Yahweh, who cannot lie, says, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). And James says, “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against his brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?” (James 4:11-12).
We tend to generalize the ninth commandment by saying, “Do not lie,” or, “Always tell the truth,” but it is more specific. It is about how you testify regarding your neighbor’s life, character, and conduct, so that you can live together in righteous peace. We can understand this in a legal context, when a witness is called upon to give testimony about what he has seen or heard in order to establish a basis of truth for a good judgment of the matter at hand. Bearing false witness means that the “witness” has already pre-judged, has already condemned the accused, and is willing to violate reality itself in order to justify himself as judge. The false witness is seeking to benefit himself in some way from the unjust judgment of another person.
The serpent inaugurated this way of injustice when he bore false witness against God in the Garden. He lied about God, he lied about what God had said, and (ironically) he judged God to be the liar. In doing so, and in drawing the human race to imitate him in setting ourselves up as judges of God’s truth, the serpent undermined the foundations for our knowing truth and justice. The only way for us to know the truth at all, to know good and evil, to live in righteous peace together, is for us to submit our judgment to the faithful witness of God’s Word.
But when God’s Word, the Faithful Witness himself, appeared in the flesh to give the true testimony about his heavenly Neighbor (God) and about his earthly neighbors (fellow humanity), we didn’t submit our judgment to him. We didn’t trust him and believe him and welcome his truth to judge us. We condemned him. We arranged for false witnesses to justify ourselves in our judgment. We violated reality. We made ourselves judges, jury, and executioners, and he wound up on the cross in the greatest injustice ever committed.
But our evil judgment didn’t stop Jesus from bearing true witness about God as the Faithful Martyr (“martyr” comes from the Greek word for “witness”). It cost him his life to give true testimony to who God is, to God’s character and intentions, and to what God has said. His martyrdom reestablished humanity’s connection to truth and justice. He submitted his judgment to God on our behalf, which is why God has made him the true Judge of all. As we entrust ourselves to him and submit our judgment to his revelation, we are granted the true knowledge of good and evil, and we will also be made to judge with righteous judgment as we become faithful witnesses and martyrs in his name.
What testimony about God has Jesus given? What testimony about humanity has Jesus given? Do you judge Jesus’ testimony (God’s Word), or do you welcome Jesus’ testimony (God’s Word) to judge you? Apart from submitting your judgment to God’s Word through faith, what hope is there that people can live in truth and justice together? In other words, can non-Christian “philosophy” provide a foundation for the knowledge of the truth (epistemology) or legal justice? Can you think of ways in which you’ve imitated the serpent and sought to benefit yourself by speaking evil of God or someone else? Can you think of ways, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, in which you’ve imitated the Faithful Martyr and borne true witness to the Gospel, even when it cost you?
