What is Truth?--by Linden Malki

We live in a society that claims to be obsessed with "Truth" but tosses around accusations and judgments as if yelling louder made a difference.  Jesus was arrested and put on trial because the authorities of His day were afraid that the fragile balance of power they had been balancing on would collapse if He was taken at His word. The man on the spot, Pontius Pilate, whose main interest was keeping the lid on the simmering pot that was Judah, listened to the accusations, asked this one question: "What is Truth?" and washed his hands of the situation. It is ironic that he is primarily remembered for being the man on this particular spot.

People love to quote (or misquote) Jesus'  teaching that "the Truth will set you free."  Most people don't know the context of this statement.  The actual beginning of the teaching is "If you are my disciples, then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free". The Jewish "experts" replied that they were Abraham's decendants and had never been slaves. They seem to have forgotten what they had been commanded to remember: that they had at one time been slaves, and had been set free--to be witnesses to the world of the power of God. They did not know that they were being set up to be witnesses to Jesus' words that  He was "the Way, the Truth, and the Light, and no man comes to the Father without Him."  What they had thought was a conflict between their tradition and Jesus' words were actually an opportunity that they missed, similar to what Paul tried to explain to the Galatians: that the conflict between the traditional Jewish law and the promise of grace and salvation brought by Jesus would explode into a movement that would eventually be preached to the whole world.

In one way, this is a truth that needs to be shouted to the world, but it also has its place in each individual family: we are also to witness to the Truth of salvation brought by Jesus to each household; that the truth needs to be not only taught but witnessed to by parents, especially fathers, who are called to be the guardians of truth in their families. The family is under attack in the world we live in today, and we are called to stand for truth in each generation--the truth that sets us free to live in the grace of our Heavenly Father.