“What is truth?” The question could headline any mainstream media outlet. If we’re honest, it could headline in our Christian churches and communities as well.

Not by choice, I was single into my early thirties. Our culture’s advice to singles like me was to “test the waters” and “live it up,” but I believed God’s Word. So, I waited for my husband.

Is truth what is convenient? Is truth what makes us happy? Is truth what ensures our good standing with others? Or is truth what God says it is?

These aren’t new questions. Our next individual in the Easter story confronted them. A Roman governor, Pontius Pilate would rather have been in Caesarea enjoying the seaside than in crowded Jerusalem. But he had the responsibility of keeping the peace for the Jewish Passover feast, so like it or not, he entered the most important drama of all time.

The day of preparation before Passover, the Jewish leaders “led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning …” (John 18:28, NKJV). The Praetorium was the name for Roman headquarters. For Jewish people, entering it would make them ceremonially unclean, so they remained outside.

The Jewish leaders wanted the death penalty for Jesus but did not have the authority to issue it. They wanted the Roman governor to do their dirty work for them.

Truth is what God says it is, not what is convenient or what makes us happy.

Uncover the Truth

Pilate called for Jesus to clarify the charge against Him. “Are You the King of the Jews?” (John 18:33). Jesus’ response puzzled Pilate. “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37b).

Then Pilate voiced the question the world has grappled with ever since: “What is truth?” (John 18:38).    

At least one truth was clear to Pilate: Jesus did not deserve to die. He knew that the Jewish leaders “had handed Him over because of envy” (Matthew 27:18) and directly stated, “I have found no reason for death in Him” (Luke 23:22).

The Time for a Choice

Pilate even trembled when the Jewish leaders accused Jesus of making Himself “the Son of God” (John 19:8) and demanded of Jesus if such a claim were true (John 19:9). A message from his wife while he was on his judgment seat must have compounded Pilate’s anxiety. “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him” (Matthew 27:19).

Whether from his own conscience or his wife’s persuasion or both, the Bible tells us that Pilate tried to release Jesus (John 19:12 and Acts 3:13). But the Jewish leaders finally found Pilate’s Achilles’ heel. They shouted, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar” (John 19:12).

Would Pilate betray the truth or Caesar?

“When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, ‘I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it’” (Matthew 27:24). Pilate prioritized keeping the peace. He feared losing his job more than he feared God.

Pilate prioritized keeping the peace. He feared losing his job more than he feared God.

What Will We Do with the Truth?

Before we judge Pilate, we must ask, “What do we prioritize more than God’s truth?” Is it keeping the peace with our friends who have unbiblical lifestyles? Is it fearing retaliation if we share our faith at work? Is it unfulfilled longings that we determine to meet no matter what God’s Word says?

Six years into my marriage, I am grateful for my wonderful husband. Sometimes, marriage isn’t easy though. God designed marriage to make us holy, and that refining process can be messy. But my husband and I choose to believe God and His plan for marriage, not what the world says about it.

Truth is not what is convenient, what makes us happy, or what ensures our standing with others. Truth is what God says it is.

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Reflection Questions

What might you knowingly or unknowingly elevate above God’s truth?

Where might God be asking you to stand for Him? How can you speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15)?

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Prayer 

Dear God,

please forgive me when I have prioritized my own desires above Your truth. Please give me the boldness to stand for You in an increasingly ungodly culture and not compromise Your Word for my convenience or comfort.

In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

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1. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, eds., The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 1983), 342.