October 25, 2023
Truth Questioned
“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.’” John 18:37 (NASB)
In society today truth has become relevant. Ask any person how they determine what is true today. You will get differing answers. It all depends on what each person deems as truth and where they derive it. We also see truth slowly being eaten away as the world continues to downplay the importance of it. Those things that were right in the past, now are being viewed as wrong. For those of us who know Jesus as our Savior, we know Truth. As we study the Word of God each day, we encounter truth. Throughout our time in the Word of God, we find the Holy Spirit (who is God), assisting us as we read and learn truths for each day. Truth helps us to determine how God views this world we live in. It also gives us a standard to conduct our life.
“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,” Pilate rightly asked the question to Jesus. Was this Jesus a true king or a lunatic? Pilate had the right to know whether he faced opposition from Jesus or whether it was ravings from a madman. It must have taken him off his feet when Jesus replied, “You say correctly...” Jesus’s reply in Matt. 27:11, Mark 15:2, and Luke 23:3, “It is as you say,” is taken to mean “Yes, because I am a king.” “Seeing, however, that our Lord had already implicitly avowed his kingly state, it is far better to discern in the reply an acknowledgment of the inference which Pilate had scornfully drawn (see parallel method of answering the question, “Art thou the Son of God?” Luke 22:70, “Ye say that I am;” ῦτι ἐγώ εἰμι compared with Mark 14:62). This is the “good confession” to which St. Paul referred (1 Tim. 6:13). This is the assumption, before the tribunal of the whole world, that he was and would forever remain its true King.”[1] Jesus’ demeanor was calm and firm. He wasn’t a crazy man. He was in His right mind. He didn’t backtrack like someone who had made a statement out of emotion or in the moment. He was confident. He was not just a king, but The King. “There was no doubt what Jesus’ answer was intended to be. He certainly was a king! Indeed, he was born to be a king, even though he was not a king in the earthly sense. But his kingship was intimately tied to his mission. His coming into the world was to be a witness or testifier to the truth.”[2] “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Truth and Jesus are inextricably tied to each other. One cannot be present without the other. For those who know Jesus, know the truth.
Truth (Jesus) was not fazed by the questioning of mere men like Pilate. Jesus stood uninterrupted in the face of danger. Jesus said, “I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.” His mission was to bring truth to the world. God’s Word was already in the world, brought by prophets, priests, and leaders. Now it came in human form to testify of the goodness of God. This goodness would intervene on behalf of mankind and ultimately die for its sin. This is why Jesus told Pilate, “You say correctly.” Truth doesn’t lie either. Jesus told Pilate He was king. The words came out of Pilate’s mouth testifying of Jesus’s kingship before he even realized what he said. Where does your truth come from today?
[1] Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. (1909). Funk & Wagnalls Company.
[2] Borchert, G. L. (2002). (Vol. 25B, pp. 242–243). Broadman & Holman Publishers.