What is truth? Pilate asked YAHSHUA during His trial. But he left without hearing the answer. The absence of truth is the presence of a lie, the mother of dishonesty. YAHSHUA, the essence of truth and Truth Himself, stood before Pilate, who under pressure, felt compelled by the Jewish authorities to have Him crucified. Had Pilate waited for the answer to his question, What is truth? He would not have had YAHSHUA crucified. So, it is that ignorance of truth seemed to be Pilate’s choice. Pilate stands guilty for rejecting knowledge concerning truth, making a decision based on lies presented to him, even knowing YAHSHUA was innocent. The Jews of those days betrayed truth and their knowledge of the fact by their false accusations against YAHSHUA. They consistently stepped on the truth, by not believing it, when YAHSHUA presented the truth concerning Whom He was. The High priest insisted on Him to tell them Who He was by saying, I call upon You to swear by the living God, and tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God. YAHSHUA Then answered, You have stated [the fact]. More than that, I tell you: You will in the future see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty coming on the clouds of the clouds of the sky. They could not handle the truth; they spat in His face and struck Him with their fists; and some slapped Him in the face and sentenced Him to death (Matt. 26:63-64.67). This was Israel’s ultimate rejection of their Messiah, and when they handed Him to Pilate to be crucified, then there was their ultimate betrayal. YAHSHUA was betrayed by His Own and arrested to face six illegal trials, which resulted in His crucifixion. He was sentenced to death without first having a hearing to determine what He had done wrong, according to the Jewish law.
Truth is the clear, concise and honest reality. Truth conforms itself to facts and reality in their correctness and accuracy, for it establishes itself on verified fact and principle. Truth is the liberator of guilt and torment. When Peter denied knowing the Lord, he based his facts on the lie, “I do not know Him”. He chose to lie in order to protect himself. He did not want to associate himself with YAHSHUA in His trials, afraid of what could happen to him. He even pronounced a curse on himself. Doing that, Peter lost the sense of integrity and honesty. He disengaged himself from the truth and allowed the lie to permeate his heart, which opened the way for remorse and guilt. The betrayal of one’s confidence through the absence of truth has a long-term consequence in one’s life.
Truth confessed in difficult circumstances hurts at first, but clears the conscience and sets us free. Freedom of the soul is that flowing peace we all desire. When we cover truth with a lie, we are betraying truth itself. Jacob, whose name means deceiver, well represented the meaning of his name, when he knowingly deceived his father Isaac, in order to steal his brother’s blessings. He became a fugitive from his brother for many years. Esau was bruised for the rest of his life, when Jacob betrayed his trust by causing him to give up his right of first-born son for a bowl of soup. However, the seed of deceits he had been planted followed Jacob’s life even to his old age, when his sons deceived him concerning the death of his favorite son, Joseph. The root of lies is deeper and long in its consequences throughout our life. It is much better to be truthful from the beginning of our mistakes, than to hide it in the presumption of lies. At the end, truth always prevails, always truth wins.
Light from the Word 