It’s the height of irony. In a kangaroo-court setting, Pontius Pilate, corrupt Roman governor, is talking about the truth with Jesus of Nazareth, impeccable Savior of the world. Jesus declares the purpose of His coming into the world: For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth (John 18:37). Almost as soon as Pilate hears those words — he who had corrupted himself and his regime to cooperate with a ruthless Roman empire — Pilate cynically says to himself, and then aloud to Jesus, what is truth? (John 18:38). For Pilate, long sing having abandoned integrity in order to maintain his place in the government machine, truth is only relative, and naive at that. For here in front of him was Someone who said He came to declare the truth about God and about life itself, Someone Who had said of Himself, I am the truth (John 14:6), but who was seemingly beaten, awaiting a sentence worse than death. So much for truth and for those who try to uphold it. Better simply to invent a “convenient truth”, one that supports one’s life in whatever way necessary to adjust the facts to fit the need.
And so it continues. Jesus is still in the business of declaring the truth. He said, speaking of the Holy Spirit which He would send upon His death, resurrection, and ascension, He will guide you into all the truth (John 16:13). And we, like Pilate, are apt to say, “what is truth?” We deny the notion of some objective reality beyond what is our own personal experience or, at most, or group experience. We speak of , not the truth, but rather of your truth, or my truth, convenient phrases which speak of an existential reality that is essentially meaningless. Though Jesus is certainly respectful of each individual’s experience, He denies its supremacy in presenting Himself to the world as the truth, inviting us to receive the inconvenient truth that our truth is not the truth. For your truth and mine are only partial and, as such, are warped by our limitations. Like Pilate, my truth and yours have accommodated themselves to the major regime in our lives, the self, which, replicating the sin pattern of our forebears, exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Claiming to be wise, we have become fools, exchanging the truth of God for a pack of lies designed to protect the Self.
This Lent, the Truth is coming at us again, urging us to repent of any half-truths or pretender truth. The Truth says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He says, repent, and believe the Good News. Will we come? Will we turn? With there be real truth about us? Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice (John 1:37). Will you?
