Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." Pilate asked him, "What is truth?"Pilate's question, "What is truth?" hangs unanswered in John's account of Jesus' trial. However, it should be noted that John carefully crafts his story so that Jesus is the judge, and Pilate, along with the Jewish leaders, is actually the one on trial. Jesus asks more questions than he actually answers, and his answers often serve to befuddle Pilate more than enlighten him. (For some strange reason the NIV Bible has Jesus answer Pilate's question about being king in the affirmative, but that is interpretation and not translation.)
What is truth? And even more pointedly, what does it mean to belong to the truth? We live in a culture of spin and half truths. Very often, we define truth as whatever we happen to hold dear, and we sometimes justify lying and manipulating the truth in order for our view to prevail. And this happens not only in political debates. I see it all the time in debates in the Church. Very often it isn't a matter of belonging to the truth. We decide that we have the truth and will do most anything to ensure our truth wins.
Lord, help me let go of my certainties that are not part of your truth. Draw me into your truth in Jesus.
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