Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the...
Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
By Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
"The Truth"
August 31, 2017
But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to Him, "I adjure You by the living God, tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven."
~ Matthew 26:63-64 (ESV)
Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
I don't know about you, but most of us have a hard time answering that question with a simple yes. Now we might be willing to tell the whole truth in a great many matters, but there are questions that we simply wouldn't, or couldn't, answer completely truthfully (examples: private confessions and confidences entrusted to us).
But there is more. The truth is all of us are liars. While some folks do their absolute best to tell the truth, there are others who choose to lie when there's no logical reason to do so. I guess we inherit our propensity for lying from our first ancestors. After Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, the Lord questioned both of them about what had happened.
Neither of them could tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We can't either.
Maybe that's why the Associated Press has begun a weekly fact check in which it investigates stories that everybody is telling and everyone knows to be true. The problem is this: the AP is finding there are a lot of lies posing as the truth. Need an example? Fine. In the week before this devo was written the AP exposed some internet stories, you know, stories like
1. President Trump had shut down jihad training camps in Islamberg, New York;
2. U.S. companies that sell olive oil are diluting their product with sunflower or canola oil;
3. Wisconsin is building a wall to keep out Illinois residents.
The AP found that those totally false internet stories had been repeatedly shared by well-intentioned folks who thought the tall tales were true. You see, it's difficult for us to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but, you know, the truth.
The one Individual who is the exception to that rule is our Lord and Savior. Look at Jesus in His trials. False witnesses were brought in to accuse Him, but He offered no explanation or excuse. Instead of making a defense, He chose to make no defense, and the Savior kept His mouth shut.
Until ... until the high priest stumbled upon the one question Jesus couldn't ignore. You can find it in Matthew 26:63b where it says, "And the high priest said to him, 'I adjure You by the living God, tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God.' Jesus said to him, 'You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.'"
There are some critics of Christianity who say that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah and the Savior. Those critics are wrong. Matthew says it plainly: Jesus always told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth: He is the Christ, the Son of God.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, forgive my lies and grant me a boldness to confront and confess my transgressions. Then, having been forgiven, may I move forward and share the true Savior with all those around me. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
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