March 13, 2024 – Lent Text: John 18:33-40
Dear Friends in Christ,
Have you ever tried to cover the truth? It was Dec. 31, 1982 of my senior year of high school. My friends and I had been to a party. Being a non-drinker back then, I drove my parents station wagon. On the way home, one of my friends got sick and threw up on the side of the car. That night was about 20 degrees, so it froze. Once I got home, I was trying to cover the truth by getting this mess off the side of my parent’s car. I thought I was pretty smart using hot water to clean up, but in those temps it would just re-freeze. I worked and worked but never completely got it clean. The next morning my parents noticed, and I had to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I don’t remember a punishment, probably a lecture on avoiding these types of parties.
Did you ever try to cover the truth? “Did you sneak a cookie?” your mom asks. You answer “no” with a chocolate smudge on your face. Truth is important in human relationships. Truth is important in the courtroom, both for the witnesses and the jury who take an oath to “render a true verdict.” It is no surprise then that as the Son of God stands trial before a Roman governor, this subject comes up.
“TRUTH”
For Pilate this Governor of Judea, the Passover celebration in Jerusalem must have felt like a powder keg waiting to explode. Let’s look in on the conversation. “Are you the King of the Jews,” Pilate asked. It is a yes or no answer, but Jesus doesn’t see it that way. “Do you say this…or did others say this about me?” Pilate goes on, “Am I a Jew? Your own people have handed you over. What have you done?” Jesus replies, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would have been fighting, so that I would not be delivered to the Jews.” Pilate seems intrigued. “So you are a King?” Jesus answers. “You say that I am a king. I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Then comes one of the world’s most famous questions, “What is truth?”
Pilate was a military guy. Practical and political. He knew truth could be manipulated to his advantage. Who should he believe? “What is the truth here?”
We know of Jesus’ physical suffering – the beating, the scourging, the crown of thorns, and the cross. We may not consider as much his emotional pain – the sadness he felt. Jesus was the truth but there was so much deception around him. His ministry was truthful. He brought more than earthly bread. He brought living water. He even wanted Pilate to see who he really was. No cover-up going on here.
Ever wanted someone to see the truth because you knew it would change their lives? Someone with an addiction? An individual with a bad lifestyle choice? A child who can’t see their problems are self-inflicted? You want them to see the truth. Jesus knew this is what Pilate, the world, and you and I need. Jesus loves us with a true heart and wants us to know the truth. Once in a while, he tells us to wake up.
This is what he was trying to get Pilate to do. “What is truth?” Jesus is saying, “I am standing in front of you. I am truth. Word made flesh. God made man. The final word from God and the source of salvation.”
Truth continues to suffer in our world. Facts are spun to get us to buy a product, support a cause, vote for a candidate. All the Covid theories perpetuated by an agenda, had truth suffer even more. With everything being so uncertain, how can I be sure of Jesus?
In this life, many things we won’t know for sure. But we can know this: Jesus born into this world to testify to the truth – to be the truth – to reveal that the very heart of God is love. How can we be sure? Watch as Jesus willingly goes to the cross to pay for your sins. Walk to the tomb on Easter morning to see Jesus declared the King of kings – to see life triumph over death. Jesus wanted Pilate to see. Jesus wanted Peter and all the others to see. And he wants you to see. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life – for you.
Jesus longs for others to know him. Perhaps he will give you an opportunity to have a conversation like the one he had with Pilate. When the world puts you on trial, will you confess the truth about Jesus? In these times, when truth seems to be whatever anyone wants it to be, Jesus may just be the thing people are looking for. We know it is the thing that they need. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we confess the truth of Jesus . . . because we know the answer to “What is truth?” It is Jesus!
Amen.