Gracious Freeing Truth

Jesus connected with people. He was a friend to those formerly demon possessed, religious leaders, prostitutes, fisherman, tax collectors as well as to the multitudes. His manner was a divine manner. His spirit was a gracious spirit. Yet, He did not withhold the pointed truth that each person needed to penetrate their heart and bring them freedom.

To Woman at the Well – “Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’”...and…“You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

To Nicodemus – “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him”...and..."In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’”

 To the Woman Caught in Adultery –   “Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’”… and…“Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’”

To the multitudes – “Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you’… On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’…From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” 

To the Invalid of Thirty-Eight Years – “When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’”…and…“Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’”

Jesus lived in this dynamic balance of grace and truth.  “We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” It’s a paradoxical truth we could all use.

Randy Alcorn highlights this, “The apparent conflict that exists between grace and truth isn’t because they’re incompatible, but because we lack perspective to resolve their paradox.  The two are interdependent.  We should never approach truth except in a spirit of grace, or grace except in a spirit of truth."

Diana's Checkerboard Cake