Pilate said, "So you are a king?" Jesus responded, "You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true." "What is truth?" Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, "He is not guilty of any crime. John 18:37-38
Think of the irony in this situation. Jesus is standing before Pilate, who was the Roman authority for the province of Israel. Pilate was full of pride, inflated by his position, and he asks a question of Jesus. Jesus responds with an answer and shares His mission to bring the world to the truth. It was already established that Jesus was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. John's Gospel also has previously revealed that Jesus was the One who created the world and that He was God in the flesh. Now picture this: here is the God of the universe who has absolute power standing before Pilate, and declaring His mission to bring the truth. Pilate has the audacity to ask the question, "What is truth?" Instead of realizing that he was standing before the One who brings truth and life to humanity, Pilate rejects Jesus.
We live in a world that is no different. People can see with their eyes that this world is not an accident or product of some natural phenomenon. But they reject the truth, embracing the lie that everything came from nothing, and the lie that life is simply matter + time + chance. They know that there are laws that are necessary for society to have order and value, but they turn to lawlessness in order to gain personal pleasures. They know that there has to be absolute truth because they see this in math, science, and educational systems, but instead, many choose to reject absolutes to endorse their own choices and lifestyles. As a society, we stand before the truth of Jesus Christ, and instead of embracing Him, we ask the question, "What is truth?" Do you catch the same irony that went on with Pilate? God has written His truth into our hearts and made Himself plainly known, but so many reject this basic truth because they are blinded by the enemy's lies.
The sad part in all of this is that some followers of Jesus get sucked into the lie that there are no absolute truths. They start to believe that everyone's personal perspective and opinion are all of equal value, essentially relegating absolute truth to the status of a preference. They do this mostly to not rock the boat. We have to remember that Jesus came into the world to testify to the truth. In a world that embraces no standards or absolutes, we have to be the ones who stand up for truth.
If you want to move toward action today, we want to encourage you to stand up for the truth. It is important that this is done with gentleness and respect. We learn from 1 Peter 3:15, where it says, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…" Think through what way you can personally hold onto the truth in a culture that has rejected absolutes, then go to battle in this Forgotten War.
Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover. So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man?”
“We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted.
“Then take him away and judge him by your own law,” Pilate told them.
“Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied. (This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way he would die.)
Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him.
Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?”
“Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?”
Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”
Pilate said, “So you are a king?”
Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”
“What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime. But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this ‘King of the Jews’?”
But they shouted back, “No! Not this man. We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a revolutionary.)
