JESUS REJOICES IN TRUTH
“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.” “What is truth?” retorted Pilate.
John 18.37–38a
Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
EPHESIANS 4.15
Based on JOHN 18.28–19.16
Hours before His death, Jesus engages in a lengthy conversation with an unlikely man, His executioner, Pontius Pilate. For those of us who have grown up with the Easter story, it’s tempting to lump all the events of Jesus’ trial into one big narrative. But this particular exchange deserves our attention in the context of how Jesus loved people. So let’s look a little closer.
On that last morning, Jesus stood before three judges, Caiaphas the high priest, King Herod Antipas, and Pontius Pilate.
It had been Caiaphas’s idea to kill Jesus, so He stood before him first. The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence to use against Jesus, but none of the false witnesses were able to build a case against Him. The whole time, Jesus remained silent before His accusers until charged under oath to respond to one final accusation. Though Jesus acquiesced, His response was brief and dismissive (Mt 26.64).
King Herod also had an audience with Jesus that day. He had been hoping to see Jesus perform some miraculous sign, so he was pleased when Jesus was brought before him, because he was looking for an entertaining spectacle. But Jesus gave Herod no answer to his many questions, and refused to put on a show, much to the king’s exasperation.
That leaves Pilate, the man who was easy to hate. He was a Gentile by birth and ceremonially unclean, even the Jewish leaders refused to enter his palace. He had slaughtered Jews on at least five occasions, until the emperor Tiberius finally called him to Rome to answer for his brutality.
As the governor reinforcing the Roman Empire’s occupation of Judea, Pilate deserved Jesus’ hatred. As the man who failed to stand up to Jewish leaders, Pilate deserved Jesus’ scorn. As the man who would condemn Jesus to death, Pilate deserved Jesus’ condemnation.
Yet of the three men Jesus stood before that day, only Pilate received the privilege of an audience with the King of kings. Jesus’ lengthy dialogue with Pilate stands in stark contrast with His sparse responses toward the others that day. Perhaps there was something special going on in their exchange — something that deserves slowing down and pondering.
Pilate’s first question demonstrates his down-to-business attitude, “Are you the king of the Jews?” If Jesus responded yes, He would be admitting treason against Rome and His confession would be grounds for execution. But Jesus responds with a question, getting to the heart of the conversation: “Is that your own idea, or did others talk to you about me?” Jesus pushes past the allegation, intuiting what Pilate himself had heard and believed about Him.
Pilate tries again: “What is it you have done?” The Jewish leaders were obviously furious with Jesus, but Jesus was still drawing Pilate into a deeper conversation. He didn’t directly answer Pilate’s question, He wasn’t defensive, even though He had every right to be. He didn’t try to prove His innocence. He could have said, “I’ve walked the countryside for the past three years, calling people to love God and love one another, healing the sick, casting out demons, and bringing peace to the broken.” He could have accused the Jewish leaders of pettiness and jealousy. He could have revealed hidden sins within the Jewish leaders to Pilate that would have led to their condemnation instead of His.
Yet Jesus remains in control of the conversation, pushing past superficialities to the heart of the matter, as He had with the Samaritan woman. Jesus keeps urging Pilate to face the truth about his own heart, “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” After all, Jesus is the truth, the One who defines reality itself, and He stands accused by jealous leaders who can hardly scrape together enough lies to accuse Him.
Pilate’s reaction is telling, “What is truth?” he retorts. Somehow, this prisoner bound before the governor manages to exude calm and control, while the one who’s supposed to rule is scrambling to find a way out of the predicament. Pilate tries to reason with the Jewish leaders (“I find no basis for a charge”), he tries to barter with them (“Do you want me to release [him]?”), he tries to appease them (“Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged”), he tries to convince them (“I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him”).
Yes, Jesus was committed to go to His death, but Pilate had a choice whether he would be a part of it. So Jesus draws Pilate into conversation through His quiet and calm demeanour, patiently reorienting Pilate’s quest for truth to the greater reality of God’s sovereign power and presence. He shatters Pilate’s illusion of power, revealing that any authority he thinks he has came straight from the man he is facing. And He offers Pilate yet another clear statement of His innocence in Pilate’s wife’s troubling dream, “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man” (Mt 27.19).
Jesus’ invitation is extended. Pilate’s choice is clear. But Jesus would not make his choice for him, just as in the garden of Eden, love demands free agency to choose for oneself whether to respond to love or act out of fear.
Prayer
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psa 139.23–24).
In Jesus’s name, Amen.
If you want to read more
Mk 15.5, Jn 18.28–19.16, 1Jn 4.18
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