The truth Jesus spoke was painful
But it was a truth they - and we - needed to know
By Steve Hall
What hurts is not always bad; what is pleasant is not always good. The truth may hurt; but it is the truth we need to know. The truth Jesus spoke in criticism of the Scribes and Pharisees was a painful truth; but it was a truth they needed to know. Similar truths may also be in God’s e-mails to us.
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Jeremiah 11:18-20
John 7:14-33
“I knew their plot because the LORD informed me.”
It’s hard to read this verse and not wonder.
Words from a burning bush?
A vision like John the Evangelist?
Words heard in the heart or mind?
A still, small voice like the one Elijah heard?
Words from a cloud, as at the Transfiguration?
A message in a dream like the one Joseph received?
An instruction such as Gideon received through signs?
Or maybe they were like the words of Jesus as those received by the guards who came with open hearts.
Has it ever been so evident that preconceived notions can obscure the truth of God’s message as it is in our Gospel reading today? These are interesting limits that the Pharisees place on the Father: No prophet, let alone a messiah, can come from Galilee.
We worry when we hear words or see signs that suggest a memorandum from God, for we are well aware of how we sometimes try to convince ourselves and how evil would willingly direct us. God speaks so that we can understand, not to provide a puzzle or to obscure his desires.
And as Proverbs tells us: “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy” (Proverbs 27:6). What hurts is not always bad; what is pleasant is not always good. The truth may hurt, but it is the truth we need to know. The truth Jesus spoke in criticism of the Scribes and Pharisees was a painful truth; but it was a truth they needed to know. Similar truths may also be in God’s e-mails to us.
The words of Jesus are particularly pertinent in this regard: "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8:31-32). His words are our most fundamental guide, but they do not address everything in life in detail. So we are offered even more.
We have been promised that the Spirit will teach us what we need to know. “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26). This ‘Counselor,’ the ‘Spirit,’ is the Spirit of truth.
We limit what God can do through us when we tell him that evangelization is the work of the clergy. We limit what God can make of us when we believe only “Saints” can be holy.
We limit what God can do when “being perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect” is considered impossible.
We limit what we can hear from the Spirit when we circumscribe his communication with limits.
I know of no instance where distant conversation is superior to face-to-face discussion, or where limiting conditions are established at the beginning of an interaction.
It will always be in that one-on-one conversation that the Spirit’s words can best be received and best understand.