Back during Holy Week in April, I hope
you went to church on Good Friday, where you would’ve heard the Passion of
Jesus from John’s gospel. Only John’s gospel gives us additional details of the
conversation Jesus had with Pontius Pilate, who was the Roman governor of Judea
during those years.
Jesus said to Pilate, “I came into the
world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my
voice.”
Pilate replied with a question: “What is
truth?”
I’ve often wondered exactly how Pilate said
these words. Did he ask the question with sincere longing, kind of like, “Yeah,
what is truth anyway? I really want to know.”
If so, this means Pilate believed that
truth existed, that there is a final and accurate description of our situation here
on earth, but it’s just very difficult to discover and understand.
Or maybe Pilate asked the question with
sarcastic laughter. “Truth? You’re kidding, right?” He may have meant, “It’s
impossible to know the real truth, at least in this life, so why waste your
time trying to figure it out?”
If this is how Pilate viewed the idea of
truth, at least he believed that truth existed, even though in his opinion mere
mortals have no way of really discovering it.
Or maybe Pilate asked the question with
a cynical sneer. “Truth? You actually said the word TRUTH?! Bah, what a fool.
There’s no such thing as truth!”
This last option, I suspect, was the way
Pilate actually asked his famous question. From the information we know about
Pontius Pilate, it seems quite likely he was a typical pragmatic politician.
His greatest concern was to increase his personal power and influence, while at
the same time avoid getting blamed when things went wrong. And as so many
politicians do nowadays, this means changing opinions on various topics to fit
whatever is in your best interest at that particular moment.
Many people in our modern world, not
just politicians, claim that there is no such thing as truth. Truth, in their
view, is nothing more than personal opinion. Have you ever heard someone say
something like, “Well, if you believe that’s true, then it’s true for you. But
I believe the exact opposite, which is true for me.”
This attitude is quite illogical. Just
imagine if the subject being discussed is this: Is God real? If a skeptic says
to a Christian, “If you believe in God, then it’s true for you. I don’t
believe, so atheism is true for me.”
It is impossible for both beliefs to be correct.
We’re talking about external objective reality, not internal subjective
feelings. God either is real or He’s not. His existence does not depend on our
opinions about it. Now, maybe it’s impossible for mere mortals to know for sure
if God is real, but human ignorance doesn’t change reality. There is an
absolute truth about this question. It’s either yes or no. “Both” or “neither”
are not valid answers.
Claiming that truth is nothing more than
personal opinion is known as moral relativism. Many folks think this is a
recent phenomenon. But as the Passion account in John’s gospel indicates,
Pontius Pilate may have been one of the earliest moral relativists in history.
Just think of the irony: this Roman
governor sneered at the concept of truth. And yet, he was standing face to face
with Truth itself. Jesus Christ referred to Himself as “the Way, the Truth, and
the Life.” If He was who He claimed to be, the Divine Son of God, then He was
and is the true Truth—for all people and for all time.
Pilate was completely blind to that.
If you did not hear the Passion account
from John’s gospel on Good Friday, look it up in your Bible or online. Read the
fascinating interaction between Jesus and Pilate. And whatever you do, don’t
fall for the foolish claim that truth is just personal opinion. Truth is real,
and Truth has a name: Jesus.
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