Truth

…“You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’…Matthew 28:12

During the days since Easter I have been spending some time reading the story.  As I was reading in the last chapter of Matthew’s gospel I got to verse 11 and wanted to yell, “Liar, Liar pants on fire!”  It’s hard to believe the enemies of Jesus even tried to lie about something as astounding and beautiful as the resurrection.  As I continued to read all I could think was; Wow…talk about an action packed story!  This short Gospel has it all, epic drama, suspense, grief, jubilation, surprise, deceit, bribery and a splendid victorious hero! It’s a story of loyalty, love, dishonesty and the ultimate triumph of truth!  Truth is a beautiful thing and we serve the God of truth.

Growing up the thing my dad held in highest regard was telling the truth, he considered truthfulness to be the most accurate mirror of a person’s character.  He would often tell my brothers and me that one lie always ties itself to another and before long you could find yourself lying when the truth world fit better.  That’s exactly what happened to the chief priests.  How could anybody believe a small group of sorrowful and brokenhearted men appeared in the dark, rolled away an enormous stone and snuck off with Jesus’ body all without waking the team of soldiers assigned to guard the tomb?  As Christians we know the truth fits better!

Sometimes Christ speaks truth to us and in our hearts we can be a little like the chief priests.  Sometimes God’s truth is tough, especially when living it requires difficult change.  The laws and truths of our faith are clear and often difficult to follow and we try to wriggle our way around them.  Thank goodness we are loved by an Amazing Father who says to us, just as he said to the Mary’s in the garden that morning, “Do not be afraid.”  He wants to lead us lovingly to his truth…his whole truth which offers the promise of eternal salvation.  Now that we have a few different minutes on our hands, maybe it’s a good time to stare down some truth!

A Seed To Plant:  What are some truths you are struggling with?  The Mary’s in this Gospel were fearful and overjoyed. In prayer today, ask God to guide you through the fear and lead you to the great joy and freedom found only through living completely in his truth.​

Blessings on your day!