Read
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6
Reflect
Have you ever known someone who chose to believe a lie instead of the obvious truth? It happens all too frequently, and it can be extremely frustrating for the people who can see through the deception. But for the person immersed in the deception, the unreal can appear all too real — regardless of any evidence that contradicts the lie.
On this date in 1918, the royal family of Russia was executed by Bolshevik revolutionaries in the basement of a house in Yekaterinburg. The scene was a particularly gruesome one that was really more of a butchery than an execution, and it’s impossible to think that anyone other than the executioners walked out of that basement alive.
But from that reality sprang a myth.
All of the bodies were buried in a mass grave. All except for two — those of the two youngest children, Anastasia and Alexei. Allegedly these two were somehow rescued after being horribly wounded, and they someone survived and were smuggled out of the country. It was a fantastic tale — one that fueled countless imaginations and spawned incredible stories. Two movies were even made about Anastasia in 1956 and 1997. A third film was made for TV in 1986, and while the first two focused on a fairytale ending where Anastasia was the real deal, this one trafficked more in reality.
The reality was that a woman who said her name was Anna Anderson claimed to be the long-lost Grand Duchess Anastasia who somehow survived the massacre. Those who knew the Romanovs best said there was no way she could be the Duchess, there was virtually no resemblance between the two and Anna herself only had a vague tale about her escape from the basement. Yet many, for a variety of reasons, chose to believe her. For a time, wealthy patrons, including famed composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, bankrolled her and provided her with a lavish lifestyle.
Anderson never relented. She insisted that she was Anastasia until in 1984 she died in Virginia at the age of 87. Since then, archeology and DNA testing has revealed the truth. The bodies of the royal family were found in 1991, and a second grave with the bodies of Anastasia and Alexi was discovered in 2007. DNA testing confirmed that not only was Anderson not Anastasia — she was in fact Franziska Schanzkowska, a Polish factory worker with a history of mental illness. Anna Anderson had spent her entire life living a lie, and she had convinced a lot of people to join her in it.
Every day, we are presented with opportunities to believe either the truth or a lie, and the consequences are eternal. God revealed the truth to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, and that truth has not changed in almost 2,000 years. Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life,” and according to Him, “no one comes to the Father except” through Him. It’s a simple truth, but instead most people choose to believe something else. There are more than 4,000 religions in the world offering a myriad of solutions to achieve eternal life. Yet only one of them contains the simple truth — accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and live your life according to His ways.
If you haven’t yet accepted that truth, let today be the day that you start. If you have accepted Him, know that the world is watching Christians to see if Jesus really does make a difference. Make sure that you are consistent in your walk with the Lord. By your loving and kind actions, make sure that those you encounter today and every day see that Jesus Christ really is the a truth that they can believe.
Reflection copyright © 2024 Doug DeBolt.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
