Now We Can Live in the Truth :: John 16:5-15

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What is truth? I’ve been asking various people this question all week. And everyone I asked gave me the same quizzical look. What is truth? (Jn 18:38) Pontius Pilate’s famous rhetorical question of our Lord Jesus moments before he ordered his crucifixion is still being asked by the world today. They question what is truth. But I am confident you actually do know what is truth because, as Jesus said in our Gospel reading today from John 16 ...

THE SPIRIT OF THE TRUTH WILL GUIDE US IN ALL THE TRUTH

1. Before we tackle this theologically, let’s answer the question with the world’s definition. 

Webster’s dictionary says truth is a conformity to fact ... a state of being ... the alignment between a belief or a thought and the way things really are. 

Philosophically, our world says, there are at least four kinds of truth: 1) Objective, 2) Subjective, 3) Normative, and 4) Theological. Objective truth comes from facts that remain true regardless of personal belief or emotion. 1 + 1 = 2. Subjective truth is based on personal experience, feelings, and preferences. You can be cold, and I can be hot. Normative truth varies by the social, ethical, or moral values of a community. It dictates how things should be. And theological truths are the core beliefs of our religion. God said, every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, from whom there is no variation or shadow of change. 

So Pilate was able to ask, what is truth, not knowing how to answer.

But we know the truth. 

2. What you might not know is that the Old Testament word for truth is the same as the Old Testament word for faith ... אמת (e.met).

And wouldn't you know it, אמת is closely related to Amen (אָמֵן ... ἀμήν) ... As in Amen, Amen means yes, yes, it shall be so.

We find the first use of what is true in Genesis 24[:27], where the Lord is called blessed because he never forsakes the truth. Or you could say, he never forsakes the faith. The righteous will live by faith (Hab 2:4) ... because there is only one faith ... one truth.

Moses learned at Mount Sinai that the Lord not only NEVER forsakes the truth but he abounds in it. It is fundamental to his character. As he says in Exodus, his name is YHWH, the God [who is] compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast covenantal love in action and truth ... or you could say, faithfulness (Ex 34:6). That is who God really is. Malachi adds, his character never changes (Mal 3:6). And Hebrews says, his truth is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hb 13:8). We will, therefore, worship in Truth (Jn 4:23). And his truth will set you free (Jn 8:32). 

So I guess it is no wonder that ... we ... like the Psalmists ... long to be led in truth (Ps 25:5), to walk in truth (Ps 26:3), to speak of truth (Ps 40:10), and to delight in truth (Ps 51:6). 

3. But how are we to do this?

Listen again to what Jesus is telling the disciples in the upper room. ... It doesn’t depend on you. As Jesus said, I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away for if I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you. But if I [take this journey] I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; concerning sin on the one hand because they do not have faith in me; and concerning righteousness because I am going away to the Father and you will see me no longer; and concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged (vv 5-11). 

Our Lord has just washed the disciples’ feet. He has just shared his Supper with them. And now he is preparing them for the truth of what’s about to happen. In just an hour or two or three, he will be arrested, tried, convicted, and crucified. He will die, be buried, rise on the Third Day, and ascend into heaven. He will fulfill the truth of scripture.

The won’t understand why until it’s all complete. They will instead become frightened. But don’t lose hope, he’s telling them. The Father will declare his Gospel to you to give you faith. 

We also won’t understand this at first. But when the Spirit of the Truth comes, he will guide us in all the truth of who Jesus really is, why Jesus really came, and how God actually loves us.

4. Let’s begin with the truth of who Jesus really is. 

We need to start with John the Baptizer, who bore witness to the truth (Jn 5:33). ... Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29). This is the foundation of repentance. We truly are sinners. And we truly need a savior. So Jesus was born without sin and lived without sin. By being sinless, he was able to do what you and I could not do ... actually atone for all sin, by dying on a cross. Our Heavenly Father required the perfect sacrifice to cover your sin. So he gave us Jesus ... True God and True Man. By this one offering, Jesus has made perfect into perpetuity those who are being sanctified (Hb 10:14). 

This truth is setting you free. By living his life without sin ... by being betrayed into the hands of sinful men ... by suffering many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes ... by being condemned and delivered over to the Gentiles ... by being mocked and flogged and nailed to a cross, suffering and dying on that tree ... by being buried in a rich man’s tomb ... and then by rising from the dead on the third day, just as Hosea had prophesied some 700 years earlier (Hos 6:2) ... Jesus has fulfilled the truth of all scripture. You are forgiven and free. 

God has reconciled himself to us. Our punishment became his. He was convicted of sin in our place. His life became ours. He has declared us righteous. He died to sin so that we will live free of it. Then he was raised for our justification. And now God has judged us to be one of his very own. More than that he has baptized you and me. He now lives in you and you in him. 

4. We all needed the help of the Spirit of the Truth to come to this realization. 

We were otherwise dead in our sin and trespasses. We could not by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Truth ... not just a truth ... He has come to us. He has called us by the Gospel. He has enlightened us with his gifts, and is guiding you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will announce to you the things that are coming (v 13). 

And he does that through the scriptures. As Peter teaches us, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Pt 1:21). 

He doesn’t come to give you a new Word. He doesn’t come to lay it upon your heart alone. And he doesn’t contradict what Jesus has already taught us. Instead, all Scripture was breathed out by [Him] and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work (2 Tm 3:16-17).

5. So how do we live in this truth?

Look and listen to where the Spirit of the Truth has promised to be ... in his Means of Grace ... in Holy Baptism, with the Word of Absolution, at the Lord’s Supper, in his Divine Service. It is the Holy Spirit who provides us with divine peace that transcends all human understanding. Men cannot give that to you (Jn 14:27). 

So come. Hear God’s Word, and receive his gifts. 

You have a Comforter. ... You have a Guide. ... You have a Counselor. ... You have the One Called Alongside Jesus. ... You have the Spirit of the Truth breathing the Gospel into your heart and reminding you that you are indeed forgiven ... in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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