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Ephesians 6:17 ESV
. . . and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
In Pastor Aaron’s message yesterday (Revelation 2:12-17), he emphasized the importance of the Word and Truth. In the city of Pergamum, the goddess Athena claimed to be the word and the living truth, which is why in the gospel of John and in Revelation, the apostle John argues that Jesus is the Word, and Jesus is the Truth.
Let’s look at how John proves this in his gospel:
John 18:33-38 ESV
33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
Watching the news recently, I wondered, “What is truth?” News used to be facts of a situation. I can trust facts. Now it’s filled with varying and opposing opinions. Social media can feel the same as I scroll and like posts that sound good, only to read the comments and realize, Wait a minute, maybe I don’t agree with that after all, and quickly remove my “like.”
Pilate asked Jesus this same question, “What is truth?”
As Jesus stands trial before Pilate who questions both the Jewish leaders and Jesus, it feels much like watching the news as I flip between opposing channels where both describe the same circumstances with conflicting conclusions.
The Jewish leaders find Jesus’ Son-of-God confession false (19:7) and claim He is doing evil (18:30). They tell Pilate if he doesn’t convict Jesus, he’s not a friend of Caesar because “everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” (19:12) They claim, “We have no king but Caesar” (19:15) and demand Jesus be crucified.
Jesus, however, confirms He is a king, His purposes bear witness to the truth, and those who listen are also on the side of truth. (18:37)
Pilate wrestles with who to believe, wondering, “What is truth?” He tells the leaders Jesus is not guilty (18:38, 19:4, 6), yet he decides to convict and crucify Him. He was more concerned with keeping the peace and pleasing the crowds. He was driven by the kingdom of Satan and not by the kingdom of God.
Throughout his gospel, John repeatedly calls Jesus true (true light, true vine, true bread), and often Jesus begins sentences with “Truly, truly.” John writes to both Jews and gentiles, and his goal is to show Jesus as the only way, the truth and the life (14:6) so all may believe. (20:3)
To the Jew, Torah is true (Ps. 119:42, 60), and to the gentile, all of their gods are true as they worship many. John brilliantly proves to both that Jesus is the one true God (17:3).
But who does Pilate believe? The embodiment of Truth is standing right in front of him, and he misses it.
The fulfillment of Torah, the living Word, is standing right in front of God’s chosen people, but they miss it.
The disciples walked closely with Jesus for 3 years but also miss it.
Truth didn’t look like they expected. They wanted Jesus to forcefully take over Rome and save them from their oppression.
How many times has Truth stood right in front of us, and we missed Him because He didn’t look like we wanted Him to look? As Pastor Aaron said, our worldview drives our decisions. Is our worldview that of the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Satan?
When the Truth is standing right in front of us, will we recognize Him? The more we know our King, the more we will know His voice and trust Him.
Reflect: Jesus says if we know the truth, the truth will set us free. (John 8:32) What are some ways you can better know the Truth so you will not miss Him when He is standing right in front of you?