Does Jesus lie?
Non-believers may not have a good basis to answer that question. And even believers sometimes doubt its
answer. But to answer in the
affirmative, it would help to have an explicit example of where Jesus did
lie. Otherwise given the vast history of
things He predicted that came true, and the personal examples in your own
encounters with Jesus, I believe you will find that Jesus does not lie. So lets give it a stretch and look for an
instance that proves this theory wrong.
You might begin with prophecy and its interpretation. Does being wrong about how you interpret
prophecy make Jesus the liar? To believe
that is to state, you are completely right, and if reality deviates with what
you believe, it must be Jesus who lied about it. Given how often you are wrong in life in
general about a great many things. It
seems hardly plausible, that in matters of scriptural interpretation, you
suddenly became all knowing – and Jesus must have lied, if reality does not
work out the way you interpreted it would.
More likely, a second look, a deeper study, will find more
meaning in the same texts you studied before.
More likely, the other meanings that may emerge offer you a different
way to see things, perhaps a better way, perhaps a way closer to what Jesus
originally intended, than what you gathered the first time you read it
through. To trust to the interpretation
of the church leaders, and church tradition, is to walk the path of our Pharisee
forefathers, and wind up in the same end result – kill Truth, rather than
change our minds. On the other hand,
looking to so many of the Biblical prophecies that have been fulfilled, and so
accurately, tends to give one confidence that Jesus knows what He is talking
about. His record is very very
good. This inspires confidence that
again Jesus does not need to lie. The
Truth is always better for us to know, and always what He reveals to us, even
if the revelation is slow – because that is the speed our minds need to receive
it without blowing a gasket.
Just a few segments ago, Peter stated that Jesus was the Son
of God, a revelation given to him by God the Father. Jesus called him blessed to receive it. And immediately Jesus asked His disciples not
to tell anyone about it yet. Instead He
began revealing to them that He was to die at the hands of church leadership,
be tortured no less, and crucified; but then to rise on the third day. As for Peter’s revelation, Jesus asked His
disciples to keep this from His otherwise would be followers – they were NOT
ready to hear it yet. While it was true,
it was a Truth, not everyone was ready to hear.
Then the remainder of what Jesus told His disciples, they DID NOT LIKE
hearing. Peter even tried to rebuke
Jesus, and tell Him this would never happen.
Yet again an unpleasant truth, but then a truth so glorious the history
of the universe would soon be defined by it.
Even then His disciples could not get over the fact, their own interpretation
of the role of the Messiah, like the church leadership of the time, was wrong. Did it make Jesus a liar? No.
Things unfurled exactly as Jesus had predicted, including the fantastic
parts that could only happen after the horrible parts.
Outside of the miracles (and they were astonishing, perhaps
terrifying, and yet so glorious), the disciples looked up to Jesus as one of
their own. Jesus was different to them,
but more the same than different. For
the most part Jesus looked like any other man, since Adam, until then. But to increase their faith yet again, this
was about to change. Matthew picks up
the story in the last verse of chapter sixteen, that in context, continues the
next thoughts right into the first verses of chapter seventeen. Perhaps it would have been better if placed
there, but no matter, we are capable of continuing a read as needed. It begins in verse 28 saying … “Verily I say
unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till
they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”
And so begins our intense analysis; did Jesus lie?
We interpret this text to mean … some of you disciples … not
all, but a few … will not die … until you see the Son of Man coming in His
Kingdom (or in our minds, the second coming of Christ, which the whole world
continues to wait for). Since ALL the
disciples died, we know this could not have been true. In fact, ALL the disciples (short John but
not for lack of trying) met martyr’s deaths, ugly, gruesome, torture of extreme
bodily pain, which was only relieved by death itself. That was how reality unfolded, which
definitely does not jive with our traditional interpretation of this verse – so
again I ask did Jesus lie? Or perhaps,
did Jesus have something else in mind, then what we traditionally think? The answer is contained in chapter seventeen
of Matthew’s gospel, in the very next texts as this story continues.
It picks up in verse 1 saying … “And after six days Jesus
taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high
mountain apart,” You will note this is a
few of the disciples, or “some” of them.
In reality, these represent three key disciples who will serve in the
new Christian church’s leadership. James
will head the new church in Jerusalem (its traditional headquarters, as the
impact of the Messiah was first to be felt by the traditional bloodline of
Abraham if they but accepted it). Peter
will be the first great evangelist, spreading the gospel far and wide across
the then known world. John would be the
chief prophet to not only the Hebrew church, but to the Christian faith all the
way from that time to the last remnant to walk the earth before His
return. These three disciples were taken
apart from the rest, and up the mountain they hiked, likely to the place where
Jesus went to pray at night. Chances
are, none of them thought anything strange about it at first.
Matthew continues in verse 2 saying … “And was transfigured
before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as
the light.” This is the true form of the
Son of Man. This is Jesus, NOT like one
of them, burdened by our world of darkness, but how the Son of Man looks in His
kingdom – just as He said only six days earlier at the end of chapter sixteen
in the gospel of Matthew. This is not
baby Jesus in a manger. This is not
good-time Jesus at the Wedding in Cana.
This is not tortured Jesus upon a cross, dead. This is Jesus alive as He was following the resurrection,
the same way He will look past His ascension from this world forever more. This is Jesus at home in His kingdom. And true to form about the kingdom of Jesus,
it was not meant to be alone in.
