“I have come into this world that I should bear witness to the truth…”  John 18:37

“Pilot said to Him, ‘What is truth?”  John 18:38

“You have no power against Me unless it had been given you from above…..” John 19:11

Let me be crystal clear about the title here; this is not two truths.  There is only one truth at play here, but there are two versions.  To me this exchange sums up the basic struggle that has existed, exists today and will exist until Jesus Christ comes again.

We have Pilot, who with his question, is providing the world’s version of the truth.  Jesus Christ has stated, in no uncertain terms, that He is a King.  And as that King, He is baring witness to the Truth.  Pilot doesn’t accept that.  We can tell by his question:  “What is truth?”  In his question, Pilot is inferring that truth is not a singular nor absolute thing.  There is the possibility of multiple truths.  By Pilot’s behavior we know that he sees this truth.  He is in charge.  Whether Jesus is a king is irrelevant because Pilot has all the power.  Pilot has Jesus’ life in his hands and there is nothing that Jesus, nor his followers or all of Jerusalem could do about it.  Pilot was Rome and Rome was all powerful.  From Pilot’s perspective, maybe he would release Jesus because he found no guilt in him.  Maybe he would release Jesus just to make the Jewish leadership mad and show who’s in charge.  Maybe he would turn Jesus over to be crucified.  Whatever the outcome, it was all up to Pilot.

We have Jesus Christ, who has and speaks the actual truth.  Jesus is a king.  He will tell Pilot that His Kingdom is not of this world.  Yet Jesus will also infer to Pilot that Jesus’ power as King and His Kingdom is far superior to Pilot’s.  For even though Pilot was a representative of Rome and even with all the power of Rome, they could do nothing to Jesus had not that ability been given to him by a higher power.  This, Jesus informs Pilot.

Sisters and brothers, this world bombards us with many versions of “truth”.  The prince of this world, the enemy Satan, hopes to confuse and lead us astray by providing lie after lie as the truth.  He will wrap his lies in the veil of human logic and imperfect understanding so that it seems plausible, seems true.  In this cacophony of competing deceits and obfuscations, where can we turn to find the One Real Truth?  God has not left us alone.  God has not abandoned us to try to discern on our own, His Truth.  God has given us many great resources by which we can find and keep hold of His Truth.  Two of those greatest resources are His Word, the Bible and the Holy Spirit, who testifies in Truth to our spirits.

Yet here’s the thing.  Any or all resources are only as helpful as our desire to use them.  We will find no Truth in the Bible left on the shelf unopened.  Prayer is the most powerful way to connect to the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to come into our being to teach and clarify many Great Truths.  If Truth is truly what we are seeking, we must make time for regular study of the Word and make prayer an utmost priority.

The irony is that truth is not always obvious and the “obvious” truth is often a lie.  Pilot held on to his version of the truth.  There is no indication that Pilot’s version of the truth was changed even when confronted with the fact of Jesus resurrection.  There appeared to be a different version of the truth of Jesus being not in the tomb involving sleeping guards and body snatching followers.  Most certainly, at least for a day or so, the Jewish leadership believed their version of the truth that they had utterly quashed the influence of Jesus.  Yet, try as they might, their version of invincibility, could not stop the truth of the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ; His life, death and resurrection.  Their version of the truth could not silence the preaching of his disciples and the spread of His message around the entire known world. Jesus Christ, through His resurrection and ascension into heaven, validated His Truth.

Following lies as truth, even if they make sense to us, will lead us astray.  Jesus Christ provided us with The Truth.  And what was and is a fundamental tenant of that Truth?  That Our Heavenly Father, Our Creator God, the All Powerful Alpha and Omega, loves us so very much that He is willing to sacrifice His own Precious Son, to bring about our salvation.  Additionally, that Jesus Christ loves both His Father as well as us so greatly that He would willingly follow His Father’s plan and die for us.  Finally, that the Love of Jesus and our Heavenly Father is freely given, as well as for all time.  That is The Only Truth.  And it is well worth believing in.

Our Most Gracious and Heavenly Father, we humbly confess that we are not always good at discerning the truth.  We are so very grateful that You have given us Your Word as well as the Holy Spirit to help us to understand Your Truth.  Forgive us when we look to our own logic and understanding in attempting to uncover the truth.  Strengthen us through the understanding of Your Word and the testimony of the Holy Spirit as to The Truth.  That in living Truth filled lives, we will give praise to Your Most Holy Name. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray.  Amen.