Episode123 - "What is truth?" John 18:33-40

John 18:33   So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

 After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him. 39 But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” 40 They cried out again, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a robber.

When the Jews took Jesus to Pilate, Pilate asked him, “You are the king of the Jews?” (literal translation) You might be asking yourself, “Why does he ask this?” It’s not evident from John’s account. In all likelihood, the answer lies in Luke’s account of Jesus’ “trial” before Pilate. In the first few verses of Luke 23, the Jews accused Jesus before Pilate of making himself “Christ, a king.” (Luke 23:1-5) Their entire accusation is to draw Pilate into their plan to execute Jesus. John has already indicated that Pilate doesn’t want anything to do with matters of their religious law. (John 18:31) So, their response of “spinning” their accusation as a political threat, which Luke records, makes perfect sense. That detail was not important to John. 

What John is concerned with is Jesus’ response to Pilate. Notice that he doesn’t immediately give him a direct answer. Instead, Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” (v. 34) It seems to me that what John is doing is showing us that Jesus’ approach to Pilate is no different from his approach to the Samaritan woman at the well. (John 4:1-42) I think Jesus is interested in the spiritual condition of Pilate as he was with the Samaritan woman and her community. By asking Pilate, “Do you believe I am a king?” he is interrupting the Jews’ efforts to use politics as a means to get Pilate to do what they want him to do, and he is leading Pilate to think on a personal level, “Who is this Jesus?”

Pilate’s response reveals his allegiance at this point. “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” (v. 35) Just as the Samaritan woman had difficulty thinking of water in any other way than the liquid in the well, Pilate is stuck on thinking about his job and insurrection. He qualified his position by telling Jesus this is an accusation from your people, the Jews. There is a noticeable resistance to consider Jesus’ question more deeply.

Jesus then gave Pilate a more direct answer to the question he had initially been asked, which I believe, is also intended to invite Pilate into a deeper consideration of Jesus’ identity. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” To paraphrase Jesus’ explanation, “If my kingdom were of this world, we would be waging war. But, we’re not.” The point in Jesus’ response is to reveal more of Jesus’ purpose and identity to draw Pilate into the conversation. Pilate responds, “So, you are a king?” At this point, what is evident is that Pilate’s concept of a king is that of a military ruler that has absolute authority over his subjects. Pilate’s concern is his job and responsibilities regarding people who would claim or act in defiance of the power of the Roman Empire. 

Jesus responded to Pilate’s assertive question with, “You say that I am a king.” (v. 37) In other words, Jesus tells Pilate, “this is your concept of me of what I am doing.” But, Jesus offered his purpose for why he is on this earth. He continued, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (v. 37b) Do you see what Jesus is doing? He is meeting Pilate where he’s at. He’s engaging Pilate in this conversation to lead him to understand who he is indeed. His purpose is not to lead an army to usurp Rome. His objective is to bear witness to the truth that usurps the darkness in this world.

Pilate’s response to Jesus is, “What is truth?” I suspect this question is more of a statement that Pilate doubts that truth can be known. This question is shared among many within our society today.  Yet, in the introduction of this book, John wrote of Jesus, “Grace and truth (came into existence) by Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17) Those who want to know the truth need to turn to Jesus, listen to his words, and believe in him.

Pilate appeared conflicted between his belief that Jesus was innocent and the threat posed by the crowd. He sees no threat in Jesus and wants to release him. But, he also doesn’t want to listen to Jesus. So, he decides to listen to the crowd. He tells the crowd, I have someone here who is not guilty of a crime and another who is guilty of a crime. Which of them would you like me to release? The people chose the guilty Barabbas. Unfortunately, nothing is different today. There are people who just want what they want with no concern for truth or justice.

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Jesus is not just a reporter of truth. He is the truth. There is no greater truth for the hope and purpose of humanity than Jesus Christ.