What Is Truth?

Introduction

In today’s world, there is much confusion about the truth of life, both among people in general and within the church. In the Gospel of John, chapter 18, we read about the events surrounding the betrayal and judgment of the Lord Jesus by the Jews and Pilate. In John 18:33-38, the Lord Jesus makes it clear that His kingdom is not of this world. He was born on this earth to bear witness to the truth. He is the true witness of the Father and the King of the true message from the Father. The beloved Son of God has come down to tell all humans the true message, so all the living souls can have eternal life in His kingdom. The souls that truly believe the Holy Word and glorify the Trinity of God, those souls, have a place in His kingdom. For all of humanity, there is only One who is true: the Trinity of God. Salvation is found only in the name of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God.

Comments on John 18:33-38

33 Pilate then entered again into the Praetorium, and called Jesus, and said to Him, Are Thou the King of the Jews?

The name of the beloved Son of God is not known only among His people; even Pilate knows about the beloved Son of God. Give attention, the beloved Son of God is known as the King of the Jews, but His own people have not accepted Him yet. Until they accept the beloved Son of God, their nation will not prosper. It is sad for the Trinity of God when His own people have rejected the beloved Son of God; the blessing for their nation will not come in full until they accept the beloved Son of God, not only as their King, but as their own Savior as well.

The rumor about the beloved Son of God reached the ear of Pilate himself; the new King of the Jews had been born, and that was cause for the death of the beloved Son of God in their eyes. When the report of the new King was spread out, it created a problem for all of them, and it became the real reason for Pilate to eliminate the beloved Son of God. In the eyes of the outsiders, the religious leaders have brought the accusations, but for Pilate, this became only a rumor of new appearing; he did not believe in the beloved Son of God, for Pilate, the beloved Son of God was just a common man that has gained power among people, He had no special meaning for them.

34 Jesus answered, Do you say this of yourself, or did others say it to you concerning Me?

The beloved Son of God did not deny or admit. Still, the beloved Son of God has asked their leader the question: Have you heard about the beloved Son of God, or have you inquired to get this knowledge? Pilate, as a leader of the people, has received many reports; he received reports regarding the beloved Son of God as well, which prompted him to seek an answer. Now, Pilate wants to know who the beloved Son of God truly is. Is He indeed the King of the Jews or just someone proclaiming themselves to be a king? For all outsiders, the position of the beloved Son of God to be King or to be God is not in their concern; as long as they don’t lose power in controlling people, they will not care, but Pilate, as a leader, must stop the rumor before the Jews rebel against them.

35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thy nation and the chief priests delivered Thee to me; what have Thou done?

Pilate has questions for the beloved Son of God, and he has doubts as well about His identity. From what he had heard regarding the beloved Son of God, it made his heart also doubt why the people had brought the beloved Son of God to him when He was their King. They should judge their own King. If the beloved Son of God truly is their King, people shouldn’t bring their King to him. However, he himself is also a leader of people, so it made his heart wonder if these people would do the same way to him if they had another king around him; the sword has two edges, and this also made him wonder what the beloved Son of God has done to people to make them send Him to be punished. So, Pilate, when he saw the beloved Son of God being delivered to him by His own people, it made him also worry about his own actions.

“What have Thou done?” When Pilate asked the beloved Son of God this question, let all believers also ask themselves what the beloved Son of God has done for you, and then, why don’t you come to Him, glorify Him, and thank Him for the deed that He has done for you? If the ruler of the outsiders wanted to know what the beloved Son of God has done to make people angry, you, as believers, should want to know the answer of what the beloved Son of God has done for you to receive the freedom of your soul; it should be the point you should thank and glorify the beloved Son of God.

36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, that I might not be delivered to the Jews; however, now My kingdom is not from here.

“Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world.” The beloved Son of God has told all humans where His kingdom is; He has come to this world of flesh, but this world is the world of flesh living; His kingdom is elsewhere.

“If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, that I might not be delivered to the Jews.” As the verse tells, if His kingdom were of this world, His soldier servants would not let Him be delivered to the rulers of this flesh world, and His soldier servants would fight with His human nation, the Jews, to prevent them from delivering Him to the outsiders. Remember as well, at the end time, this earth will disappear, and the world of His kingdom is not here; the world of flesh and the world of holy are not in the same place.

“However, now My kingdom is not from here.” The beloved Son of God has told all humans, then and now, that the Holy Kingdom of the beloved Son of God is not here on this earth itself; the world of the flesh is not the same as the world of the holy beings.

37 Pilate, therefore, said to Him, So then, are Thou a King? Jesus answered, You say that I am a King. I for this have been born, and for this I have come into the world, that I might bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.

“Pilate, therefore, said to Him, So then, are Thou a King?” What the beloved Son of God told Pilate made him understand that he was talking with the true King, who has a kingdom but not as the kingdom of this world. This world has the kingdom of this world, and Pilate himself also has his kingdom, but the beloved Son of God’s kingdom is much better than here.

