This text records what may have been the last intimate, personal conversation that Jesus had with another individual before He was crucified. In this exchange between the Lord Jesus Christ and the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, we see two men with opposing agendas. Pilate comes across as one who is agitated at having been placed in the middle of what he sees as a religious dispute between Jews. His sarcasm and short answers reveal his irritation. Jesus on the other hand, uses this conversation to reveal his true identity to Pilate. When asked if He is really the King of the Jews,
Jesus pulls no punches, but responds in the affirmative. Then Jesus tells Pilate that his mission in coming to this world was that of going to the cross and dying to bear witness to the truth. At this point, Pilate asks a question born out of pure cynicism He asks Jesus "What is Truth?" This was a rhetorical question. Pilate did not want an answer, and he did not wait around for one. In essence, he was telling Jesus, " What is true for you may not be true for me! Don't talk to me about truth for truth can not really be known!. So, Pilate threw away a glorious opportunity to come to know the truth for himself. He looked truth in the face, refused to see it and walked away, forever lost in his sins!
I would Like to take Pilate's question and ponder it for a few minutes. I believe the Bible gives us enough information about truth so that we can answer this question for ourselves. In fact, I want to take the texts and I will use to examine truth from just the "Book of John", Of the 222 verses in the Bible that contain the word "truth,"
22 or 10% are found in the gospel according to John. What is truth? Lets look at John and find out.
some professing Christians who cannot accept the idea of absolute truth. They can believe what they will, but there is such a thing as absolute truth! Jesus himself, in this passage, stated that he came " to bear witness to the truth." So what is truth? The word from which it is translated means, " that which is accurate or true in any matter under consideration. It is the opposite of that which is feigned, fictitious or false. For instance, suppose I tell you that there is a truth called Law of Gravity. This law states that whatever goes up must come down. Now, suppose that you reject that as being just "my truth."
The world, on the other hand, has a spirit within them which blinds them to the truth, 2 Cor. 4:4; 1 Cor. 2:14. This accounts for the fact that they will consistently reject the truth and choose lies instead.
So, you decide to test your theory and leap from a building. It will not take you long to learn that there is such a thing as absolute truth, and that it can be known!
Abraham Lincoln once used a very clever ploy to teach some people about truth. They had come to him with a decision that was based on suppositions rather than truth. After hearing their logic, Lincoln asked, " how many legs would a sheep have if you called its tail a leg?" They quickly answered, "Five!" The President then said, (No, it would only have four legs. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it one.")
I for one, believe in absolute truth! I believe that black is black; white is white; up is up; down is down; left is left; right is right in is in and out is out. I believe absolute truth can be known. But, if there is truth and truth can be known, then how can we learn the truth.
Well, for those of us who are saved it is a task made easier by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus tell us three times in John's gospel, that the spirit of God is the" Spirit of truth John 14:17; 1526: 16;13; is especially important, " How be it when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself. The scripture of truth, is thy word. John 17:17. everything stands or falls right here.! If the Bible is inspired, infallible, inerrant word of God as it claims.2:Tim. 3:16, then it and it alone is the final authority and standard of living of all life.
not the opinions of men;; not the musing of great philosophers; not the teachings of great religious leaders, but the Bible is the final word in all manners of life. All scripture is given by inspiration of God; and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
However, if the Bible is wrong and cannot be believed, then our foundations are destroyed and we have no faith, no hope and no rules. Psa. 11:3. If the Bible is a lie, then there is no absolute truth!
Yet we have raised a generation that has been taught to "doubt" the truth of this book! When a child sits in a classroom and hears that the earth is billions of years old and that man evolved from a single--- cell organism over a million of years, the foundations have been destroyed! God did not make man in His image then it is not wrong to kill babies through abortions. it is not wrong to rape and murder other people because we are just animals. If man evolved, then there is no sin, there is no right and wrong, there are no absolutes. You might as well live like you want to go to hell; there is no accounting to God; there is no after-life. If the first 11 chapters of Genesis are not true then you might as well junk the whole book! If God lied in Genesis 1:11, then I can't trust him in John 3:16. You need the foundation of the Old Testament (for it was Jesus Bible!) HE DEFENDED IT IN THE TEMPLE. ( at the age of twelve years old.) Scholars pretty much agree, that Jesus never read the New Testament!
When we take the Ten commandments and say they are not relevant for today, we have undermined the foundation's. When we tell society that the Bible cannot be trusted we undermine the foundations. When we treat the Bible like a giant buffet and choose the parts we like and ignore the parts that bother us personally, then we undermine the foundations. There is a price to pay for our haughtiness and that price is the absence of truth in America!
Do you see why being able to trust the Bible is so important? In its pages, we learn about God, the creation of man ( I don't know if that was a smart move!), sin, salvation, good, evil, the family, etc. If that foundation is destroyed, then there is no basis for truth and if there is no truth then everybody is right and nobody is wrong. Thank God we can trust the Bible! It is the word of God! Praise God, it
can be believed for it is forever settled in glory Isa 40:8. ( the grass dies. the flower faded, but the word shall stand forever!) Psa. 119:89 ( Forever Lord thy word is settled in Heaven!) AMen!
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