How do art experts determine the authenticity of a particular painting or sculpture?

They look for those unique characteristics or quirks held by each artist that give away his or her identity.

It could be the type of bristle preferred in a brush. It could be the location from which a marble slab was quarried. It could even be something as subtle as the depth of the paint, or the lightness of the chisel. All work together to portray the artist as much as the artist was working to portray his or her subject.

Writers and speakers are artists as well. They too demonstrate the same tendency towards unique mannerisms and literary tics. For example, the annual Hemingway write-alike contest (sponsored by a bar Hemingway always hung out in - I can't remember its name) pokes fun at Hemingway's run-on, multi-claused, described-to-death style by challenging contestants to limit their entry to one single sentence. Entries regularly run over half a page or more in length. But they are just one sentence.

Biblical scholars also look for vogue, vocabulary, or voice to determine the authenticity of any text. In today's gospel reading Jesus is addressing his disciples after their Last Supper. This so-called "farewell discourse" encapsulates great themes and motifs that run throughout Jesus' entire ministry. In 14:12 Jesus utters what biblical scholars identify as one of his favorite verbal tics or traits - a phrase he repeats over and over again. In a wide variety of situations, to all sorts of audiences, Jesus telegraphs the importance of what follows with this identifying phrase: "I tell you the truth." It was almost as if Jesus couldn't tell a parable or start a story without saying, "I tell you the truth."

The NRSV translates this phrase as "Very truly I tell you," while the King James Version records "Verily, verily I say unto you." Most literally the translation would read in English, "Amen, amen . . ."

"I tell you the truth," Jesus says in today's text, "the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in act, will do greater works than these because I am going to the Father" (verse 12). Can you invent a more astounding pronouncement? Can you come up with better words of encouragement? This truth, the promise of his continuing presence, must have been music to the ears of those confused listeners at that Last Supper.

But Jesus' "I tell you the truth" wasn't merely an easy-to-slip in bit of filler to stretch out his sermons!

"I tell you the truth" was, in fact, the essence of Jesus' mission. "I tell you the truth" was the heart of Jesus' ministry. Jesus came to tell us the truth, 1) the truth about what lies inside ourselves; 2) the truth about what lies outside ourselves; 3) the truth about what lies beyond ourselves.

What Lies Inside

The truth Jesus proclaimed about our interior lives, what lies in our heart, and what lies corrupt our heart, was not a truth people always wanted to hear.

During this Last Supper with his disciples, as Jesus tried to prepare them for his departure, Peter demanded to go with Jesus. Peter even vowed he would "lay down my life for you."

Jesus responded, "I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows you will disown me three times!" (John 13:38).

The truth about ourselves isn't very flattering.

The truth about our hearts is hard to face: our hearts are weak, and faltering, envious, untrustworthy, duplicitous, self-serving, and sometimes just plain evil.

If this weren't the truth then we would have no need of a Savior. We would have no need for forgiveness. We would have no need for grace.

"I tell you the truth, you looking at me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill" (John 6:26).

"I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin" (John 8:34).

"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber" (John 10:1).

It was because Jesus came to tell us the truth about what lies inside ourselves, that which we hide away from the rest of the world, that he was rejected, abandoned, condemned, and crucified.

What Lies Outside

Jesus also told the truth about the larger world we have created in our own likeness. He told the truth about communities that have no communion, about hatreds that tear us apart, about the sin that can lurk in civility.

"I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony'" (John 3:11).

"Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me?" (John 8:46).

"I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town" (Matthew 8:10).

"I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his hometown" (Luke 4:24).

Jesus told the truth about the inhumanity of humanity, about the sins and shortcomings that bind us together more than any ties of nationalities, colors, or creeds ever could.

What Lies Beyond

But the human side of the story is only one side of Jesus' truth to be told. Jesus' truth revealed more about God than had ever been revealed before.

Jesus told the truth about a Father's love and forgiveness.

Jesus told the truth about God's plans for the salvation of the world.

Jesus told the truth about how compassion, sacrifice, suffering, and mercy could be signs, not of human weakness but of divine strength.

When Jesus told the truth about God, it was never quite as we would expect it to be.

For those convinced they were righteous and blessed by their piety and goodness, Jesus warned,

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full" (Matthew 6:5).

For those smug in their own great faithfulness, Jesus told of a God - "Great is Thy Faithfulness:"

"Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move" (Matthew 7:20).

For those who put their faith in human efforts, in the power of the sword and political might, Jesus announced before the great Temple Herod had completed,

"I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another, everyone will be thrown down" (Matthew 24:2).

For those sophisticates who were proud of their adultish religion, Jesus reminded them that there would be no grown-ups in heaven:

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3).

For those who said God could only work in certain ways and through certain people, Jesus told the truth about a God who could work wherever God wanted. Jesus praised the faith of a Roman centurion, a pagan, who approached him and begged him to heal his servant, even without visiting that servant, even by just speaking a word:

"When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith" (Matthew 8:10).

Jesus came to tell the truth, about what lies inside us, about what lies outside us, and about what lies beyond us. And this truth both surprises and sets us free - free for God to take us to spaces that we've never been before and couldn't get to without God.