John 18:28-40
Jesus is the Truth and Testifies to the Truth
28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”
30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”
31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”
“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.
33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”
40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.
Jesus told us He came to earth to testify to the Truth...And His Truth is for everyone...Jesus said He is the Truth and is One who was born and came into the world to testify to the Truth...Even the Roman Governor Pilate did not believe that Jesus was Truth, and He was standing right in front of him...Pilate, as a Roman governor, Truth was likely tied to power, law, and order...It was something tangible, something that he thought that could be measured and controlled...Even Caiaphas, the High Priest, seemed to believe that Truth was somehow deeply intertwined with religious law and political power...As the High Priest, he was the religious leader of the Jewish people and held a position of great authority...Caiaphas statement in John 11:50, where he suggests that it is better for One Man to die for the people than for the whole nation to perish, reveals a cold, calculated approach to preserving power, control, and order...This perspective is starkly different from Pilate's seemingly more ambiguous stance on Truth...
Jesus' Teaching methods of telling the Truth was done throughout His Ministry...He often quoted the Old Testament as His Way of spreading the Gospel and learning about His Father...
Like Pilate the Governor, some people still focus on their own power, control, and manipulation in their Truth...They can be recognized by their use of deception, division, fear-mongering, scapegoating, misspeaking the Truth to increase their power...When Pilate was confronted with Jesus, who claimed to be the Truth, Pilate was faced with a different kind of Truth—a Spiritual, Transcendent Truth that was beyond his comprehension...Jesus represented the Truth that was not bound by earthly power or human law...Jesus' and His Gospel focused on love, compassion, truth, mercy, forgiveness, redemption and humility -beyond what Pilate was thinking about the day of Jesus' trial...Even though these are very human things...
Jesus was always using His Teaching, healing, serving others, doing miracles, to demonstrate God's LOVE...His Goal is to reconcile humanity and unite us with God...Jesus teaches us and wants us to be authentic and not be deceptive to others...He said: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."...
Even to Pilate and Caiaphas, Jesus was transparent and honest about His identity and mission...Jesus teaches all about love...Jesus preached love for enemies and forgiveness...He wants us all to be in harmony and united...
Jesus empowered people through His teachings and miracles...He is our Suffering Servant...He gives people the freedom to choose....He wants us to have faith in Him...Jesus exemplifies humility by serving others, and wanting us to follow God...He did not use His Divine Abilities, because He was never was driven by ego, power, control, or ambition...
Jesus offers His message of Truth, hope, redemption, and eternal life for us...He teaches that this is eternal life: that we know God, the Only True God, and Jesus Christ, whom God sent to dwell among us...If we believe Him and the One who sent Him then we are offered Eternal Life through Him, because no one gets to the Father except through Jesus...Pilate and Caiaphas did not follow the Real Truth the Absolute Truth...He Truth helps us live an Abundant Life...
Jesus is our Savior and our Mediator with our Father...He saves us from our sins and our flaws...There is no other name in the world that we can be saved...Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved...This verse emphasizes the unique and exclusive power of Jesus Christ for salvation...There is no other way to be saved except through faith in Him...
As we can see that there are different views on Truth as we read about Jesus and Truth...We see that Truth is a Person...Jesus is the Truth, the Way, and the Life...