You Can Handle The Truth (With God’s Help)

Jack Nicholson as Col. Jessup in A Few Good Men

Even if you have never seen A Few Good Men I am certain you know one scene from that movie. Lt. Kaffee (Tom Cruise) interrogates Col. Jessup played by Jack Nicholson about a command the Col. ordered. When Kaffee presses Jessup the Col. delivers one of the most famous lines in cinematic history: “You can’t handle the truth!” You can’t handle the truth!

The line might not seem all that significant to us, but somehow it transcends the scene and even the movie, such that most of us have heard it. I believe these words stand out to us because in our own lives we struggle to handle the Truth too! The Truth cannot be bought, corrupted, or swayed it simply is, and so often we have a difficult time allowing it to be in our lives.

Maybe it is that relationship that is not what it used to be. Spouse and spouse, or parents and children, or friend and friend might both know the Truth that things are not how they were, but confronting and accepting the Truth is too tough, so things just keep going how they have been. Perhaps the difficult Truth is that your health is not how you would like it to be, but actually allowing that to set in is too difficult. Everyone complains about work or traffic, but confronting the Truth of that discomfort is another story. It might even be that you do not like the way you connect with God, but you can’t handle the Truth. You are not alone though, I believe we all struggle to handle the Truth.

Growing up I was for the most part an exemplary kid and this was no exception out at camp. As a camper, leader, and staff member I stood out as a paragon for how to act and to be. And yet, one summer as a supervising staff member I thought I was above all those rules I had followed for so long and with some friends I snuck some beer out to camp. Now when we got caught, because of course we got caught, the directors did a lot of hand wringing and finger pointing, but there was hardly a slap on the wrist in terms of punishment. Still something happened that startled me, as it confronted me with the Truth.

A day after this incident, I went to the camp office and there was the camp’s most steadfast matriarch, a woman about my grandmother’s age, with the dignity of the queen, and the faithfulness of a saint. She asked me if I intended to let everyone know that I had been a part of this violation of the rules, to own up to the truth. I stood there scared and silent. As her eyes met mine, she confronted me with the Truth, “A man is only as good as his word.” I knew the truth, she knew the truth, and now we both knew that each other knew the Truth. Could I handle the Truth?

Jesus assures us in today’s gospel lesson that the Truth will set us free, but how difficult it is for us to actually allow the Truth to permeate our lives. We believe we can hide in the shack of sin, separation, and isolation, but Jesus bids us come home to the household of God. For the Jews who have begun following Jesus and confused this invitation to freedom as a slight towards their Father Abraham and for us who so often hide in the shadow of sin what Jesus tells all is the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth.

The Truth, as one Biblical scholar put it, was that Jesus was not victim, nor was he victimizer. Throughout Jesus’ Passion, he did not fall into saying, “Whoa, is me!” nor did he come back for cosmic revenge once it was all over. Rather he showed this path where he let who he was, what he taught, and how he lived speak the Truth. We are about to enter into Holy Week when Jesus will hold up a mirror of Truth for all humanity. He reveals to us all our flaws, imperfections, and corruptions that make us humans. In holding up this mirror he also shows us his Truth.

On the night before Jesus died, he not only ate with his followers, but he also served his friends by washing their feet. He then taught them one last time. In the midst of this he invited them to follow him where he was going. Thomas, the curious one, said but we don’t know where you are going and asked how can we follow you? Jesus replied saying, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.” I am, meaning both Jesus and that Great I AM, is the one path, the unmistakable Truth, and the ultimate reality!

Despite what Jack Nicholson said in A Few Good Men, we can handle the Truth, but only with God’s help. As we walk ever closer to Jerusalem where we will see Christ’s Passion, Crucifixion, and Death we are called to follow and we are called to allow the mirror of Christ to reveal our Truth. We are sinful, we are broken, and we are nothing without God, but to walk with Jesus allows us to see the other side of this Truth. Christ who dwells in us all leads us out of the house of sin and into the Household of God! You can handle the Truth, for Jesus tells us, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.”