What is truth? This question has been asked in every generation. In our own generation we have found it unfashionable to ask, “What is truth? ” So much of what passes as truth nowadays is not much more than a collection of trivial facts. These truths make little difference in the lives of those who profess them. We may have our facts straight, but we may be no closer to the truth. Truth must mean more than a correspondence to facts. Among many ancient peoples the word truth has a distinct meaning. Truth is that which is solid and firm. The truth is that, on which one may rely. For something to be true meant that it was steadfast and trustworthy. When the ancients asked, “What is truth?” they were not asking what is the nature of truth. They were asking the more basic question of human existence: What can we depend on? Jesus tells Pontius Pilate, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” (18:37) And Pilate responds by asking, “What is truth?” This is no dorm room conversation. Pilate holds the secular power by which to condemn or spare Jesus. Pilate is wrapped in all the trappings of Roman arrogance and domination. He …show more content…
We encounter The Truth of God in the very person of Jesus, the Christ. Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?” Jesus refuses to answer in words but in a deed. He chooses death at the hand of Rome and an angry mob. He could have testified to the truth of Judaism. He could have testified to the truth of Roman power. He could have testified to the truth of personal morality. But unlike us, Jesus chose to testify to The Truth. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of Moses, of David and of the prophets. This truth is the living God who rules over death and the grave. Jesus chose this God and died on the cross rather than choosing a lesser god and go on hiding. Jesus entered the darkness and thereby once and for all confessed his answer to Pilate’s