WHAT IS TRUTH?

Some two millennia ago, Pontius Pilate, the governor of Israel under Rome, famously asked that question. Before him was the Man. The One whom the Jews accused of claiming to be the ‘King of the Jews’. The One who told him plainly:

‘My Kingdom is not of this world.’ 

Then he made a definite statement, so clear it is a marvel that Pontius Pilate, and indeed the rest of mankind, should ignore it.

“To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.”

For this was no ordinary man. This was the One who had done so many wondrous deeds, and whose teachings were with such authority, like none before Him, nor after Him, such that the people marveled and asked…

“What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

For, ” …no man ever spoke like this man.” Gospel  

Yet, strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, Pontius Pilate, the one who asked such a profound question, turned and walked away. He did not even wait for an answer. 

Such is the way of man. We ‘seek’ Truth but we are really not ready to embrace Truth. “Truth is bitter”, we say, as Bikram Choudhury famously put it for us all. We would rather hear ‘sweet’ lies.

Yet, before Pilate, and since, men have sought to know Truth, for Truth alone, somehow, makes a man free where it matters most, the human heart. 

“You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.”

The Man, Jesus, had told His followers that much, and in very plain language too. 

Life is ‘more than meets the eye’. Jesus implied as much when He talked about a Kingdom that is not ‘of this world’.

We ‘sense’ this transcendent reality that we know little about, and we long for Truth about it. Why?

Because God, ‘has… set eternity in the hearts of men.’

Religions and traditions point us to this reality but leave us with more fears and guilt, than peace of heart and mind. And strife too: within and between the different religions; and within and between the different traditions!

Philosophers have tried to unravel this mystery, but they have given us more questions than answers. And their questions, without answers, give us little to put our weight on. 

Man, natural man, is a sensual being, with a need to see, and to believe. For him, ‘seeing is believing’. Philosophers understood this and came up with a simple solution, but yet another question. Why ask why?

But the longing persists. We want to know, nay, we need to know, the truth about life and the afterlife, that we may live in shalom; peace within and without.  

Alas, a new breed of ‘truth’ sellers, the liberals, have come with an easy solution. Truth is as you ‘see’ it, or ‘feel’ it. Truth, to them, is a social construct. So, you can define ‘your own truth’. 

The problem with that, of course, is that we are losing the sense of meaning, or whatever is left of it. 

Without a common ground, Truth, communication becomes a farce. So much so, that a matter as simple and self evident as gender now has ever evolving types, including ‘unsure’ as a possible ‘truth’!! 

If a man ever told us he was ‘unsure’ whether he is a human or a dog, we would of course think him nuts. But no. Diversity is the ‘now’ word. 

The paradox though, is that these liberals who say we can define our ‘own truth’, do not permit us to disagree with their premise. We may think anything we want to, but only in accordance with their own premise. Otherwise, we are labelled as intolerant haters.

The ‘liberals’ have given us the freedom not to be free!!! And they insist on keeping us there, because they have the ready tool. The Media. Especially digital media, with access to millions with just a touch of a button.

The Millennials and Gen Z generations have given us a name apt for it all. Whatever !

But life is not a matter of whatever. It cannot be. That would be a delusion of the worst kind, at the least. Or frank anarchy. 

When we cannot have a basis for communication, what else would be left? ‘Your truth’, ‘my truth’, ‘their truth’, can only mean just that. Anarchy!

The Truth Revealed

Fortunately, Jesus Christ, the Man before Pilate, had already answered his question before their encounter. In one of His prayers, to God and for us, He revealed Truth.

• “Thy Word (God’s Word) is Truth.”

This affirms the Torah’s definition:

• “Thy Torah (Instructions) is Truth.”  Psalm/Zabur of David

And the Koran puts it a little differently:

• “Allah, (Al-Illah, The God, in Arabic) …is the Truth.”  Koran

If you belong to any of the monotheistic religions: the three Abrahamic religions; Judaism, Christianity and Islam – and Zoroastrianism- (and that would be over 50% of the world’s population), you would have no problem with this revelation. 

Since words convey the will of a person; the thoughts, intents and inclinations of the heart, we conclude therefore that:

Truth is the revealed will of God, on any and every matter!!

Lies, on the other hand, are nothing but corrupted truth and the will of satan, the opposer of truth and the deceiver of mankind.

Lies are the will of satan, on any and every matter.

He is “a liar, and the father of it”, Jesus said.

