You Shall Know the Truth and It Will Make You Mad

AM Psalm [83] or 42, 43 • PM Psalm 85, 86
Jer. 10:11-24 • Rom. 5:12-21 • John 8:21-32

Things get a bit testy in today’s gospel reading. Jesus says he is going away and where he is going others cannot come. Later in the reading, Jesus says to the Jews who had believed in him, “if you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.” That’s the end of the reading.

That very well-known statement by Jesus makes good sense to me. There have been times in my life when I have not been honest with myself or in my dealings with others. Until I have straightened the mess I made out by telling the truth, I feel weighted down and preoccupied by what I’ve done. What a feeling of relief and freedom when, no matter how difficult it may be, I finally make things right!

If we read one verse further, we learn the Jews take Jesus literally and declare with hostility that they have never been slaves so…what exactly does Jesus mean by “free?” They missed the whole point of what Jesus was saying. They are angered by their pride in being descendants of Abraham and insist they are slaves to no one so there is no need for them to made free from anyone or anything.

During these times of political upheaval coupled with the stresses of the pandemic, we’ve had some pretty big struggles with the truth. If I follow Jesus’ instruction in this passage and continue in God’s word, rejoice in God’s love, and follow Jesus, then I know the greater truth that Jesus is speaking of in this passage and it sets me free from the inside out. And that allows me (on my best days) to accept others as God would have me do, as difficult as that may be sometimes.

Written by Kathy McGregor

...humble and grateful student of life.