“There was no deceit in His mouth (Isaiah 53:9).” Jesus’ honesty was part of His beauty.
Lord Jesus, we owe You honesty. You give us nothing but truthfulness and You deserve it back from us. One of the noblest ways to honor You is to be honest with You. So often we are not and don’t even realize it.
How can we become honest before You? David asked You to search his heart. Your searchlight is so much better than ours. We move quickly over the dark places that we want to avoid, pretend they are not there or the enemy of our soul manufactures guilt and self-accusation that distorts and is not of You. We must remember that it is much better to let You reveal our heart than to troll over it ourselves.
Lord Jesus, You wrap Your truth in mercy. Your goal is always to redeem, to make us better, not worse.
THREE STORIES
The beauty of Jesus comes from His inner holiness. Honesty is part of that beauty. The following three stories demonstrate how Jesus allies honesty with redemption.
I. THE ROOSTER CROWED
On Thursday night before His crucifixion, Jesus predicted that all the disciples would soon be made to stumble. Peter, however, was certain that even if everyone else were to falter, He would never fail Jesus. Jesus countered Peter’s boast saying that before the rooster crows Peter would deny Him three times; Peter, however, continued to insist that He would lay down his life before he would deny Him. The small seemingly insignificant detail of the rooster crowing became quite important.
In the court yard outside Jesus trial, as earlier predicted, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times. After Peter disclaimed knowing Jesus for the third time, a rooster crowed, triggering Jesus’ prescient words. The memory of Jesus’ words cut sharply through Peter’s self-deception bringing him face-to-face with a hidden, inner weakness. Bitter tears of remorse racked him with unspeakable pain.
Why was Jesus willing to predict Peter’s denial of Him? Was it that Jesus knew that it would require shocking Peter to expel the false pride that swelled his self-image? For Jesus, moments of honesty are always about wholeness, not destruction. Peter’s painful encounter with the truth began a needed change.
II. THE SURPRISING TWIST
Martha was a superb hostess, tending to all the many details that would make for an enjoyable occasion for her guests, especially, a special guest such as her family’s friend, Jesus. There was so much for Martha to do, how would she ever get it all done? There was the cleaning, the menu, the cooking, the table setting, lighting the house, serving the guests, on and on. Why was Mary not helping her? Surely, thought Martha, Jesus will reprimand her. Approaching Jesus, Martha said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me (Luke 10:40).” Martha was completely caught off guard as Jesus responded, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her (Luke 10:41).” We cannot know Jesus’ tone as He spoke to Martha, but we can surmise from what we know of His nature and His personal address, “Martha, Martha,” calling her name twice, that He spoke gently, not harshly.
Mary chose the good part? A wake-up call was in Jesus’ words to Martha. She was so sure that nothing else other than overseeing the dinner for the guests mattered and now Jesus had upset that apple cart. Jesus was direct with Martha when He most likely could have skirted the issue. He might have responded, “Mary’s your sister, you can speak to her for yourself” or He could have sided with Martha letting Mary know that she was needed and could listen to Him later. Why not? Jesus must have seen this as an opportunity to change Martha’s perspective. Notice that He did not tell Martha that her sister Mary was the better person, but only that she had chosen the better part. He knew how to speak truth with gentleness. This is part of His beauty. Would that we let Him cultivate that trait in us.
III. THE CHOICE
Accepting Simon dinner invitation, Jesus and His disciples arrived at the Pharisee’s home. Despite the prevailing customs of hospitality, no water was given for washing their feet, no anointing oil was provided nor was Jesus greeted with a kiss from his host. Whether surprised or not at the lack of customary hospitality, Jesus and His disciples proceeded to dine at Simon’s table. A woman, whom Luke identifies as a sinner in the city, stood behind Jesus and began to wash His feet with her tears, wipe them with her hair and anoint them with expensive oil. What does Jesus do? He tells a story. (Isn’t that often the case?) Jesus was not trying to entertain Simon and his guests, but draw Simon’s veiled deception of his own righteousness into the light. He could have directly confronted Simon, but as He often desires of us, Jesus wanted Simon to come to his own revelation, so He told a story.
