John 18:37-38
What is Truth
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate.
John 14:1-31
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.
John 8:31-32
The Truth Shall Set You Free
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Matthew 16:13-20
Who Do You Say that Jesus Is?
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
When we believe something, we believe in it because we think it is true...When we think about this, why would we believe in anything that is not true...But Truth is sometimes hard to believe, even if you see something being done, like miracles...You try to explain the miracle to yourself and how it happened and how the miracle got done...
Why would we follow someone who does not consistently speak about the Truth?...We want our Religious Leaders to speak the Truth, and nothing but the Truth...And there once was a Man who did just this...A Man who spoke the Truth and nothing but the Truth...Some believed in Him and others did not...As stated earlier, sometimes Truth is hard to believe...Maybe it is because Truth has to fit in each of our own limited realities and experiences the we have seen and lived...
So as one looks at the different religions, I see Jesus Christ and Christianity as the Religion of Truth -as having this uniqueness about it...The uniqueness is Completely Him...Jesus said He came to earth to testify to the Truth...He stated that listening and following His teachings sets you free, because you will learn the Truth, His Truth, and this Truth will set you free...
Jesus was a Man, if it fair to call Him a Man, who stood up and said He was the Truth...So if one believes Him and the Religion of Christianity, He is viewed as the Absolute Truth...When He said that He was the Truth, He adds that He is also the Way, and the Life...So He spoke the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth throughout the gospels...And in the context of this statement about Him saying He is the Truth, the Way, and the Life -Jesus says that He is going to heaven, and He would prepare a place in heaven for His Disciples so they could be there in heaven with Him after His death, and their deaths...He adds the statement that if you really know Him, then we know God as well...Because the Disciples have been with Him and have seen His actions and what He has taught -they have seen His signs and deeds, so from now on, the Disciples know God and have seen God...
These are pretty extraordinary statements coming from a Man, if one believes that He is just a Man...He says that He does not speak on His Own authority, but speaks from the authority that God has given Him...And we can believe Him, when He says that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him...And if we have a problem in understanding and believing this then at least we (and His immediate Disciples) can believe Him on the evidence of the miracles that they have seen Him do...They were eyewitnesses to His miracles...
Jesus goes on to add that He would send His Disciples and to us the Holy Spirit...Jesus told His Disciples when He left earth, He would send them another Advocate to help them...This Advocate would be with them forever—and He is called the Spirit of Truth...The Holy Spirit is also about the Absolute Truth, and helps us see the Truth and guide us to the Truth...The world cannot accept the Holy Spirit, because the world neither sees the Holy Spirit nor knows the Holy Spirit...But the Disciples would know the Holy Spirit and find out more about Him on the next Pentecost...For the Holy Spirit would live with His Disciples and would be in them...So Jesus would not leave His Disciples as orphans...They would feel and get to know this Holy Spirit...And Jesus would come to them through the Holy Spirit...Before long, the world will not see Him anymore, but His Disciples would see Him...Because Jesus lives forever and is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He would soon live in them through the Holy Spirit...On that day of he Pentecost, the Disciples would realize that Jesus is in His Father, and that His Disciples are in Him and Jesus would be in them with the Holy Spirit...Whoever has His commands and keeps them is the one who loves Him...The one who loves Jesus will be loved by God, and He too will LOVE them and show Himself to them...
Truth has been defined as the quality or state of being true...Truth is also defined as a fact or belief that is accepted as true...And truth has been defined as that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality...Three definitions and One Jesus...Jesus held to the qualities of being true, and did not waver from them...Jesus is an Historical Figure who is accepted as true...And this is the hardest part, does Jesus hold to your own personal belief that He real and is reality?...So the question of who do you believe Jesus is, is pertinent to the Truth...
So through Jesus' Words, we find out that Truth is a Person...Everything Jesus said is the Truth...Jesus is the Absolute Truth...Jesus is the Absolute Reality...