What is truth? – Part 1
Last weekend was Easter. And while many of us were set to motion by the train of, “It’s Easter already?,” a locomotive of family dinners, Easter-egg hunts and church services, I felt like I was left at the station. In fact, I was left in almost full-suspension. It was a Matrix moment (just like the movie), and before I knew it the weekend was gone.
Our church’s Good Friday service, an observance of Jesus suffering and ultimate death on our behalf, left me feeling like I just exited the funeral of a loved one. My heart was heavy and languid. Although I did celebrate his resurrection and ultimate victory over death itself on Easter Sunday (of which I am eternally grateful), I still find myself deliberately recounting moments of that fateful and scandalous eve.
Who knows exactly what Pontius Pilate was thinking. Pilate, the Roman governor who sanctioned Jesus’ execution, must have thought Jesus was quite simply odd – a man who was clearly intelligent but (from Pilate’s perspective) must of had some loose screws due to his upbringing, cultural inferiority, or years on the street.
Have you ever struck up a conversation with a street person? Sometimes you can relate to them with ease and other times they say strange things that leave you feeling uncomfortable.
Jesus was like that. His neighbors were tired of hearing of His incendiary notions. He spoke of His own unworldly kingdom. He challenged Pilate’s beliefs, already pregnant with superstition and myths of the day. Jesus also said He was born to be king to bear witness to the truth, and everyone who believed the truth was on His side (John 18:37). Strange… and Pilate began to feel uncomfortable.
Pilate punched rhetorically, “What is truth?”
So, I guess the natural question is, “Can Jesus testify the truth?” That was the question that suspended me in my Matrix moment. Furthermore, how can I testify that Jesus is the truth? After all, if He is true as He says He is, then He deserves our very lives, fortunes and deepest affection.
– D