What is truth?

Pilate saith unto him, Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. (John 18:38)

There are many characters who played a role in the passion week narratives of Christ: Caiaphas and Annas, the priests who oversaw the illegal mock trial of the Savior... soldiers who ridiculed, spit upon, punched in the face, and pulled out the beard of our Savior, and who painstaking created a crown of thorns and pressed it deep into Jesus' forehead... the individual(s) who flogged and scourged Christ. There was Simon, who carried the cross. And the thieves who were crucified next to him. There were the women at the foot of the cross, the centurion who recognized He was the Son of God. And there was Joseph of Arimethea, and Nicodemus, who took down the body of the Lord and placed it in a tomb. So many played a role on that fateful day.

And there was Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate is interesting. He was a tortured man. He locked eyes with the God of the universe, and knew this was no ordinary man. "Where are you from?" he asked. And when he heard that Jesus was on trial for claiming to be the Son of God, the Bible says, "When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid." (John 19:8) His wife turned up the heat on him even further by warning him to "have nothing to do with that just man." She had dreamed a dream, and this just added to Pilate's turmoil. He famously washed his hands in front of the crowd, symbolizing his contention that he was not involved in the death of Christ. Yet he flogged him, and delivered him to be crucified.

I guess the most interesting thing about the Pilate account is his question to Jesus, "What is truth?" It sounds like the same question many ask today, in our age where people think truth is relative and there are no absolutes. Perhaps the fact that Pilate bought into that silly relativistic thinking contributed to his confusion and dilemma. He said "I find no fault" and then had him flogged. He said he was an "innocent man" and then delivered Him to be crucified. Talk about not believing in any absolute truth! I can imagine the relativistic drivel that went through his mind - "Well, to my way of thinking he is innocent, but somebody else might have a different definition of innocence. Who am I to judge their belief system?"

Have you bought into that kind of thinking? Do you believe that there is no absolute truth, or do you believe the Lord Jesus Christ, Who said, "I am THE TRUTH." (John 14:6)

As we consider what happened in Jerusalem during the week leading up to Jesus' death, may Pilate's words be a reminder that there is truth, and it is found in the one Pilate condemned to the cross. It is found in Jesus Christ.