S) "36 Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.' 37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, 'So You are a king?' Jesus answered, 'You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.' 38 Pilate *said to Him, 'What is truth?'
And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and *said to them, 'I find no guilt in Him.'"
John 18:36-38 (NASB)
O) Pilate had asked Jesus if He was king of the Jews, and Jesus asked if this was something Pilate wondered himself, or if he was asking on behalf of someone else (vv.33-34). After this, the response Pilate gave (v.35), almost gives the impression that he is already trying to keep himself out of this conflict. We know that his wife actually warned him not to get involved (see Matthew 27:19), and at the end of his involvement, Pilate tried to claim no fault of his own (see Matthew 27:24). However, Pilate certainly had the authority to release Jesus (see John 19:10), and yet his fear of men overwhelmed his better judgment. What really compels me about this particular section of verses, though, is the veiled confession of Pilate, when he voiced his, seemingly, rhetorical question, "What is truth?" This is a confession, at its core, that Pilate is struggling to understand life at its most basic level. When confronted with an absolute claim about truth, he is utterly lost. This is a deeply tragic glimpse into a man, whose confusion about truth has become all too familiar to my culture, today. And ultimately, Pilate was experiencing exactly what Jesus warned, that if we do not build upon the solid foundation, then when the storms of life come, our house will wash away.
A) Jesus is the Rock, the foundation that was laid, and Jesus is the Truth. If I am not built on Him, if I do not know Him, if I do not hear His voice, if I am not of His truth, then I will crumble in the face the storms of life, and I certainly will not be able to resist the crowds yelling at me to have their way with the things, for which, I am myself responsible. God has given me a sphere of responsibility, talents, authority. He expects me to do His will with those things, within that sphere. Contrastly, the world wants their way with my responsibilities. If I am not able to recognize the absolute truth, as God describes it, then I will be hopeless in my desire to fulfill God's purposes in my life. Without purpose, life loses meaning. Without meaning, life loses value. Without value, life loses life. It must begin somewhere, and in order to make sense of anything, it must start with truth itself. I must acknowledge that truth, by definition, can never be relative or subjective. More than anything else, the deepest, most dependable, solid, and unchanging truth, is found in the holy Bible. What He had done, what He has said, and who He is. Starting with that, and using Jesus as my foundation for what is true, unalterable, and firm, only then will I be able to move outward to view the rest of the world with a frame of reference that keeps making sense, because I hold certain truths to be absolute.
P) Father, I know that my understanding, my ability to reason, my eyes being opened to the truth, this is only because of Your grace. Thank You, Lord God, for the dependable, unchanging, and absolute truth of who You are, and for revealing Yourself to creation. Help me, God, to better understand truth. Give me wisdom, to answer the question I hear unspoken in the words of people around me, when they are pleading to know, "What is truth?" Let me be compassionate and loving, and bold and firm, to explain that Jesus Christ is Truth. In Him alone, will they find the way and light, and the truth they so desperately seek. To You be all glory and praise and power, forever. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
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