To Simon and the others gathered around the table, Jesus related the story of two debtors. One owed a large sum and another a smaller sum, but neither debtor could pay the creditor who generously forgave both debts. Jesus turned to Simon and asked which of the debtors would have loved the creditor the most. Simon replies that most likely it was the one who owed the most. Jesus commends his correct judgment; however, Jesus had not yet driven His point home and proceeded to rehearse a comparison of the actions of the sinful woman with those of Simon. “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil (Luke 7:44-46).” Referring to her sins as many, Jesus further admitted that the woman was in tremendous debt and continued, “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little (Luke 7:47-48).”
We are not told Simon’s reaction, but no doubt he got the point of Jesus’ story. Jesus story-telling strategy put honesty in the service of redemption rather than the vindication of a personal affront to Himself; rather, Jesus used the opportunity to allow a man to reconsider the condition of his own heart.
JESUS’ BEAUTY
Jesus’ honesty was part of the beauty that made Him who He was. A beauty of holiness that was lived through everyday life. It was not plastic wrapped, preserved from the taint of the world, only to be admired from a distance, but totally intertwined with the world. This is what we need to see, His beauty in action. Caitlyn Lutz captures this so well in her blog, Why the Beauty of Jesus is My Message. She writes,
Jesus is beautiful because of who He is. Every single facet of His character is gloriously beautiful. His love, joy, playfulness, fierceness, humility, honesty, cleverness, justice, dedication, wisdom, faithfulness, and a thousand other traits are what make Him stunning!… Jesus’ beauty is directly tied to His holiness, which is His complete OTHERness.[i]
[i] Lutz, C. 9.22.2017, Why the beauty of Jesus is my message from blog, Fragrance Arise, https://fragrancearise.com/2017/09/22/why-the-beauty-of-jesus-is-my-life-message/, accessed 4.11.2023.
Jesus’ honesty with Peter, Martha and Simon demonstrated His beauty, serving His purpose to shape them into the image He and His Father had always intended, one which would bring wholeness and completion. If Jesus had not shocked Peter into an honest assessment of his inner nature, He could never have become a stalwart leader of the first century church. Surely, it hurt Jesus to tell Peter that he would deny Him, but it seems important that Peter was aware of Jesus’ knowledge of his denial; otherwise, Peter could have buried the betrayal, never coming to terms with the truth of His inner weakness. Likewise, Jesus would have probably preferred to avoid Martha’s request, but His heart is never satisfied with second best for any of us. He is jealous for His family. And Simon the Pharisee? Jesus confronted Simon’s rudeness by elevating it from a personal affront to one that served both Simon and the woman.
In these three events, Jesus’ honesty was steeped in redemption. Jesus is not a pushover. He never whitewashes problematic areas in our lives. He did not reveal a flawed sense of self to Peter, a misguided priority to Martha or a distorted sense of righteousness to Simon as judgmental acts but as deliverance from self-inflicted blindness. This is His beauty, holy honesty that knows how to put self aside and astutely invest in the good of another. He knows how to use honesty to redeem and restore, not crush.
THE PAINTING
Geometric forms, based on mathematics, do not change. Color, scale and texture may be altered but the basic requirements for each geometric shape remain the same. They are what they are. The painting, It Is What It Is, utilizes the enduring quality of geometric forms as an expression of honesty. They are what they are. The question is what to do with what is. The geometric forms do not change and the truths of our lives do not alter, but how they are put to use makes all the difference.
Lord Jesus, we need to seek not only Your thoughts about ourselves and others, but also what to do with them. How do we make what we hear from You serve redemptive purposes rather than a hammer of accusation? Regardless of our good intentions, we don’t always know how to proceed, although we so often think we do. But even when we do seek You, it can be hard to hear. Our biases and preferences pose large barriers to hearing from You. How do we avoid the misuse of truth? Perhaps time and stillness before You would make a difference as well as putting Your advice into practice.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17) This is the beauty of Your holiness. It does not condemn, but saves. Would that we would exchange our judgmental spirits for Your beauty.
Sydney Walker, April 15, 2023
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One response to “HOLY HONESTY”
I especially love the observation examples that you choose to demonstrate Jesus’ beauty, and honesty. My prayer as I read this, is that I may not only exemplify His beauty, but His honesty, in learning to “speak the truth with gentleness”.