“What Truth?” — Rethinking John 8:32

“What Truth?” — Rethinking John 8:32

“You can’t handle the truth!”

~Jack Nicholson, A Few Good Men (1992)

That line is iconic for a reason. It hits something raw and real — because truth, especially when it’s personal, can be hard to face. It challenges us, confronts us, strips away our illusions. And YES, I'm old-school.

So, when Jesus says in John 8:32, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” it’s worth asking:

What truth?

What freedom?

Freedom from what?

Truth Isn’t Just a Fact, It’s a Way of Living

To understand what Jesus meant, we need to back up one verse. He says: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth…” (John 8:31)

In other words, truth is revealed to those who commit to walking the path. It’s not something you memorize, it’s something you practice, wrestle with, and embody. This isn’t truth as a theological stance. It’s truth as a relationship. A lived experience. A kind of inner alignment that grows through discipleship, not debate.

Freedom Isn’t the Absence of Struggle, It’s the Presence of Clarity

When Jesus says the truth will set you free, his audience is confused. They reply:

“We’ve never been slaves. How can you say we’ll be set free?”

And he answers with clarity:

“Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34)

or it you prefer the KJV, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin."

So, the freedom he’s talking about isn’t political or social. It’s only about external conditions. It’s about being liberated from what owns you internally: sin, shame, fear, pride, addiction, perfectionism, or the stories you’ve told yourself about who you are.

It’s freedom from the illusion of control, the need to prove your worth, and the lie that you are unloved unless you perform.

A Truth That Lives in You

Here’s where it gets personal.

So many of us quote John 8:32 without living John 8:31, which begins, “If you hold to my teaching…” We want freedom without formation. But Jesus says truth isn’t just something you hear, it’s something you grow into. And the freedom it brings isn’t always easy. Sometimes truth sets you free by breaking you open first.

Sometimes it reveals how you’ve been hiding, avoiding, or just trying to survive.

But the beauty is this. When truth begins to live in you, you no longer have to be ruled by the things that once held power over you.

Freedom, Reimagined

Maybe the truth that sets us free isn’t a doctrine. Maybe it’s an invitation.

To stop running.

To face what we’ve been avoiding.

To release who we thought we had to be.

To return to the One who already sees us, whole and worthy, even in our struggle.

Maybe truth, in its deepest form, is the love that holds us as we become.

And maybe freedom isn’t about escape.

Maybe it’s about finally coming home to ourselves, to God and how God sees us.