What is Truth?
I often wrestle with this question, “What is the greatest danger we face in the USA?” The answers would certainly include potential issues like terrorism, a financial meltdown, issues concerning the breakdown of the family, the failures of education but I think all of these fall short of the greatest issue. I believe the most dangerous issue facing our culture today is “Relativism.” I define relativism as the existence of a culture without any absolute truths.
This same issue faced Pilate 2000 years ago. It is very obvious from our reading today that Pilate knew Jesus was innocent. Time and time again, he tries to free him because he knows the charges are trumped up by the Jews. But right smack in the middle of this life and death issue a philosophical issue is raised, “What is Truth?” Jesus starts the discussion by this statement in John 18:37 Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." And Pilate ends the discussion with the question, “What is truth?”
If you were privileged to be in the room with Pilate and Jesus at that moment how would you have answered that question? The importance of that answer will determine the outcome of the trial. If truth is relative, if it is in the eye of the beholder, if it is the choice of the individual then there are not absolutes and no one is safe because the law doesn’t exist. This is what happened in Germany in the 1930’s. Truth then became what the strongest political power or the strongest governor said in 33 AD.
What the Bible says about truth is that it is “God’s Reality.” Truth is the way God sees the world. This is not a very popular notion these days but without God determining right and wrong we are left to the arbitrary decisions of political leaders and they will always choose what is expedient for the moment.
Today ask someone the Pilate question, “What is truth?” You might be surprised to see how close we are to danger.
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