“Jesus answered, You say that I am a King. … that I might bear witness to the truth.” Because Pilate asked the beloved Son of God, then, He gave the answer; the beloved Son of God has told not just to them here but to the whole world that He did not claim Himself, but the people have lifted Him up to be King of this world as well (they accused Him and put Him as claiming to be the King of the Jews). The beloved Son of God is the true witness of the Father, the King of the true message from the Father is the beloved Son of God Himself, and His Word is the true Word from the Father, and every word the beloved Son has spoken in this world is not from Himself but from the Father. The Father Himself is the true King of the universe, but the beloved Son of God in human form also is the true King of all souls of the flesh that have been created, and the beloved Son of God has come down to tell all the true message, so all the living souls can have a chance to have true life in His kingdom; the souls that truly believe the Holy Word and glorify the Trinity of God, those souls have a place in His kingdom.

“Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” The souls of true believers have paid attention and listened to the teaching of the Holy Bible; those souls have taken the Holy Bible as true teaching from the Father, and the ears of those souls have heard the Father’s voice Himself. When those souls listen to the Father’s voice, they also have heard the beloved Son of God’s voice, and all those souls that listen and obey in their hearts will feel the true relationship between themselves and the Trinity of God.

38 Pilate says to Him, What is truth? And having said this, he went out again to the Jews, and says to them, I find no cause in Him.

As the verse has told all true believers, Pilate himself wants to seek the truth as well, and he has asked many questions of the beloved Son of God, but the answers he received do not prove to him that the beloved Son of God has done anything wrong to the people. That is why the verse says that he said to them, “I find no cause in Him.”

See also, Comments Luke 23:4 and Comments Luke 23:14-16.

In this passage of Scripture, we see that Pilate stood in front of the truth Himself, the Lord Jesus, yet he asked Him a fundamental question that is still in the minds of many people today, in the world, and even in the church. So many Christians study what other religions teach with the idea that they need this to understand and be able to debate them; moreover, they teach their children as well about these false religions and gods.

However, the Lord Jesus needs no debate. He has declared Himself to be the truth, which should be sufficient for us to study His Word and share His teachings with the world. There should be no argument against this, for He has already won the victory over evil.

When we engage in debates on television or in public forums with the forces of darkness, we actually put our Lord Jesus on trial once more. And doing this gives others the opportunity to mock Him again and shout, “Crucify Him” (Luke 23:21-23, John 19:6).

So, What Is Truth for Us, and How Can We Find the Truth?

The truth is found in the Lord Jesus and in the Holy Word of God. We should seek the truth exclusively within the Holy Word of God and refrain from accepting any other teachings into our hearts. In 2 John 1:9-11, we read: “Whoever goes onward and abides not in the teaching of Christ, has not God; he that abides in the teaching, the same has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you, and brings not this teaching, receive him not into your house, and give him no greeting; for he that gives him greeting partakes in his evil works.”

Therefore, by studying what other religions teach, we actually greet them and invite them into our house, which is our hearts and body, which the Lord says is the temple of the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:19). In doing this, we parallel the actions of the Jews in the Old Testament, who brought abominable idols into the temple of the Lord (Ezekiel 8:10).

In John 1:14-18, we learn that the Lord Jesus is the Word who came to earth to bring the light of salvation to all people. The Bible clearly tells us that the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, is full of grace and truth (John 1:14). So, what does it mean to be "full"? It means that in the Lord Jesus, there is only grace, truth, and love—there is no trace of anything else in Him.

Furthermore, 1 Peter 2:22-24 states about the Lord Jesus that, He “did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered threatened not; but committed himself to Him that judges righteously; who His Himself bore our sins in His body upon the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.”

And John 1:1 tells us that, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Therefore, for us, the fullness of the truth is the Lord Jesus Himself, the Holy Word of God, which is enough for us to know. We start walking in the truth when we repent, surrender our lives fully to the Lord Jesus, and believe that He is the Son of God and God of the Trinity who came to bring salvation to the human race. We cannot discover the fullness of the truth outside the Bible and faith in the Lord Jesus. To find it, we must surrender our lives completely to the Lord Jesus and read and meditate on the Word of God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Whenever we read the Word of God, we must invite the Holy Spirit in the name of the Lord Jesus to open our spiritual eyes and ears to understand the Word. We cannot understand the Word with our minds as we would a technical book; our spiritual eyes and ears must be opened with the help of the Holy Spirit to understand the depth of His Word.

Conclusions

In conclusion, it is essential for everyone to firmly believe in their hearts and minds that the Lord Jesus is both the Son of God and the Son of Man. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). He came into the world to bring true light to all humanity and offer salvation to our souls.

Our responsibility in seeking the truth involves reading and meditating on the Word of God, with the help of the Holy Spirit. This meditation should not occur randomly; we need to establish a schedule and allocate specific times for studying the Word of God. It is vital that God takes priority in our lives. By eliminating many distractions, such as TV, Netflix, and other activities, we can dedicate that time to studying the Word of God.

Meditation Tasks

1. We invite all readers of this blog to check out our article titled: “The Lord Jesus: the Son of God and the Son of Man.”
2. We need to organize our schedule to prioritize God in our lives. We should set aside time each day to read the Word of God, pray, and meditate.