When Jesus was arrested and interrogated by Pilate (the Roman Governor) an exchange of words took place between them, 'Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “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.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.' (John 18:37-38)
Pilate wanted to talk about politics, Jesus wanted to talk about truth; throughout history they have rarely been synonymous and it was no different on this momentous occasion. For Pilate, politics trumped truth and Jesus was condemned to die, even although he was declared to be innocent of any crime. The actual crime was Jesus' death, motivated by hatred of the truth.
Jesus was hated for the truth that he spoke. He was a radical truth speaker in a day of deceit. He testified to the accountability of men to their creator, he spoke of righteousness and sin, heaven and hell, salvation and judgement, love and mercy, forgiveness and wrath, time and eternity, and the people whom he fed and healed ended up shouting for his death; it was the greatest hate crime of history.
The greatest love shown, truth spoken and life lived was answered by "hatred without a cause". If the truth hurts, kill the truth speaker and the pain will go away.
The truth did not go away. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) Jesus died and rose again. The truth not only remains, but is alive. Jesus Christ, the unchanging personification of absolute truth, is alive. Despite Pilate's decision, truth will triumph. All the philosophies of earth will be forgotten as we stand before the risen, glorified Lord Jesus Christ in a coming Day of Judgement. The challenge of truth is not whether we agree or debate, but whether we submit. As sinners before a righteous God we must repent of our sins and turn to God through his son Jesus Christ.
The present visceral antagonism against the Gospel of Jesus Christ is consistent with the experience of Jesus Christ. The Christian standing under the banner of the Gospel, proclaiming God's message of salvation and forgiveness, is seen as a threat to the universal philosophy of anything goes, no-one judges me relativism of our day. To be a christian is to follow Jesus Christ, who bore witness to the truth and was hated to death for it.
Speaking truth in a time of universal deceit is revolutionary after all, whoever said it.
