A trauma recovery program produced by the nationwide ministry Reboot Recovery quotes an intriguing statement by 20th-century Indian philosopher, Sathya Sai Baba, who said: “You are not one person, but three: The one you think you are; the one others think you are; the one you really are.” We could debate this concept at length. Pontius Pilate pondered a similar set of questions when Jesus of Nazareth was brought before him on capital punishment charges by the Jewish rulers. It was an unprecedented encounter; the unwary Roman Governor of Judea face to face with Israel’s long-awaited “Messiah.” Pilate must have wondered — who is this rabbi that stirs up such intense hatred by the Jewish rulers? Perplexed by the case, Pilate posed searching questions; “Are You the King of the Jews?” (John 18:33), and “What have you done?” (John 18:35) Pontius Pilate had no idea the person standing before him was both fully man and fully God. Jesus is the only truly perfect human being and the only fully actualized person to ever walk upon the earth. Pilate had no clue that the man standing before him in judgment would one day return as King of Kings to judge the whole world!
Jesus raised the conversation to a higher plane when he told Pilate, “I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37, NKJV). Sadly, at this point, Pilate missed the opportunity of a lifetime. Jesus was inviting him to engage on a spiritual plane, but Pilate wouldn’t go there. He just responded, perhaps with cynicism, “What is truth?” Pilate wasn’t really looking for an answer. He was a pragmatist and used a philosophical diversion to avoid engaging with Jesus over spiritual truth claims.
Most people today also avoid discussing spiritual truth claims. Like Pilate, they may ask, “What is truth?” or “Is there such a thing as truth?” Our culture has lost its grasp of what truth is and where it can be found. The common view is “no one’s truth is any better than another’s” but that philosophy is a lie and it originates from the father of lies. There indeed is “truth” and God the Father sent his only begotten Son into the world to light our way to truth and eternal life. Jesus truly is the way, the truth and the life. May you and I do all we can to lead others to the true voice of Jesus.
Pastor Dave Korinek