What is truth? Jesus Christ came to this world and was completely victorious over our enemy and the power of death. No matter how much our enemy wants us to remain in the dark about these truths, no matter how persuasive he is, no matter how bad we feel while being oppressed, no matter what names we are called, no matter how we are persecuted or killed, no matter what — Jesus Christ is Lord and our enemy is defeated.
Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate *said to Him, “What is truth?”
And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and *said to them, “I find no guilt in Him.John 18:33-38 (NASB)
Is it important to God that His people know the truth? In the passage I placed at the top of this post, we see where Jesus, as He was being questioned by Pilate, made the statement that He came into the world to bear witness to the truth. Then He made the following statement, “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Of course Pilate made the following sarcastic response, “What is truth?”
What does this exchange mean? Is there anything we need to learn from this? Jesus made other statements about the purpose of His coming, such as, “I came to seek and save that which is lost.” Whatever other things Christ came into this world to accomplish, it is all wrapped up in His statement to Pilate. When Jesus said that He came to bear witness to the truth, what did He mean? The following statement is from the commentary of John Gill on this passage.
“The end of Christ’s being born, which was of a virgin, in a very miraculous manner, and of his coming into the world, which was by the assumption of human nature, among many other things, was to bear testimony to truth in general; to the whole Gospel, the word of truth, and every branch of it, which he brought with him, constantly preached in life, and confirmed by his death; and particularly to this truth, that he was a King, and had a kingdom in a spiritual sense” – John Gill
In other words, Christ’s coming, life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension accomplished the work of establishing His Kingdom, bought or redeemed His people from sin, defeated Satan and his kingdom, and set into motion all of the events that must take place for His Kingdom to be completed unto eternal perfection. The Gospel contains all of this. The Gospel is the truth. God is the Gospel. Who hears this truth? Jesus said that everyone who is of truth hears His voice.
