The Lord’s Day
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| Jesus’ appearance before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate is a scene of unusual poignancy. He has been betrayed by one of his disciples, denied by another, and abandoned by all of them. He has been rejected by religious authorities and shuttled off to undergo judgment by political powers. Now he undergoes a petty interrogation by a provincial official.
Pilate asks Jesus how he pleads to charges of blasphemy and sedition: “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus responds to Pilate’s questions obliquely before stating what he wants to declare: “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Then Pilate utters the words we remember him by: “What is truth?” Does Pilate ask the question cynically? hopefully? dismissively? curiously? We don’t know. Perhaps we do not even know how we intend the question when it passes through our minds. However, we do know that Pilate’s question is vitally important, perhaps even a matter of life and death. The Roman governor did not get an answer to his question. The trial scene ends abruptly as the narrative moves on to the horrors of a lynch mob, torture, ridicule, and death. But if we are familiar with the Gospel according to John, we already know the Bible’s answer to Pilate’s question. Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus is proclaimed as the one who dwelt among us “full of grace and truth,” the one who came to “bear witness to the truth,” the one who promises “the Spirit of truth,” the one who is truth! What is truth? John relates the answer before the question is asked: Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ, is truth! What is truth? The paramount truth in our world is not a fact, a doctrine, or a private belief. The Truth is a person, Jesus Christ, who is God with us and for us. The whole of the New Testament joins John’s Gospel in proclaiming that The Truth, Jesus Christ, is the truth about God, the truth about us, the truth about the relationship between God and us, and the truth about life among us. What is truth? Jesus Christ is Truth, and that truth is the way, and that way is life! —Rev. Dr. Joseph D. Small, associate director, Office of Theology and Worship, Congregational Ministries |
 2 Sam. 23:1–7 Blessing and Honor PH 147, HB 137 Ps. 132:1–12 (13–18) PPCS 136 Arise, O Lord, Our God, Arise HB 518 Rev. 1:4b–8 Jesus Comes with Clouds Descending PH 6, HB 234 Come, Ye Thankful People, Come PH 551, HB 525 John 18:33–37 Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor PH 154 I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art PH 457, HB 144 |
 Startle us, O God, with your Truth and open our minds to your Spirit, that we may honor you alone, serve as bold disciples of your Son our Lord, and live faithfully in the community of your Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ, the Way and the Truth and the Life. Amen. |
