Jesus stood before Pilate in the judgment hall.  Pilate had interrogated Jesus without so much as a response. He wondered why Jesus had remained non-committal in spite of all the accusations being flung at him by the Jews.

 

He wondered why this man would not defend himself in spite of the glaring loopholes in the evidence brought against him. Pontius Pilate was not only a ruler, he was also a judge who had presided over many cases and it was easy for him to see that there no case against Jesus that amounted to treason.

 

I can just imagine the scene if the trial was being held in our present day. Lawyers will be falling over themselves to defend Jesus. However, this was one accused person who did not seek to be released.  He was being tried, not for His own sins, but for the sins of the world, including those who represented the prosecution.



When Jesus eventually spoke, Pilate asked a question, "What is Truth?"  (John 18:38)  Unfortunately, he did not wait for the answer. His question was skeptical in nature so he did not wait to receive the answer. Jesus on the other hand was not ready to give a reply to the question because He knew that Pilate was not ready to hear it.

 

Pilate thus missed a chance in a lifetime to understand what it is that learned men over the ages have been looking for, up till this present day.

 

The same thing is happening in our day. Many seek the truth but seek it in the wrong places.  They have contempt for the Bible and what it represents; yet they claim to seek the truth.  The truth sits at the gate of wisdom, yet many pass by without so much as a glance because the prince of this world has darkened their eyes.

 

Many Movements have sprung up claiming to be the source of Truth but they are simply the errand boys of the devil, deceiving the gullible and the foolish who remain ignorant and eventually die in their error.

 

I remember many years ago of a man in Nigeria, who called himself the bearer of light and king of the universe.  The grail movement teaches, 'in the light of truth', the Eckankar teach, 'the life and sound of God'.  Islam teaches that God is not begotten and did not beget a son. It therefore sees Christians as serving a different God from theirs, which is true anyway. All these, teach a truth that is far from the truth because it does not match up with the truth, which is from God.

 

What then is the truth? There are various uses of the word "Truth" in the Bible. In Proverbs 12:19, it denotes the opposite of a lie. In Isaiah 59:14-15, it means fidelity or truthfulness or faithfulness.

 

Christ used the word "the Truth" in connection with himself in John 14:6. "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. This is an affirmative statement.  It is unequivocal and crystal clear. He is saying in essence, "Anything outside of me is the antithesis of truth". No wonder the Bible says,  “by Him all things consist” (Col 1:17)

 

John 1:17 says that the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came through Christ Jesus.  The  law could not save us but only served as a shadow of things to come. As a matter of fact, the law condemned us because we could not keep it. When Christ came, he came holding the truth in one hand, and grace in the other. Where the truth confronted us with our sinful state, grace came to set us free.

 

 

Christ, is the embodiment of truth. No matter how wide the study of truth is, it starts and ends in Christ.

 

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the founder of  the Biblepraise Fellowship Online at  http://www.biblepraise.org. He lives in Kent, United Kingdom, where he works as an IT Professional. He currently serves as a Worship Leader, Home Group Leader and Bible Teacher  in his local church. He also speaks at invited events. He can be reached through His email address,  steve@biblepraise.org