Truth is to be sought after
This is probably one of the most difficult passages in Jesus teaching (at first read!?). Does this mean Jesus doesn’t really want everyone to be forgiven, to find the truth? Well, that’s what this passage clearly states … unless you can read between the lines (and especially the context).
Jesus has just finished telling people a parable to say that truth comes alive for those who seek it, who are ready for it. “As soon as he was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about …” Isn’t it interesting that there were people who listened to what Jesus said and just left, while others had questions, others wanted to find out more? “To you has been given the mystery…” are those who seek to truth, they want to find out. “… but those who are outside” are those in whom the truth doesn’t awake any interest, because they are not open to it, they are not looking for it. Therefore they cannot ultimately receive forgiveness.
Truth doesn’t come to us in its full blown glory (see Matthew 7:6), but in bits and glimpses, just enough to stir up interest. The more you’re interested, to more you find out, the more of the truth you come to know. Truth has so many layers it takes paradigm shifts to peel through each one. The truth is we can’t handle the truth (in its whole). It is like giving a child to read Kant. He is not ready for it, can’t understand it. He needs to first learn the alphabet and then learn to read. Then read simple books and so on. The process is the same for everyone, even for adults. Let’s not forget God is the truth and He is Infinite. If we are on the quest for truth then we are on a never ending process. If we have reached the end of the process … well, then we have fallen out of the track and we need to get back. One observation is due here. The path to truth does not nullify the journey so far, but builds on it and expands it. That’s a good way to check if we are on the right track. In other words just because we have not arrived it doesn’t mean what we know is not the truth, just that it is not the whole truth, there’s just more to it. That’s all. It’s embracing wholeheartedly the truth you know now yet realizing there’s more, there’s so much more. In the words of Ap. Paul “The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.” (1 Corinthians 8:2)
Created about 4 years ago