Matthew continues in verse 3 saying … “And, behold, there
appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. [verse 4] Then answered
Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt,
let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one
for Elias.” The first thing that appears
in the Kingdom of Jesus are the redeemed for which He is destined to die and
return again triumphant. These represent
the first fruits of the Kingdom. Elijah
is there never having tasted death, translated while still alive (like Enoch before
him). Moses did die, but was resurrected
by Jesus and taken to heaven early (partially because Satan was trying to mess
with the body). Both architypes are
representations and reminders that Jesus will go through whatever comes to Him
personally because His ability to visit with Elijah, and Moses, and Peter,
James, and John depends on it. His love
will motivate Him to face whatever comes, because His Kingdom is not a Kingdom
at all without His children in it. It is
not home without you, without me. He so
loves the countless millions He intends to fill His home up with, that
association and fellowship have become the treasure He prizes above all
else. The streets of gold are for you to
have fun with – your company, is what He is looking forward to with such a
passion you can hardly comprehend it.
Peter offers the best his brain can think of. He immediately assumes the place must be the
important thing. He offers to build
three tabernacles, that is, three temples to worship in. One for Elijah, one for Moses, and one for
Jesus. But Elijah wants no temple, nor does
Moses. The lives of men are not worthy
of worship, even those of the great Biblical heroes we admire still today. It is only Jesus that is worthy of
worship. The cleaned-up versions of
Elijah and Moses, depend on Jesus following through with the sacrifice He is
still to make. There is no holiness in
Elijah or Moses, that does not first originate in the transformative power of
the love of Jesus, which they have fully agreed to accept, even though it will
change them completely from who they were, unto who they are at this moment, and
every moment going forward. Peter is too
much a baby in the faith to begin to contemplate this yet. He has not even finished speaking when he is
interrupted, by none other, than God the Father who is also present.
Matthew continues in verse 5 saying … “While he yet spake,
behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud,
which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. [verse
6] And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore
afraid.” God stops Peter in his tracks,
there is no need for tabernacles that honor men, not even elaborate temples to
honor Jesus, there is ONLY need to listen to what Jesus says. God the Father appears clouded in a brilliant
cloud, barely able to contain the majesty and glory of who He is. He speaks saying … This is my beloved Son. Any doubts about the identity of Jesus, or
the fact, that this is what His kingdom is and will be are shattered into a
million pieces. God the Father proceeds
to acknowledge the life of Jesus to this point, in saying that He is well pleased
with His Son. In case you thought Jesus
was ever wrong, let it go. In case you
thought Jesus did not have all the facts, well, one of you might, but it is not
Jesus. God the Father wants you to listen
to Jesus His Son.
And in this verse crumbles the entire Muslim faith. An endorsement of Jesus as the Son of God,
and the way by which entry to the Kingdom is attained. The One God is in three parts, and the Father
says, to listen to His Son. Case
closed. Every other supposed claim to deity
is shattered in this one verse. One God
who asks you to listen to His Only Son.
This right here is all you need for salvation. This Jesus will be all you ever need. And listening is free. Just like the transformation Jesus longs to
bring to your life, to end the pain and death you embrace, and offer you a life
beyond imagination that starts in the here and now, not just after the grave. And what happens when human men encounter the
God of the ages. They fall flat on their
faces and become exceedingly afraid. The
fear in them, is a reflection of the sin in them. Before Adam fell he looked forward to the
walks with Jesus in the Garden of Eden.
But after he fell, he immediately feared allowing his sin to come in to
contact with the perfect love of God.
And no matter how good you think you are – the mirror of the Father God –
will reveal the truth of how much farther you have yet to go.
Matthew completes this vision of the Kingdom in verse 7
saying … “And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. [verse
8] And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. [verse
9] And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell
the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.” And here in this sequence of verses is the
direct interpretation to the last verse of chapter sixteen. Some of the disciples, still alive, saw Jesus
in His Kingdom, with the saved, and with His Father. A vision not the complete reality, because
until the final days, we will remain unable to see God the Father until all our
evil has finally been washed away. But
this version does not require a second coming, only a vision of what the end
result of the second coming will one day look like. Not only does it prevent Jesus from being a
liar, you don’t have to bounce around scripture looking all over the place to
find a convoluted meaning for what it means.
You literally only have to keep reading.
Just a few more verses in sequence.
And in case you thought prophecy had only one meaning … hang
on to your hat … Matthew continues in verse 10 saying … “And his disciples
asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? [verse 11]
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and
restore all things. [verse 12] But I say unto you, That Elias is come already,
and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise
shall also the Son of man suffer of them. [verse 13] Then the disciples
understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.” Church leadership, and church tradition, and
the common people of the church – all believed that the prophecy of the coming
of Elijah before the coming of the Messiah was a literal one. Jesus, here states, no, it was a figurative
one. It was the message of Elijah to
restore all things, i.e. for the nation to repent, that was needed to prepare
the way of the Lord. For if we will not
repent, we will not submit, we will not allow Jesus to change us, and so keep
Jesus at arm’s length (our choice, not His).
In the very next sequence of texts, as if to reinforce the
point that we do not always get it right.
Jesus reinterprets what scripture intended to say for the followers
willing to listen directly to Jesus, instead of to tradition, or the church
leadership to tell them what they should think.
Does Jesus lie? Only you can
answer that for yourself. But for me, He
never has, and I believe He never will.
He simply does not need to lie.
The Truth is who He is. The Truth
is the core of the gospel. The gospel is
not good news based on lies, it is good news founded in a power that can
transform you no matter where you are, what you have done, or how you think
today. Submit yourself to Jesus and watch
how much better your life gets. Watch
your priorities change. Watch what you
treasure turn to thinks that really matter, and how your treasure keeps growing
based in a love you can barely describe.
Watch your interpretation of scripture begin to change, not towards
heresy, but towards a fulfillment and proximity to God that only comes from
being in harmony with God. There is no
end to the upside, and in all of it, no reason to lie ever again. No wonder He is called the Truth. And the Truth had more yet to say …
