Truth is...

In the 1990 motion picture Pretty Woman, the prostitute played by Julia Roberts refused to kiss her clients on the lips because it was "too personal." There was a line of vulnerability and true intimacy (as opposed to, in her mind, simple sexuality) that was not to be crossed.

In a world of political spins and publicist reframings, hearing someone plainly answer a sincere question can be just as surprising and impactful as a tender, heartfelt kiss on the lips. It can open a world of respectful communication...a world greatly different from the norms of today.

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Truth is...the foundation of all meaningful relationships.

      

Plenty of people are plenty curious about what it's going to be like when Jesus returns to Earth. This verse gives us a pretty good idea.

And if there's any doubt about what Jesus meant by "as it was in the days of Noah, Jesus elaborates in verse 27:

People went on eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage until the day Noah boarded the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

In other words, most people will be going about their normal day-to-day lives with no idea whatsoever that it's all about to come to an end.

The next two verses double down on the same thought:

It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot: People went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building. But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all.

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Truth is...If you're looking for something specific to give you fair warning that the end of time is about to happen, prepare to be disappointed. Better to be like Noah and Lot and obediently carry out whatever task God sets before you. Then let the clock stop whenever it wants.

      

I've got good news and bad news.

The good news is that, even though "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), "the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (also Romans 6:23).

In other words, every human being on Planet Earth deserves to die because of their insistence on doing things their own way, for their own benefit, regardless of God's clear standards.

That may sound like bad news, and it is, all by itself. But what turns it into good news is that the death and resurrection of Jesus pays sin's wages on our behalf and frees us up to have life with a capital L (John 10:10).

"What about that bad news you said you had?"

Yeah, about that...

Just because my sins are forgiven doesn't mean I can go on living life my way, gleefully indulging in my favorite infractions.

Paul put it this way: "What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" (Romans 6:1-2)

How indeed?

How can I see that my sin led to Jesus' death and then just go on enjoying that sin? It's as if the crucifixion never happened. (And that is certainly bad news.)

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Truth is...Nobody is perfect, even after calling Jesus Lord and becoming his follower. But there's a difference between "Oops, I Did It Again," and "I've Got Friends in Low Places."

      

The older I get, the more I look like my dad.

That's not just my opinion. I've had that truth declared to me by men who used to sit in the front row of the church with him when they were all deacons.

And I see it, too. The oval-shaped face, the slightly curved shoulders...even a case of furniture disease ("Where your chest has dropped down into your drawers").

But you know what? I'm not Clarence Roth's child because I look like him. I look like him because I'm his child.

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Truth Is...It's the same way with being a child of God. No amount of Doing Good or Living Right will make me a member of the royal family. But because I believe Yahweh when he says he loves me enough to die in my place, I find myself, the older I get, looking more and more like Jesus...allowing the Holy Spirit to guide me into doing good and living right.

      

Let's think about this scene a little. More than it being the story of Barabbas gaining his freedom, it's about the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, abdicating all authority to those he was placed in charge of.

His wife had warned him to have nothing to do with the rabbi from Nazareth, and his own interrogation of the prisoner confirmed that Jesus had committed no capital offence. And yet...

He tried as hard as he could to let Jesus go free, even offering him as the traditional Passover prisoner release. And yet...

He had Jesus beaten to within an inch of his life, something not usually done in connection with a crucifixion, in hopes of gaining sympathy for him from the crowd. And yet...

The crowd chanted. The crowd threatened to report Pilate to Caesar.

The crowd prevailed.

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Truth is...The majority is not always right.