Advent Devotions

Today’s author is Prince of Peace member, Scott Tunseth.

Pilate asked [Jesus], “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. 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.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”   John 18:37-38

Pilate’s question to Jesus, “What is truth?”, is the $64,000 question. Some of us are old enough to remember the show from the mid 50’s that coined what became a phrase meaning the ultimate question of all. For those who don’t know, The $64,000 Question was a quiz show that that gave a contestant a shot at a grand prize of $64,000 (equivalent to $775,000 today) if he or she could answer a series of questions without missing one along the way, or the contestant dropped out at one of the safety net spots and took a lesser prize.

I wonder how one of those contestants would answer Pilate’s question?

Of course, a question like that could not have been asked. There are too many right . . . or wrong . . . answers. In one sense, Jesus has already answered Pilate’s question. “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice,” Jesus said. The truth has something to do with what Jesus said and taught. If you want to know the truth, listen to Jesus; immerse yourself in the Word, which is both the message of God and God in the flesh. “And the Word became flesh and lived among us . . . full of grace AND truth” (John 1:14). “And the truth will make you free,” declares Jesus (John 8:32). Freed from sin and its guilt; freed for service to the neighbor. These are two truths at the core of our very being as followers of Jesus.

In this world, gaining freedom can often be complicated and sometimes bloody. Think of the wars fought in the name of freedom. Our country’s Revolutionary War was a fight for freedom. Our Civil War was fought to free human beings from slavery. Countless battles have been fought in the name of freedom or because someone claimed they knew the truth. The church itself has not been immune from the carnage. The so-called followers of Jesus have fought bloody battles over theological truth claims, or they have endorsed the subjugation and genocide of indigenous peoples.

Pilate’s question, “What is truth,” should haunt us. We should hold it up in front of ourselves every day like a mirror. It should dog our existence. And ultimately, it should remind us that the truth came to us in the flesh and then died in the flesh so that we might be free: free to love, free to serve, free to speak truth to power.

Gracious God, since we are human and prone to error, grant your truth to shine on us always amid the darkness of the world. Open our eyes and hearts to all that is true and right and life-giving. Amen.