Truth Be ToldSample

“Truth be told” is a known phrase that people say before sharing hard truth or their strong opinion on a specific situation. However, whenever you hear this said from now on think of the grace and truth that God offers. God’s grace is free and his truth, while bold, is gentle yet correcting. This is the example we are meant to follow, Jesus is the ultimate example of this which is what we have studied for the last two days.

The story of Jesus and the woman at the well has a lot of underlying cultural context. Samaritans and Jews had a long history of not getting along, and Samaritans knew that to be seen with them meant that a Jew would be considered unclean. This was because Samaritans were a people group born out of a group of Jews who married others who were worshiping other gods and from other countries. The woman at the well was a Samaritan and Jesus was Jewish. Jesus initiated the interaction, asking for the woman to get him some water. It was the middle of the afternoon and most everybody would go to the well for water first thing in the morning so this woman was coming to the well at a time where she would see the least amount of people possible. She had things to hide. Actions that others knew that she had done and choices that the world would consider shameful, not only that but she was a Samaritan. So imagine this woman’s reaction when Jesus goes out of his way to talk to her. Jesus used this interaction to show the woman what grace, love, and truth looks like. In a culture and society where she was shamed and casted out, Jesus showed her grace but also spoke truth to her. The grace is evident in Jesus talking to her, asking her about her husband(s), and sharing the Gospel with her. He showed her who He was and the grace He offered freely. Jesus also spoke truth to the woman in stating that He is the living water who will quench the thirst of her heart. The Samaritan woman was seeking satisfaction in things that would only come up short and Jesus wanted to let her know that He is truth and He has come to be the satisfaction and fulfillment she was seeking elsewhere. Jesus also speaks truth by confronting her about her sin yet does not shame her in the process. We can do the same, we are to confront our brothers and sisters in Christ about their sin but doing so in truth in grace. Like the culture in the story, our culture teaches us to shame or to accept that this woman had been with five men but Jesus teaches to respond by speaking truth in love and offering correction covered in grace. Later in the story, we read that the woman takes off into town, towards people who were shaming her and in front of whom she was embarrassed to be seen, to tell them about the grace and truth the Messiah had offered her.

A few chapters later in chapter eight, there is the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery. The religious leaders caught a woman in adultery, brought her to Jesus, and demanded to have her stoned to death for the sin that she committed. In our day and age, we do the same. We want people to pay for the wrongs they have done towards us or seek revenge but in this story we see Jesus do something the religious leaders did not expect. In grace, Jesus draws something in the dirt and asks the man among the group who has never sinned to throw the first stone at the adulteress. They began leaving one by one until there was no one left. In truth, after they had left Jesus tells the woman that she is not condemned but Jesus does tell her to “sin no more.” Jesus did not say to the woman that what she was doing was okay, He does only offer grace in the response of asking the religious leaders to throw the first stone but he offers truth but acknowledging her sin but not condemning her for it. In the statement, “now go and sin no more,” grace and truth are both evident. Jesus shared truth and grace with the adulteress so that she could share truth and grace with others after first applying both to her own life by going and sinning no more.

Should we not do the same when it comes to our own lives? Are we excited to share with others the same truth and grace we receive from God? Or do we just keep it to ourselves privately so outwardly we can gossip, shame, and tear down those who need the same grace and truth we receive? The world around us tells us it is okay to speak harshly if someone is in the wrong with little grace or that we can’t be too harsh and need to “lighten up” when it comes to addressing sin in the lives of those closest to us. However, Jesus shows us to love and to be bold in speaking the truth with grace. Like Jesus, we are called to come alongside those who may be struggling in sin, share grace with them by not condemning them for what they’ve done and share truth with them by leading them towards Christ and holding them accountable. Unlike the world, God calls us to balance truth and grace, He has made it known that these two go hand in hand. How are you sharing truth and grace today?