John 6:26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”

The signs and wonders that Jesus performed identified Him as the Anointed One promised by the prophets. Isaiah 35 states this: “They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray”

Isaiah 53:1-6 English Standard Version

1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Even with all the passages telling the people what to expect, all they wanted when He did come was to see the warrior King who would rid them of the Roman occupation. Ignoring Isaiah in favor of Zechariah,

Zechariah 2:8-13 English Standard Version

8 For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: 9 “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. 10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 11 And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”

13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

God is a God of order and the promises of Isaiah came first. But the people did not seek those signs and only cared to have their self-interest satisfied. “Get rid of Rome!”

Why we seek God is important. Is it for the promises or self-interest?

“Truth? You can’t handle the truth!” Jack Nicholson as Col. Nathan R. Jessep in “A Few Good Men”.

Oxford dictionary defines truth as the quality or state of being true. Truth is relative to what is true. True is defined as ”in accordance with fact or reality”. A fact is a thing that is known or proved to be true.

Facts are subjective if all it takes is to convince a mind of what is acceptable knowledge. That requires a reasonable rational mind that can accept evidence and process it correctly.

The world will tell you that there are no absolute truths. They will argue any and every point in which they have a vested interest.

We who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior have been given the Helper, the Holy spirit, the Third Person of God, the Spirit of Truth. We live by faith not by sight, so what is the truth in this new Kingdom where Jesus rules as our Sovereign?

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

The Spirit of Truth tells us only those truths we can handle or need to know. Withholding the truth is not a lie. The goal of this Kingdom is a loving relationship with God the Father and He will never do or say anything to weaken that relationship. He wants us to be closer so that we will trust and obey in order to share His love for us with those that have not yet experienced His love.

When I was a child my cat developed stomach cancer. My mother told me they had to put him to sleep. Tiger always slept with me. If he was asleep, why wasn’t he in my bed like always? The concept of life and death was not something my mother felt that I was able to handle. A few years later her father died. She told me he died but I was not allowed to go to his funeral. She did not want me to see his lifeless corpse. She did not want that for me.

In much the same way our loving Father knows what is best for our relationship and does not reveal a truth that is harmful to our relationship.

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Mishandling truth has been part of my journey and only maturity helps to recognize how to handle truth. I will know the truth when I can handle that truth.