Truth
by Stephen Bastin
Pilate
was troubled not knowing what he should do with Jesus who had been handed over
to him to be crucified. He
questioned Jesus about his kingdom. He
asked “Are you the King of the Jews?”
When
Jesus replied by saying (in part) “Everyone who is of the truth hears My
voice.” Pilate then asked the
fateful question, “What is truth?”
When
he had said this, he left Jesus and went out to talk again to the Jews.
He did not wait for an answer. He
asked the right question. He asked
the right person, Jesus. But he did
not wait for the right answer.
Many
have concluded that there is no “truth” in religion.
Everything is simply a matter of one’s own interpretation.
There is no right and no wrong. Things
are only right and wrong as you perceive them to be right or wrong and that
might change tomorrow. No one is
guilty. No one is to be judged.
Our
entire legal system is built on the idea that there is right and wrong as
defined by law. If someone is
accused it is assumed that a jury of one’s peers may consider the evidence and
arrive at a verdict. In other words,
they may learn the truth of one’s innocence or guilt and pass judgment.
If
it is not possible to discern the truth then we need to scrap our jury system,
disband the police and let every man do as he will.
Jesus
said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”
(John 8:32) Jesus believed
that there was “truth” and he believed it was possible in one’s
relationship with God to discover what that truth was.
God’s
truth is found in His Word, the Bible. It
is not found in the writings of philosophers, nor may it be found in the decrees
of uninspired men such as the Pope, Mr. Moon, Joseph Smith or some modern day
televangelist who claims to speak for God, but denies the plain words of
scripture.
Jesus
told his apostles that the Holy Spirit would come to guide them “into all the
truth.” (John 16:13).
He did not promise every Christian such help.
He promised it to those men whom he personally chose.
Guided by the Spirit they produced the New Testament for us.
“And
they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and
confirmed the word by the signs that followed.”
(Mark 16:20). Many have tried
to imitate the work of the apostles. They
cannot because they do not have the power of God.
Some may come close because they have the power of Satan, but none except
those chosen by Jesus are accredited by God as the revealers of His will for
men. These are the men God chose to
reveal the truth to the world.
Again,
Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free?”
(John 8:32) Notice, there are
two important things Jesus tells us. One,
we can know the truth. And, two, the
truth (known) will bring real freedom.
It
is possible for one to know that they are right.
Everything is not gray. Some
things are black and some things are white.
Learning from Jesus will allow one to discriminate between the two.
Every
sinner wants to believe that their actions are not sinful.
Immense amounts of intellectual energy are consumed in a vain pursuit to
prove that wrong is right and right is wrong.
It is not that the truth cannot be known.
The problem is that truth is denied.
Paul wrote to Timothy about a time when “they will not endure sound
doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for
themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their
ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.”
Notice
that that they turn from the truth because truth is not what they want to hear.
People love to hear that they are right.
One does not become popular by telling people that they are wrong.
Jesus
was not popular. His apostles
were not popular. But they were
right. They were right because they
held fast to “truth.” They
refused to be confused by the myths and fables that others believed.
They accepted only the truth from God.
Even the Jewish people, to whom Jesus came, had rejected the truth of God
for their own traditions. They
solved the “Jesus problem” by crucifying the Son of God.
It
is easier to dispose of the messenger than to accept the truth.
The history of the church, found in the book of Acts, demonstrates the
truth of how God’s messengers were received in the first century.
In
Thessalonica, Paul was run out of town. In
Berea, the next place he preached, it was said of the people, “These were more
noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great
eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were
so.” In Thessalonica people were
only interested in proving they were right. In
Berea, they were interested in learning the truth.
What a difference a few miles can make!
There
are many things contrary to truth that promise freedom.
Ultimately they cannot deliver. The
freedom that is promised is only an illusion.
They told us in the ‘60’s that we
had been repressed sexually and that loosing the restraints would bring us
freedom. Sure, we became free to
contract all sorts of diseases, some of them incurable and some fatal.
We were free to conceive children that we did not want.
So then the highest court in the land gave us the freedom to kill these
unwanted children. They told the
women that it was only a “piece of tissue,” part of their own bodies and,
after all, every one ought to have the right to do with his own body what he
will!
There
is a freedom that comes from doing God’s will that differs radically from the
“freedom” that sin brings. God’s
freedom brings love, joy, peace and confidence in the future.
God’s freedom makes you a whole person.
God’s freedom cannot be taken from you.
It does not promise what God cannot fulfill.
Every
time someone says, “You can’t judge.”
They are denying that there is absolute truth.
They are denying that there is an absolute standard of right and wrong to
which people may be held accountable.
Judging
by the standards of men is fraught with difficulties unimaginable.
Judging by the standards of God, His truth, will allow you to make the
proper decisions and make the proper estimate of others.
I
don’t think Pilate was really interested in the truth.
If he had been he would have listened to Jesus’ answer.
Are you interested in Jesus’ definition of truth.
You ought to be because that is the truth by which you will be judged in
eternity.