“What is truth?” Pilate asked. John 18:38
I give a little chuckle every time I read the question Pilate asked Jesus. “What is truth?” Pilate asked that of Jesus? Really Pilate! And if I were Jesus I would answer with the line from the movie, “A Few Good Men,” “you can’t handle the truth!” And indeed Pilate could not.
Jesus was being questioned by Pilate in John 18:33
33 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.
34 Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?”
35 “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 responds to Pilate’s question about being a king.
36 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.”37 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.”
The question, "what is truth," is a reasonable question for anyone. I am just leery when it comes from Pilate. So then, what is truth? What does the word truth mean? The definition of truth from Dictionary.com describes truth as
1.the true or actual state of a matter:
2.a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like
3.the state or character of being true.
Proverbs 12:19 tells us, “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.”
Truth can be subjective , troubling, hair raising and often disturbing. And most destructive when it is not truthful. As parents, we are upset when a child is not truthful. From time to time, we too are guilty of not telling the truth. What makes us want to not tell the truth? Fear – fear that the truth can hurt other people – family and friends. It can destroy reputations and can even result in legal matters or worse. Many relationships have been destroyed by truths or untruths. In Matthew 5:37 we are cautioned, “Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”
Jesus is speaking His truth. He stated He came to show truth. From John 1:17-18 “The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.”
Jesus came to show us God the Father. We witnessed His character, His mercy, His grace.
Jesus came that we may have life and have it abundantly free from the burden of sin. In the midst of that abundance is forgiveness. Jesus forgave those who crucified Him. Therefore we too, as much as it hurts when we are not told the truth, need to forgive. And practice letting our yes be yes and our no be no!
May the truth of Holy Week ground us in our faith walk. May it instill in our hearts the reason why we do what we do. May it remind us that God so loved us - you and me, that He gave us His Son Jesus Christ. And He is the Way, the Truth and the Life!
Please note this video is graphic in its depiction of Jesus' crucifixion.