When Jesus encountered Thomas in the upper room, He used this name for Himself in their conversation. If fact, this is the only place where Jesus is referred to as "truth". In modern days society, when we use the word "truth" we are usually referring to "words" or "speech". A good example would be "When I have fellowship with my close friend, he always shares the truth. Telling the truth is a good thing. Some believe that it is easier to "sugarcoat" than speak the truth in love which usually ends up getting us into more trouble than if we had just said the truth in the first place. This was our Lord Jesus Christ. Every word that proceeded from His lips was "truth". He would always express the truth even if it was a hard thing to accept.
But even more so than speaking the truth, it is important that we "act out" the truth and again, this is the sense in which we see Jesus as He communicates to Thomas.
I believe that I tell the truth for the most part. I am confident that my wife does as well. An example would be when people ask my wife how I am feeling. Because she lives with me 24/7 she is keenly aware of every singe ache and pain I experience. In fact, I am up writing this tonight because of some very severe leg cramps that woke me up and made my legs feel like they were in "vice grips" and being squeezed severely. Tomorrow morning my wife, because of her love for me will make it known to those who pray for us how difficult my night was. In the same way, if I am asked how I am feeling, in the midst of some very severe leg pain, "I feel fine". Barb lives with a "realistic" attitude whereas I live in an "ideal" world. Both of us are sharing the truth, just from different perspectives.
Our world is so materialistic today that sometimes it is difficult to discern what the truth really is. Society tries to convince us that we need money and possessions to obtain the "essence" of truth and have the path to "a good life." In fact, what is truth for one person is not necessarily truth for another because there is no absolute truth (or so the world would have us believe so).
When Pilate pronounced the death sentence onto Jesus Christ, Pilate was told by Jesus that He came into the world to "bear witness unto the truth" (Jn 18:37). And this is when Pilate ask a most critical question and that was "what is truth?" The truth was that Pilate was standing so close to the "truth" that he could have reached out and touched it. But because of his unbelief, he missed it. What a tragic event in the life of Pilate! And what an accurate picture of a sinful and unbelieving world. And this is the arena that we as Christians are thrust into to bear witness of the Truth.
I happen to believe, along with large numbers of my Christian brothers and sisters "THAT THERE IS" absolute truth and we find that in Jesus Christ, our Lord. The truth is that I have had a VERY TERRIBLE NIGHT as my wife would express out of love and compassion. But if you asked me directly I would want you to know that no matter how bad this night was, I am "held up by the almighty" and given that fact, feeling fine far outweighs the pain and suffering we experience day in and day out. Hope that's not confusing.
The truth in this situation for Barb would be Jesus holding out His hands and side toward Thomas and telling him to touch the wounds and believe. And for me the truth is, I ride on the shoulders of the greatest Man who every walked on this earth, and even if I were to fall, I have confidence that I would not reach the ground without His assistance.
Yes it is possible to be in severe pain and still be just fine. You need go no farther than the Cross of Christ to see just how painfully fine He was.
Dave
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