Dennis Edwards
Perhaps you might not recognize
that the title above is a quotation from a famous man. He is famous for the
compromise that he made. He is famous because he sacrifices the life of an
innocent man. He is famous because he yields to influential political,
financial and religious powers for fear of his position, for fear of not being
found loyal to his party, for fear of unpopular public opinion.
Here we see his famous words,
words that are so often repeated today by those claiming to be politically
correct, neutral or open minded. “What is truth?” Or as often put today, “There
are many truths.” Or, “You can’t be so dogmatic.” Or, “You need to be more
open-minded.” Or, “Truth is relative.” Let us put these words in context so we
can try to understand what was meant by them.
John 18:28-38
Then led they (the Jewish
religious leaders) Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was
early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be
defiled; but that they might eat the Passover. (What hypocrisy. Here the
religious rulers stay outside of the judgment hall, a Roman building, because
if they entered it, they would not be able to eat the Passover meal, as they
would be considered unclean.)
Pilate then went out unto them,
and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”
They answered and said unto him,
“If he were not a criminal, we would not have delivered him up unto you.”
Then said Pilate unto them,
“Take him, and judge him according to your law.”
The Jews therefore said unto
him, “It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:” that the words of Jesus
might be fulfilled, which he spoke signifying what death he should die.
Then Pilate entered into the
judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, “Are you the King of
the Jews?”
Jesus answered him, “Are you
asking this of yourself, or did others tell it of me?”
Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew?
Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you unto me: what have you
done?” (It sounds here that Pilate is a little annoyed at Jesus’ reply.)
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is
not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants
fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not
from hence.”
Pilate therefore said unto him,
“Are you a King then?”
Jesus answered, “You say that I
am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world,
that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth hears
my voice.”
Pilate said unto him, “WHAT IS
TRUTH?” And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and said
unto them, “I find in him no fault at all.” [End of Bible quotation]
“What is truth?” The response of
Pilate rings of today’s “open-minded” generation, a politically correct
generation that denies that there is “a truth,” because there are many “truths”
and one cannot be so narrow-minded to think his view is “the truth.”
It reminds me of what Allan Bloom wrote in his book, The Closing of the American Mind. "Openness
used to be the virtue that permitted us to seek the good by using reason. It
now means accepting everything and denying reason's power."
Some will tell us that as there
are many colours in the rainbow, but all are part of what makes up “white”
light, so the truth can have many colours. And I agree with that. Of course,
there are often many different aspects of a question. Different sides may have
different ways of looking at things. They see things differently and bring
different “truths” to the equation and situation. That is all well and
good.
But ultimately, we come to the
question of Jesus. Was he the King of the Jews? Was he the expected Messiah for
whom the Jewish people waited patiently for his coming in hope that he would
free them from their servitude to the Romans and bring in a righteous
government and world peace? Is he the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords?
What was Pilate saying when he
says, “What is truth?” I propose that he was saying, like many do today, that
the truth is relative, that there are many aspects of truth. “You cannot be so
dogmatic, Jesus, or narrow minded. We, Romans, have our truths, also,” may have
been the tone of Pilate’s response. Or maybe his tone was sarcastic and he was
saying, “You want to get philosophical with me? Well, I know philosophy, also.
I studied the Greek philosophers. What is truth? It’s all relative.”
C.S. Lewis made a famous
statement about Jesus of Nazareth in his book Mere Christianity.
He said,
“I am trying here to prevent
anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m
ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to
be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and
said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would
either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg —
or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this
man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can
shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can
fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any
patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left
that open to us. He did not intend to.”
Jesus has not given us the
option to be neutral, politically correct, or “open-minded.” He is either the
Son of God, or he is not. He either rose from the dead or he did not. It’s just
that simple and it’s a question we all need to resolve because it could have
eternal consequences.
Pilate missed his chance. Here
he was in front of the very man who had performed amazing miracles which as
Paul said later to one of the Jewish political leaders, “This thing was not
done in a corner.”[1] In other words, everyone knew about it or had heard about it.
Pilate even sends Jesus to Herod the Jewish ruler of Galilee who is visiting
Jerusalem at the time of the Passover an important Jewish holiday.
We see that Pilate blew it. He
was more interested in pleasing the local political and financial leaders who
helped him in controlling and ruling the local people than he was in
instituting just and righteous judgment. He was more interested in keeping
their favour than in doing what was right. Perhaps he was afraid that word
might get back to Tiberius Caesar that he had been too soft on a local criminal
who had exalted himself to the rank of “King of the Jews.”
