His Kingdom of Truth

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

It seemed that Christ was being interrogated by Pontius Pilate. After all, he was brought by the priests before the Roman governor to be tried for rebellion. Jesus was accused of claiming a kingship that did not belong to him. This is why the Lord was asked if he was a king. Jesus responded by saying that his Kingdom is not of this world and his purpose in coming into the world is to testify to the truth. “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice,” so said the Lord.

The Kingdom of Christ is the kingdom of Truth…and this kingdom is not of the world. Does this mean that whatever is of this world is a lie? It seems so. After all, sin has corrupted this world and sin is the work of Satan who from the beginning is a liar, a deceiver. On the other hand, God always says the Truth: “The Old Testament attests that God is the source of all truth. His Word is truth. His Law is truth. His ‘faithfulness endures to all generations.’ Since God is ‘true,’ the members of his people are called to live in the truth.” (CCC, 2465) “In Jesus Christ, the whole of God's truth has been made manifest. ‘Full of grace and truth,’ he came as the ‘light of the world,’ he is the Truth. ‘Whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.’ The disciple of Jesus continues in his word so as to know ‘the truth [that] will make you free’ and that sanctifies. To follow Jesus is to live in ‘the Spirit of truth,’ whom the Father sends in his name and who leads ‘into all the truth.’ To his disciples Jesus teaches the unconditional love of truth: ‘Let what you say be simply 'Yes or No.'” (CCC, 2466)

We, who follow Jesus, must live in truth. But what does it mean to “live in truth”? A moral theologian said that truth consists in the conformity of my words and actions with my thoughts and feelings. But before this could take place, I must make sure that my mind must conform to the revelation of God. God’s word is truth. This is faith: conformity of our mind with the revelation of God. Our faith should influence the way we live. “The disciple of Christ consents to ‘live in the truth,’ that is, in the simplicity of a life in conformity with the Lord's example, abiding in his truth. ‘If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth.’” (CCC, 2470) Living in truth is living in conformity with the Lord’s example. It means abiding in his truth.

It is unfortunate that today, we are more inclined to listen to the world than to the Word of God. We accept without even validating whatever is endorsed to us be so-called “experts” and celebrities. But the Word of God, we accept with caution, if not with suspicion. And yet, we fail to understand that the world deceives because it also was deceived. God alone is truth. He alone does not deceive because he himself is never deceived. He alone is worthy of our faith.