November 17

What is Truth?

On this Wednesday, what is the greatest danger we face in the USA? The answers would certainly include potential issues like terrorism, the printing of billions of dollars, the breakdown of the family, and the failures of education but all of these fall short. 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 Jesus because he knows the charges are trumped up by the Jewish leaders. But right smack in the middle of this trial 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 had been 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 we have no moorings to guide the judge. The great danger is that no one is safe because the law now is a pliable tool in the hands of politicians and judges. This is what happened in Germany in the 1930’s with the holocaust.

Without truth the law becomes whatever the fastest gunslinger, the slickest talk show host, or the most powerful governor says. 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. Just look at Pilate.

Ask someone the Pilate question, “What is truth?” You might be surprised to see how close we are to danger.