There was a TV show in the early days of television called “You bet your life.” On the show no one literally bet their life but we find Jesus doing so in St. John’s account of the passion. In the trial scene with Pilate Jesus bets his life on the truth. “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” Our age understands Pilate’s cynical comment, “What is truth,” better than the bet of Jesus. After all we are flooded with accusations of fake news, we are being fed alternative facts, we hear conspiracy theories, there are wild speculations on social media, there is disinformation, propaganda and plain old fashioned lies. To bet your life on the truth seems clean counter to how the current age operates. Yet Jesus stakes is claim that the only thing worth living for is the truth.
How do we answer Pilate? What is truth? The story of the passion of Jesus tells us. The truth is that Jesus is the Son of God. His accusers said about Jesus: “He ought to die because he made himself the Son of God.” The idea that the Son of God had come into the world was so shocking, so frightening, so threatening that they had to kill him. In doing so his enemies imagined that that terrifying idea of divine sonship would be eradicated. But when a truth is released it does not dissipate so easily. In fact, once we recognize Jesus as the Son of God we understand that kind of love that God has for us. God shares our life and gives the divine all in order to transform our lives from the mud to the stars.
A related truth: since Jesus shares our human nature as our elder brother we are all members of the family of God. From the cross Jesus claimed us as his adopted brothers and sisters. When he saw his mother he told the beloved disciple, who stands in for all of us, “Behold your mother.” Since we are members of the same divine family we must do the things that family members do – care for each other, connect to each other, share with each other, forgive one another. The truth is that there isn’t anyone out there who doesn’t have a claim on us as a member of the family of God. All racism and prejudice and sexism and bigotry and discrimination and injustice contradicts the truth of our familial relationship with one another. We belong together at the foot of the cross.
The truth is that Jesus continues to pour out upon us divine graces and blessings. The image of blood and water flowing from his side is a reminder that we have a share in divine life through the waters of baptism and the grace of the Eucharist. We have the power of faith that provides the blessed assurance that even when we are carrying our cross God is with us and will provide all that we need. We have the power of hope that the God who transformed Good Friday into Easter Sunday knows how to care for us as well. We have the power of love that makes life worth living.
Jesus even facing the cross bet his live on the truth of God’s never-ending love and mercy. He covered that bet by giving his life. The bet payed off in the triumph of God who destroys even death itself and makes all things new. Those are odds we should all take.
