GRACE MERCY AND PEACE ARE YOURS FROM CHRIST, THE KING OF CREATION!
TEXT: John 18: 38: “’What is truth?’ retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, ‘I find no basis for a charge against him.’”
Dearly Beloved By Christ:
Reality is based on our 5 senses. For something to be real we need to: see it, touch it, taste it, smell it, or hear it. But what about belief? Is believing in something beyond our senses reality? The unbeliever answers: “I don’t know.” The Christian answers: “Yes!” Satan is the prince of this world. Even though he is outside our senses (usually) he wants us to rely strictly on our senses as to reality and truth. This way he can try to torpedo anything to do with God. He can get humans to write God and “God stuff” like truth, off as fantasy. Our Warrior/King Jesus knows truth and He knows reality. Pontius Pilate was an ally used by Satan. He represents the world which hates God and Godly reality which is outside our senses.
I
Pilate was the Roman governor who held Jesus’ life in his hands. Jesus stood before him and was accused of a capital offense: the Jewish leadership claimed Jesus had said: “I am a King!” And thus, a threat to Rome. Jesus’ response to Pilate’s question on this is interesting: “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
Did you catch that little phrase: “on the side of truth.”? He’s talking about sides. On one side is truth; on the other side is a lie. A lie can be outright, blatant, a denial of truth altogether. Or it can contain a kernel of truth mixed with a lie, a shading of the truth. But on that side is the liar, Satan, and he has a ready ally, the unbelieving world.
The world always accepts Satan’s lies. It challenges anyone who does not agree with it. The lies it accepts pretend to have answers to the big questions about life but spout nonsense. John warns us: “Everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world” I John 2:16. The enemy, not the Father, stands behind those lies. St. Paul in 1 Cor. 2:14 describes such worldly truth this way: “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”
This world wants nothing to do with Jesus. It bombards us with lies in social media, music, lifestyle choices—all sorts of stuff that goes against Godly truth. Too often it conveys a life based on feelings and human emotions instead of what’s really real! “What is truth?” The world says: “Whatever you want it to be.” And we struggle with that because it undermines our faith in Christ. It goes against Christ’s very words which are: “If you hold to my teachings you are really my disciples and then you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
Jesus came up against a cloud of rejection by people, religious leaders and politicians. They all ganged up on Him here. He really did speak “truth to power.” “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
And so, Pilate retorts very skeptically: “What is truth?” Those are the words of a trapped man. He is unable to recognize truth when it slams him in the face. He mouths the words of the world. He mouths the mindset of denying that anything is true beyond our senses.
II
The answer to Pilate’s question has always been: Jesus! As He told His disciples: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Jesus is the truth. He is Godly reality. He’s the only one who came make sense out of life. He’s the only one who can help us see straight because He’s our Creator. Jesus never said: “I’m guessing” or “I wish” or “I think” or “possibly” or “maybe.” He spoke with complete authority. Think of all those times He said: “Verily” or “Truly I tell you.”? He was certain about the truth.
The Bible is God’s Word and it holds everything we need to know about this life and the one to come. It’s dynamic and alive while the world’s “I feel” is a lying distortion of real truth. God’s truth is perfect and complete. The world’s idea is relative and changes constantly—but always shifts away from God. God’s truth was and is ultimately based on grace—His undeserved love for us in Christ. It was and is grounded in the cross and the empty tomb. Yes, in Jesus life conquered death, hope conquered fear, and forgiveness conquered hate. That, my friends, is God’s reality of truth!
III
It’s also what it means to be a warrior of the cross! We are “in the world,” but we are told not to be “of the world.” And the weapon against the world is the “Spiritus Gladius” or the “sword of the Spirit” namely, God’s Word. His weapon is all-powerful. He used it to send Satan packing at various times. That weapon has given us a Christian outlook on life. It has given us Christ-centered common sense. It gives us hope and joy, too, as we labor for Jesus. This world is an unhappy place. People flit from one fad to another, from one sin to another hoping it will satisfy them and answer the questions: “Why am I here and what is my purpose in life?” But we possess Godly truth by faith in Jesus Christ! We’re here to give glory to God Almighty! We’re here to give Him joy by letting His light shine through our lives and dispelling darkness! Yes, we’re here to show that God is forgiving love! And that, my friends is the “truth that sets you free!” Amen
THE PEACE OF GOD WHICH…..
Pastor Thomas H. Fox