The Jewish leaders used this
tactic when they saw that Pilate was set on releasing Jesus. They said, “If you
let this man go, you are not Caesar’s friend: whosoever makes himself a king
speaks against Caesar.”[2] Pilate also dismissed the warning message sent to him from his own
wife, which said, “Have nothing with that just man: for I have suffered many
things this day a dream because of him.”[3] Even though he knew that it was for envy that the Jewish leaders
had delivered Jesus to him, he allowed an innocent man be condemned to death
contrary to Roman law.[4]
How did Pilate’s decision affect
his life?
Some accounts suggest that
Caligula ordered Pontius Pilate to death by execution or suicide. Others say he
was sent into exile and committed suicide of his own accord. In the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church, they believe Pontus Pilate was converted to Christianity and
he is considered a saint. Eusebius reported that Pontius Pilate committed
suicide during the reign of Caius or Emperor Caligula. Eusebius records the
following for us,
It is worthy of note that Pilate
himself, who was governor in the time of our Saviour, is reported to have
fallen into such misfortunes under Caius, whose times we are recording, that he
was forced to become his own murderer and executioner; and thus divine
vengeance, as it seems, was not long in overtaking him. This is stated by those
Greek historians who have recorded the Olympiads, together with the respective
events which have taken place in each period.[7]
One thing we know for sure is
that Pontus Pilate existed. In 1961 an archaeological dig led by Dr. Antonio
Frova in Caesrea Maritiama found a piece of limestone with Pilate’s name
inscribed in Latin, linking Pilate to Tiberius’s reign.[8]
More accounts seem to indicate that Pilate committed
suicide; a sad ending for a man of authority who, because of the pressure of
others, misconstrued the importance of the judgment he was making against
Christ.
Instead of having Godly
convictions and following Roman law, Pilate compromised to please the local
powers for fear of being reproved by the higher powers in Rome. Truth was
relative and not that important, or so he thought. He let himself be influenced
by others whom he knew to have alternative motives. In the end, even with a
warning from his wife, he thought Jesus was not such an important issue and
condemned him to death.
And what about each of us? Have
we gone the way of modern man and decided that it’s all relative and Jesus is
not that important? Yes, we used to believe in Jesus when we were young, but
now we have decided He’s not that relative to our lives. As long as we live a
good life and do not harm others, isn’t that enough?
Jesus said, “He that is not for
me is against me and he that gathers not with me scatters abroad.”[9] If we have accepted Jesus as our saviour by asking Him into our
hearts, we have our sins forgiven and have the hope of eternal life. In
thanksgiving for the free gift we have received, we should be willing to
confess Christ. Paul says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe with your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be
saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.”[10]
Jesus said, “For what shall it
profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what
shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed
of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also
shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with
the holy angels.” [11]
There is something about
declaring our faith in Christ that God blesses. No matter if we are working in
fulltime service for God or in some other type of work, God expects us as
Christians to let our light shine amongst men by sharing our faith with words
and example whenever we have the chance. Let’s not be ashamed to share our
faith in whatever way we can and share it as much as we can with our speech,
our good conversation and our loving sample to others. Let's stand up for our
convictions. We need to know what we believe and study to “be ready to give an
answer to everyman that asks us of the hope that is in us with meekness and
fear.”[12]
I’ll end here with a quote from
Keith Ward professor of Philosophy at Biola University in California. He has
made the following statement about modern relativism's truth claims. He
says,
“It is a central heresy of our
culture to say that all truth is relative; that one thing may be true for me
and quite another may be true for you. This absurdity destroys the very notion
of truth … and is the result of muddled thinking. No one can seriously believe
that a belief which contradicts his or her own is just as true. The expression
“It is true for me” is self-confuting. Either a thing is true or it is not. …
Can we imagine saying, “Well, the earth is round to me; but it may be flat to
you”? The earth is either round or flat; it cannot be both; and what you or I
think about it is irrelevant. You may claim that religion and ethics is not a
matter of truth at all. Very well, do not use the word “true”; but if you use
it, do not render it unintelligible by adding that empty phrase, “for me.””[13]
So don’t tell me that “Jesus is
true for you, but not for me.” The question is whether Jesus is really who he
said he was or not. Is he the Christ, the Son of the living God? Is Jesus the
Truth, or is he false? That’s the question we all need to answer through open
and honest enquiry.
Notes
[1] Acts 26:26
[2] John 19:12b
[3] Matthew 27:19
[4] Matthew 27:18
[5] Mark 15:15
[6] http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0812.htm
[7] http://www.neverthirsty.org/pp/corner/read2/r00886.html
[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilate
[9] Matthew 12:30
[10] Romans 10:9,10
[11] Mark 8:36-38
[12] 1Peter3:15
[13] Ward, Keith; The Turn of the Tide, pg. 144. http://existenceofgod.org/relativism-the-redefining-of-tolerance/
