What is Truth?

 

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/