"You will know the
truth, and the truth will make you free."
At the controversial 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, Sen.
Abraham Ribicoff of New York was speaking during the height of the clash between Chicago
police and the Vietnam War protesters in the streets. Ribicoff delivered a blistering
attack of Chicago authorities, decrying what he called "Gestapo tactics" of the
police.
The equally controversial mayor, Richard Daley, did not take the attack
lightly. Standing near the stage, he and supporters waved their fists at Ribicoff. The
television cameras caught Daley’s enflamed face mouthing words that would be out of
place here.
Ribicoff peered over the podium at Daley and said, with great bile,
"How hard it is to accept the truth."
The truth, indeed, is hard to accept sometimes. We’ve all been
told things we don’t want to hear. It could be as simple as your spouse saying (as
mine has) "Are you wearing that today?" with emphasis on "that." But
the truth can also be hard. I remember when my parents gathered my siblings and me to tell
us that they were divorcing. My mind and my heart denied what they said for a few seconds
to give myself a chance to take in the fact that my life was about to change.
In John 8, Jesus offered people a truth that some found hard to accept.
It, too, would greatly change their lives, but for the better. He had just angered some by
forgiving a woman who had committed adultery, and then infuriated them even more by
telling them that he was "the Light of the World," and that those who follow him
would share his triumph over death. The Pharisees called him a liar.
Jesus persisted, however. Those who followed him, he said, would know
the truth. He is the Savior, and accepting that truth would free us from sin and from
death. And though the Pharisees did not believe, others started to believe him, and the
great movement began.
Jesus’ words provide a magnificent truth, a wonderful truth. It is
a rare kind of truth – the kind that isn’t hard to accept.
Prayer: Dear Lord. Your truth does set us free. Please permit our ears
and our minds to fill up with those words and be grateful for the wonderful gift you give
us: freedom over sin and victory over death. Amen.
