Matthew 26:64 “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

When adjured under oath by the high priest, Jesus could not remain silent even to save His own life. This was in sharp contrast to Peter, who, two of the three times he falsely denied knowing Jesus, swore against himself. (verses 72, 74) To be honest, I’m really looking forward to the fulfillment of what Jesus said! Thinking about it, it’s rather remarkable that Jesus’ statement didn’t give the priests and scribes pause, because it is perfectly in line with prophecies in Ezekiel and Daniel. Jesus never had to worry about what He said because He always spoke truth. When we lie, we have to worry about what we’ve said before and how it lines up, but that’s not an issue when you only speak truth all the time. The more we are in line with Jesus, the more we will speak truth on all levels. Sometimes it seems like the world operates on lies, even in areas like medicine in which we would expect objective fact. It is emotionally painful, but it’s actually a good thing that so many lies are being exposed these days. They would still be lies even if they weren’t exposed, so shining light on them gives the truth a chance. When we claim to follow the One who is “the way, the truth, and the life,” (John 14:5) falsehood should be as far from us as it was from Him.

I had the huge blessing of being raised by a man who, as a single missionary, had a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit in which he was challenged to various “absolutes,” specifically including absolute honesty. To my knowledge he lived by that faithfully, and all around him benefited. I don’t recall him using the phrase, absolute honesty, with me before one of the last conversations we had before he left for the trip to the US from which he returned as a box of ashes, but I do remember that conversation very clearly. I wasn’t in the least surprised to hear the expression, because I knew that was the sort of man my father was. I have tried to keep that as part of my own foundation, and I think it’s pretty well established. I’m grateful! To me, the most important thing is that when I talk about Jesus, people would accept my words as truth because that’s the reputation I’ve built up. It doesn’t matter much whether they believe me personally, but it matters for their eternal salvation whether they believe the words of God I share with them. My goal is to bring as many as possible with me into God’s truth, for their salvation and His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You that my school classes have restarted. This week it’s all students I have had before, so they know what they’re getting, so to speak. Next week I have one class of new students. May my interactions with all my students, and with everyone else, for that matter, accurately reflect Your character, Your truth in me, so that people may indeed know Your truth and be set free, for Your glory. (John 8:32) Thank You. Hallelujah!