if they run away from ordinary truth. It is hard to imagine how anyone could gaze upon ultimate Truth if they refuse to see ordinary truth.
Yet, for our own survival, we instinctively sequester truths that are too hard for us to bear. We bury them. Psychotherapy, in part, is a way for people to face those hard truths in a safe way, because buried truths fester and corrode. They make us their prisoners. Facing the truth, though, can set us free.
Who does not remember Kellyanne Conway’s gaffe in 2017 about “alternative facts”? Regardless of what she meant, there is no denying that in politics today, as well as in the larger culture, the notion of “truth” is so fluid as to be meaningless. If the truth does not work for a political end, it can be denied with impunity. Some “alternative fact” can substitute. Jesus was right, though, that this denial of truth is not freedom. It is captivity. The truth, even if it is inconvenient, is freedom, and accepting such ordinary truth is a necessary step along the way of knowing ultimate Truth.
Today, try to do a very difficult but very freeing thing. Admit to yourself a truth that you have been avoiding - maybe only recently, maybe for years. It’s there whether you admit it or not, so why not just admit it? Then hold it before the Lord Jesus. Ask him to show you how much he loves you just as you are. His love for you is unconditional, and that’s the Truth. Let that Truth set you free.