Good Morning All,
John 18: 38a;
“Pilate said to him,
“What is truth?”
Scriptures are filled with many characters that
appear and disappear quickly. They have
but a small part in the story of Jesus.
Pilate is one of those characters.
Pilate is a fascinating because he really slices to the heart of the
matter. This question really is the
heart of the matter.
I have always felt that Pilate was probably
on older fellow who was on the downward arch of his career. I always thought that Pilate was something of
a political man who came up short. Any
politician wanted to be in Rome and if not in Rome, then as close to Rome as
possible. A place like Palestine, a
hotbed of insurgency, and far from Rome was not a plum job. It would be alright to start there and move
toward Rome, but Pilate was headed the other way.
I would guess that somehow, one of Pilate’s
competitors had edged him out. Perhaps
strategic lies had been told about Pilate and by the time Pilate had figured
out what had happened, it was too late for any damage control. A convenient truth, a possible lie, a
contrived situation, and Pilate was on the way out. His superiors would have told Pilate that
they had “the truth” of the events and that his version just wasn’t it.
So, Pilate, sitting in the hell hole of
Jerusalem, hears another itinerant preacher who tells him that “everyone who is
of the truth listens to me.” When Pilate
asks his question, I can hear the exasperation in his voice. I can hear the pain. “What is truth?” Then he turned and left
without waiting for an answer.
We have all had days or times in our lives
when that question is raised. ‘God, I
went to church every Sunday and put money in the plate, why did my spouse have
an affair, why did my daughter move in with her boyfriend, why did my son stop
coming to church, why did I get cancer?
What is truth?
We may very well ask this question and we
may never get an answer. For while the
Bible reveals all we know about God, it does not reveal every truth about God. The Bible only reveals God’s plan of
salvation for us. God reveals to us what
we need to know, perhaps not what we want to know. What we need to know is that through Christ’s
death we have salvation and eternal life with Christ. That is our hope.
We may face trials and struggles, the world
is still broken by sin, but it does not and will not defeat us. Our victory is assured because of God’s grace
and favor. We have the victory, and we
have it today. We live in God’s favor,
and we await the final perfection of that favor. We wait for eternal life with the certainty
that God’s love will prevail.
Father of all truth, in you do we find our salvation and our hope. In you we know all truth; that your love for
us is without bounds. Guard us with your
Spirit. Be with those who are lost and
do not know the truth. Defend them with
your mercy and bring them home to you.
In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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