These two realities, Truth and lies, represent ‘the word’ of two spiritual kings, and their core values, in their kingdoms. Words convey the authority of these kings (the authors of the word) over their kingdoms. These kings rule by words!

“Where the word of a king is, there is power. And who may say to him, what are you doing?” Torah 

These two kingdoms, the one of God, and the other, of satan, and all their constituents; the angelic beings and evil spirits/demons under their respective control, are the ultimate spiritual realities, now and for all time. Even for all eternity, for spirits do not die, as in cessation of being!

And man is ultimately subject to one or the other of these two kingdoms. Man is not in control of life.

For God “made (man) a little lower than Elohim.” Torah

(Elohim in Hebrew can mean God or gods.)

That there are ‘gods’ out there is not in question. We would not have comparatives; greatest, highest etc., if there were no other ‘gods’. 

But here is the good news. Man has the inalienable right and power to choose which kingdom to belong to. That power is:

The human will!!

The objective, therefore, is to know the true nature of these kingdoms, to enable an informed choice.

The essential nature of the Kingdom of God is goodness. And that is the will of God for mankind, in particular, and creation in general. 

For, in the beginning, according to the Torah, God spoke the blessing over everything He created: 

“And God blessed them, saying…”

(To bless is to say or to do good. The Greek root word is eulogia, from which we get the English word, eulogy.)

And at the end of all creation, God “looked at all that He had created and behold, it was very good”.  

The core values of God’s Kingdom are: love, for ‘God is Love’ (Gospel); righteousness (Truth); and justice. 

The Hebrew root word for love is ‘ahava’, which means ‘to give’. God is the ultimate Giver.

Love in “righteousness and justice are the foundation of (His) throne.” In one word: order. God’s Kingdom is a Kingdom of order!!

And Truth is the expression of His love gifts: goodness, mercy, faithfulness and life! 

Truth is Love in action.

On the other hand, the essential nature of the kingdom of satan is evil. 

(The ‘kingdoms of the world’ are collectively, the kingdom of satan, ‘the god of this world/age’, according to the Gospel.)

The core values in this kingdom are: lusts (wrongful or inordinate desire); unrighteousness; and injustice. We could also put it all in one word: disorder!

The devil is the ‘father’ of lusts; disorderly or inordinate desires! Lust takes, without regard to or for the ‘other’. And satan is the ultimate taker; the usurper ‘god of this age’. Lies, the expression of his lusts, are evil, merciless and unfaithful: they convey death! 

Lies are lusts in action.

Finally, lest we remain in doubt, Truth, according to the Gospel, has been revealed to us in a form that we can identify with.

“The Word (Truth) was made flesh.” 

• “I am… the Truth and the life”, Jesus Christ, the Man before Pilate, says to anyone who would care to hear it.                
• That Man, Jesus Christ, is “the word of truth about which they are in dispute.” Koran

He is “the Word which God sent… preaching peace”, to one and all.

For ‘He is Lord of all’. Gospel

Lord over satan and his ‘kingdoms’; spiritual and human.

And Lord over whosoever is willing amongst men, to receive Him. To them, He becomes their Savior too.

For “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Gospel  

Jesus, the embodiment of ‘the Truth and the life’, was and is God/Love in action. 

For in His life we see the heart of God for mankind: 

Good and healing for all who are oppressed by the devil; the usurper ‘god of this age’.

Furthermore, the Gospel reveals to us that God’s “Spirit is Truth” and ‘the Spirit of life’!

These two, God’s Word and His Spirit, what the Jews call the Memra, are the agencies of God, and the exact representations of His Being. 

God’s Word is Truth and Life!

God’s Spirit is Truth and Life!!

God, the Father/Source is Truth and ‘the Eternal Life’!!!

Omne trium perfectum (Latin): everything that comes in threes is perfect! 

God, His Word and His Spirit are the ultimate Reality and Meaning of life.

To know Truth, the will of God: about God, man and ‘the life’, is to find meaning in an otherwise ‘meaningless’ life.

Only Truth can give ‘peace and joy…’ in the human heart.

But we also have lies before us, fathered by satan, to bring ‘conflicts without’ and work ‘fears within’, according to the Gospel. For satan works from without but his goal is the heart. To cause a division between man and his God.

We must choose: 

God, the Truth and life.

Or satan, lies and death.

“You cannot serve two masters.” Jesus Christ

Lest we should think this a matter for the by and by, Jesus also added: 

“If anyone wills to do His (God’s) will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.