PILATE ASKS A GREAT QUESTION: “What is truth?”
- John 18:38a.
- Many ways to take it: sincere, sneering, lost, confused.
- But at the end of the day, it is an essential question.
- It’s not enough to be sincere in our beliefs, we need to sincerely believe something that’s true.
- What about you? Do you want to know the truth? Or would you rather stay comfortable?
- This passage brings out some of the key challenges to finding the truth.
FIVE CHALLENGES WITH FINDING THE TRUTH:
1. SOMETIMES WE ARE REALLY CAREFUL WITH PARTS OF THE TRUTH WHILE BLATANTLY DISREGARDING OTHER PARTS OF THE TRUTH.
- John 18:28-29.
- They are violating numerous things in the Law in pursuing this unjust trial. More to the point, they are persecuting someone who is the very fulfillment of the Law! But they are very cautious about losing their ceremonial purity.
a. This is one part of the explanation for why there are denominations. Certainly there are issues of interpretation, but part of it too is what parts you want to emphasize. Piety? Power? Control?
b. We are good as Christians at picking and choosing which sins are the bad ones. Homosexuality vs. living together? Drinking vs. gossip? Avoiding church vs. avoiding reading the Bible?
c. Passion for all the truth. Why? Because the truth will set us free. Explain what that means.
2. ANY EXCUSE WILL DO WHEN YOU WANT TO IGNORE THE TRUTH.
- John 18:30.
- They don’t even bother to come up with a good cover story. They essentially just say, “Trust us.” Not a good way to run a court system!
a. How weak many of our excuses are. We just need some justification and any will do. Example: can’t make it to church because it’s raining, but would go to work.
b. Sometimes we get stuck spiritually because there are great and oppressive forces pushing against us. But sometimes we gladly embrace our excuse and just camp out.
c. How embarrassing to stand before God some day and say, “I didn’t have time to read the Bible” and have Him show us how many hours a day we spent on social media.
3. YOU CAN ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS FOR THE WRONG REASONS.
- John 18:33-34.
- The question that Pilate asks is a terrific one. Unpack Jesus as king of the Jews. The problem is that he’s asking it to determine if he has a political power problem, not to worship.
a. In culture, many are asking important questions: what is the meaning of life, what gives us purpose? But without God at the center, they come to wrong conclusions.
b. More to the point here, though, we might have some semblance of faith, but seek it for the wrong reasons. We want to know more of the Bible – not to know God deeply but to prove my co-worker wrong. We want to be saved – not to embrace grace but because my girlfriend wants me to have some kind of faith.
c. A big piece of the puzzle is knowing that all of us often have a mixed bag of motives even when we are doing something that looks “good.” Example: yes, I want to hear a good sermon but I also want to be seen as a faithful church member.
4. THE TRUTH OF GOD'S KINGDOM IS COMPLETELY UNLIKE THE WORLD'S TRUTH.
- John 18:36-37.
- Jesus here makes His clearest statement in the conversation about the radical nature of His life and ministry.
a. We tend to think of church as “being good plus a church service once a week.” We don’t embrace or understand the radical nature of grace or of the kingdom of God. Unpack those.
b. It’s interesting how Jesus is basically being invited to a fight He has no interest in. “I’d fight if I was interested but that has nothing to do with what I’m doing.” We too often define things in the world’s terms.
c. We need to embrace the “other-worldliness” of the Kingdom. This demands seeking His truth. It’s not “conventional wisdom.”
5. WITHOUT GOD'S STANDARDS OF TRUTH, ANYTHING CAN BE JUSTIFIED.
- John 18:38b-40; John 19:1.
- Here at the close, both Pilate and the Jews look bad. The Jews seek the execution of an innocent man who is a threat to their power. Pilate acknowledges that Jesus is innocent but allows His death anyway because it suits his power needs.
a. Our culture is clear evidence that you can buy into anything if you lay the right foundation. Great evil can be justified if you frame it right.
b. That is also true in our lives. We get into great messes by rejecting God’s truth and trying to find our own way.
c. The path to great evil is generally one of many small steps. Little compromises get us there.
