If you have seen the movie A Few Good Men then you will remember the climactic scene with Colonel Jessup and Lt. Daniel Kaffee. In this scene Lt. Kaffee is interrogating Col. Jessup asking him if he ordered the code red. He demands that Col. Jessup tell the truth in this heated exchange and Col. Jessup exclaims “you can’t handle the truth!”

Many time that statement rings true in our own lives when we are confronted with the truth of sin in our lives. When God shines the light of truth in our lives, or we are confronted by our parents, spouses and friends about sin, negligence or things we need to turn away from, Col. Jessup’s voice is screaming to our hearts “you can’t handle the truth!”

Yesterday I preached from Mark 6:14-29, in this passage we see read about the lives of three people and come to the conclusion that they all responded to truth in different ways.

Hated The Truth

In Mark 6 we learn of Herodias, who was Herod Antipas’ second wife. She was not only his second wife but she also was previously married to Herod’s half brother Phillip. In Mark 6 we read,

18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not,

Notice it says John had been saying, which implies when John would come in contact with Herod and Herodias he would confront them with the truth and call on them to repent of their sin adultery and taking the wife of his half brother.

What we see in Herodias is when she was confronted with the truth it caused her to develop a grudge and hate in her heart not only for the truth itself but also the person speaking the truth. When know it was hate because she desired to have him murdered. She wanted to silence the truth at all cost.

Were we or are we sometimes like Herodias?

When confronted with the truth about sin in our lives, about heated interactions that went to far, when we are called on to repent of certain actions, does it cause us to well up in bitterness, prideful defense and near hate toward the truth and the person speaking truth to us? Do you just want to run and hide and silence the truth no matter what the cost?

Perplexed By The Truth

On the other hand we have Herod Antipas, who had somewhat of a fear and respect for John the Baptist as a holy man. We see that Herod like Herodias was confronted by John the Baptist concerning their sin and had him arrested and put in prison because of it. But Herod also kept him safe and the text implies that he would conversate or listen to John at times.

20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.

What we see here in Herod is that John made Herod think when he was confronted by truth. The truth caused Herod to be confused, brought doubt about his actions in life, it caused him to unsure if he was doing the right thing. What is interesting is the Scripture says Herod heard him gladly. But when the rubber hits the road, Herod chose his pride over the life of John the Baptist and ultimately truth.

Herod seemed to be the type of person who liked to be associated with the truth, near the truth, even conversate with the prophets and teachers of truth. Yet he never decided to submit to the truth and turn away from his sins. Herod had the opportunity to be in the presence of John the Baptist and Jesus himself and squandered it.

Are we sometimes like Herod?

Do we like to brush up against the truth of God’s word without allowing it to take root in our lives and transform us? Do we enjoy conversating and associating ourselves with the Bible and those who teach it without any application? Are we perplexed by the truth without repentance? Does our pride hinder us from the proper response to truth?

Submitted To The Truth

We have one more character in our narrative, John the Baptist. All we know about him from our text is he boldly proclaimed the truth to Herod no matter what the cost. But we know from the Bible that John was set apart by  God to prepare the way of the Lord. He was to pave the path for Jesus the messiah.

While John was imprisoned by Herod, we know that in this time of persecution he may have struggled with fear and doubt, like any of us would if we were in his predicament. In Luke 7 we read that he sent his disciples to Jesus a question,

20 And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?

John, throughout his whole ministry, all we know is he was whole heartedly committed to preaching repentance, he preached to those in power all the way down to the peasants. But in his imprisonment he came face to face with doubt, fear and death. He also came face to face with the truth, Jesus is the one. Jesus tells John’s disciples,

22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

In the face of truth John didn’t respond like Herodias or Herod, he submitted his whole life to the truth. In the prison he decided to submit his fear & doubts to the truth that Jesus is the Christ. He chose the blessing of suffering for Christ over the pleasures of this temporal world.

Do you have the attitude of John when confronted with truth?

Do you submit to the truth when you are confronted with it? Do you cast your fears and doubts upon Christ? Do you continue to trust Christ in the midst of suffering and persecution? Do submit your life to the truth of God’s word no matter how difficult?

May God grow us into a person who is submissive to the word of truth.