“What is truth?”

John 18:25-19:22 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now Simon Peter was still standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You are not one of His disciples as well, are you?” He denied it, and said, “I am not.” ²⁶ One of the slaves of the high priest, who was related to the one whose ear Peter cut off, *said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” ²⁷ Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

²⁸ Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter the Praetorium, so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. ²⁹ Therefore Pilate came out to them and said, “What accusation are you bringing against this Man?” ³⁰ They answered and said to him, “If this Man were not a criminal, we would not have handed Him over to you.” ³¹ So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.” ³² This happened so that the word of Jesus which He said, indicating what kind of death He was going to die, would be fulfilled.

³³ Therefore Pilate entered the Praetorium again, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “You are the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you about Me?” ³⁵ Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed You over to me; what have You done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, 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 purpose I have been born, and for this I have come into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” ³⁸ Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”

And after saying this, he came out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no grounds at all for charges in His case. ³⁹ However, you have a custom that I release one prisoner for you at the Passover; therefore do you wish that I release for you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰ So they shouted again, saying, “Not this Man, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a rebel.

19 So Pilate then took Jesus and had Him flogged. ² And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on His head, and put a purple cloak on Him; ³ and they repeatedly came up to Him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and slapped Him in the face again and again. ⁴ And then Pilate came out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing Him out to you so that you will know that I find no grounds at all for charges in His case.” ⁵ Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!” ⁶ So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they shouted, saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him; for I find no grounds for charges in His case!” ⁷ The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die, because He made Himself out to be the Son of God!”

⁸ Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; ⁹ and he entered the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate said to Him, “Are you not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” ¹¹ Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over Me at all, if it had not been given to you from above; for this reason the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.” ¹² As a result of this, Pilate made efforts to release Him; but the Jews shouted, saying, “If you release this Man, you are not a friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar!”

¹³ Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement—but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Look, your King!” ¹⁵ So they shouted, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.”

¹⁶ So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.

¹⁷ They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, carrying His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called, Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. ¹⁹ Now Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written: “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” ²⁰ Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; rather, write that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

In today’s text it says: Pilate entered the Praetorium again, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “You are the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you about Me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed You over to me; what have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, 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.” Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this purpose I have been born, and for this I have come into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”  There are many today who ask, “what is truth.” Our culture has determined that truth is relative and subjective, that each person can have their own truth and that truth is subject to change. Not recognizing that truth is absolute is what causes confusion. Accepting relative and subjective truth has caused our society to be confused about many things including whether an unborn child is a life and that a person can choose their gender. Our society is confused about right and wrong, good and evil.  In Jeremiah 17:9 God says: “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” When we trust the truth to the hearts and whims of people, we are not only confused, but deceived. In verse 10 God says: “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, To give to each person according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.” In Isaiah 5:20 God says: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

What is truth? In John 17:17 Jesus prayed: ^“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” Truth is not just found in God’s word. God’s word is truth.  Romans 3:4 says: God must prove to be true, though every person be found a liar.  In John 14:6 Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” God the Father, Jesus His Son and the Word are one and so they are truth. Our society and culture has become more and more confused as it has removed truth from its foundation. Our education system, once one of the best in the world, was founded on the truth of God’s word. Since truth has been replaced with human philosophy, confusion has increased. Our government was also founded on Biblical truth, but since truth has been largely abandoned, lawlessness and deceit abound. In the text it says:  Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written: “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; rather, write that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”  Revelation 19:16 says:  On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Jesus is not king because of the declaration written by Pilate. He is not just the King of the Jews, He is the KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. That truth is not changed by the agreement or rejection of people. Jesus is KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Philippians 2:10-11 says: At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. That’s the truth.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Amen.