The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Katie P. during the 2008-2009 League.
Mission: Research - Truth
"Then Pilot said to him, 'What is truth?'" It is a question that people have asked since the beginning. It's one that everyone comes up with a different answer for. Truth.... It's such a simple word, not one that is thought about much or one that usually carries the weight it should. Everyone has used it before. When you were little, and your mom caught you lying, you would tell her, "It's the truth, Mom." Even though you knew full well it wasn't. But as we grow older, truth finds a whole new meaning with us, especially as Christians.
So many people today will tell you; whatever you want to believe is truth. But Webster's definition of truth is "An absolute or indisputable fact." But wait... if truth is anything I want it to be, how is it indisputable? What if I want to believe that the sky is orange? Well, whatever I want to believe is true, right? But by definition, it can't be true. It is not absolute, and it is very disputable, since the sky is, in fact, blue. Well, if truth isn't anything you want it to be then what is it?
In John 8:32, Jesus tells the Jews, "And you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." The Jews come back and tell Jesus that they've never been enslaved, so why do they need freedom?
34 "Jesus answered them 'Truly, Truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin, is a slave to sin.'"
Several chapters later, Jesus tells the disciples; "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me." (John 14:6) Therefore, Jesus is truth, and only knowing Jesus will set you free. He offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins so that we could have relationship with God.
Jesus boldly stated the truth, even though he knew it probably wouldn't be accepted by the people He spoke it to. He came to his people with a message that was the opposite of everything that they had been taught for centuries. When they had been taught that the only way to God was the sacrifice of animals, Jesus showed them that because of His sacrifice, all they had to do was ask. He showed them that He was truth, He was the way and He was the light.
Truth... What is it? Everyone wonders at one point of another. It might even be a cause of anxiety for some. But it isn't for me. It isn't for those of us who know that Jesus, his love, sacrifice and mercy is Truth. Truth is Christ, his offer of salvation, and his willingness to give us life through his death.
