“When men have orthodox judgments, and heterodox hearts, there must needs be little love to truth.”
William Gurnall
The Lord Jesus was the truth (John 14:6) and taught the truth openly. (John 18:20) He never lied and no deceit was found in his mouth. (1 Peter 2:22-23) When Jesus was arrested and bound, his first stop was at Annas’ residence. Annas had served as high priest from 6 to 15 AD and was considered by the Jews as the valid high priest. In any case, Annas was the power behind the scenes and so Jesus was brought to him first:
The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” (John 18:19-21)
Annas was not really interested in the truth. He asked about the disciples first. Why? Perhaps, he feared a rebellion among the people which would take away his place. (See John 11:48-50 for the comment of Caiaphas) Annas would have had his answer if he simply left his residence and strolled through his courtyard. What would he have seen? The apostle Peter who was doing everything he could to evade the truth of his being a follower of Christ. Annas could not be bothered to call a witness. Peter was determined to be a false witness. And Jesus was proving to be the faithful witness! (Rev. 1:5)
Jesus challenged Annas to make enquiries and to discover what others who heard his teaching might say. And what would they say? That the teaching of Jesus was amazing and that he taught as one who had authority. They would say that Jesus claimed that his teachings were foundational and that we should build our lives on them. (See Matthew 5-7) They would testify that the reason Jesus had come was to teach and preach. The teaching of Jesus which was done openly became a model for Paul and the early church that continued to proclaim the message of Jesus in both the synagogues and the marketplace. The apostle Paul informed the Corinthians:
But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Cor. 4, emphasis mine)
Today, let’s strive to be a people who always live “by the open statement of the truth” and so “commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” Have a blessed week and we will see many of you on Sunday.
Unto Him be glory,
Pastor Dale
