The Truth Will Set You Free

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 28 January 2024

One of the fundamental questions that we human beings ask over and over again, and seek to answer throughout our lives, is “What can I know?” It is as if we are hardwired to seek the truth. Think of little children asking endless questions and wanting to know the truth of seemingly strange and obscure things. What begins in childhood remains a profound part of who we are for the rest of our lives. You could say that our seeking of truth is tied up with how we find meaning and purpose in our lives.

Think about what you would regard as legitimate authority, a source of truth that could be trusted? What is your reference point, the touchstone for your life? Another way of phrasing it would be to ask, “How do you know right from wrong?” Who can we trust, especially in the more important things in life?” How are we meant to live our lives?

Speaking with authority and speaking the truth is something that is often missing these days. With the advance of technology, we are constantly bombarded with information, and yet it would seem that it is wise not to accept everything as true without checking it first. Not only are information sources unreliable but there are those who deliberately sow misinformation. How often don’t we hear these days, “It’s true; you can Google it.”

Last weekend we heard about Jesus’s announcing that the Kingdom of God is close, and his preaching of the need to repent and believe. In today’s Gospel Jesus goes to the synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath and starts to teach. And he backs up his teaching with powerful actions. He speaks and acts with authority and the response of the people is one of astonishment and amazement.

You can go to visit this little village of Capernaum in the Holy Land on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. There are only ruins left now, but close to the water’s edge is Peter’s house, which became a small church not long after

the death and resurrection of Jesus. A modern octagonal church has been built on stilts over the original ruined church, with a glass floor so that one can see the ancient church underneath. And then not far from Peter’s house is the synagogue of Capernaum. You can walk over the foundations and imagine Jesus there in that place, preaching and teaching.

What immediately struck the people listening to Jesus was that his preaching was new and different. He didn’t just report the teaching of Moses like the scribes, but he spoke on his own authority and he spoke a new message that touched the hearts of his listeners.

This preaching of Jesus that was new and touched the hearts of those who listened, is the same message that got written into the Gospels and is able to speak to our hearts today. Remember that resurrection narrative which records the reflection of Cleopas and the other disciple once they had reached Emmaus and recognised Jesus? They said, “Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the way and explained the Scriptures to us?” The words of Jesus, have the power to touch our hearts and make them burn within us.

For the Jewish people of Old Testament time and Jesus’ time, Moses was the ultimate authority. God had spoken to him and given him the Commandments and Law. The end of the Book of Deuteronomy, says that never has there been such a prophet in Israel as Moses, the man the Lord knew face to face. The Lord caused him to perform signs and wonders, and how mighty the hand and great the fear that Moses wielded in the sight of all Israel!

And yet in today’s first reading from the book of Deuteronomy, Moses himself, acting as a prophet, says that God will raise up for Israel a prophet like himself from among them. In the reading God says, “I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him”.

Pope Benedict XVI, in his three-volume work on Jesus, used this prophecy by Moses as the foundation of his explanation of the identity of Jesus. Jesus is the prophet foretold by Moses, who like Moses, and even greater than Moses, speaks with God-given authority. Jesus’ listeners in the synagogue would have recognised him as the fulfilment of this prophecy. The authority of the scribes was based on the Law of Moses, but Jesus spoke on his own authority, the authority of God directly. And this authority is demonstrated in the banishing of the unclean spirit.

The people of Jesus’ time, not unlike our own time, lived in fear. Amongst other things the power and presence of evil spirits was a cause of great fear. In today’s Gospel Jesus addresses that fear and brings about healing, by casting out the evil spirit. He exercises an authority which addresses the deepest fears of his listeners. It is not surprising then that this authority and power of Jesus’ words made a huge impression on those who were present in the synagogue.

Authority might be considered a bit of a swear word these days. Let’s face it, on the whole, we don’t like to be told what to do. We have such a keen sense of freedom, which most often can be translated as doing what we want, when we want, to the degree we want. You can see an example of this distortion of the sense of freedom in the overemphasis on personal rights to the neglect of responsibility. Yet, we can’t just go around claiming our rights without taking responsibility for the good of others around us.

There is a tendency in our modern world for each of us to make ourselves our own boss, to make ourselves the ultimate authority of our lives, a kind of mentality that is expressed by, ‘what’s good for me’, or ‘the truth as I see it’, or ‘I decide what is right and wrong’.

And yet the freedom that we all have, the free will that we were created with and which is integral to who we are as human beings, is not freedom in the sense of license to do whatever we want. Our freedom is a freedom to choose the good, to choose to love, and to act with love. Our freedom is best expressed in choosing to give ourselves to each other and to God, in love. We are made to love and be loved, and we need to be free for this love to take root in our lives. In a good irony, it is only when we choose to submit to the authority of Jesus and his teaching, that we experience true freedom.

Our happiness is dependent on having meaning and purpose. Our meaning and purpose come from acknowledging true authority in our lives. The message of the Gospel today is a challenge to us to accept the authority of Jesus and order our lives according to it.

This accepting of the authority of Jesus is marked by freedom. Jesus himself said, “The truth will set you free.” This is a freedom to call God, Father; freedom from sin; freedom to live according to our purpose and meaning of our creation. It is a freedom from fear - from fear of God, from fear of aloneness, from fear of tomorrow and lack of material possessions; it is a freedom from worry and anxiety, certainly it is a freedom from fear of evil spirits and evil forces.

Remember how Jesus said that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the ultimate truth of our lives. He is our authoritative reference point. At his trial before Pilate, Jesus told Pilate, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Let’s not be like Pilate who scoffed and said, “What is truth?”

When we acknowledge Jesus as the true and ultimate authority of our lives, we know the truth and we experience radical freedom. This is the message of Jesus that made such an impression on his listeners and why it continues to touch our hearts today and make them burn within us.