Pilate Encounters the Truth (John 18)
Synopsis
This encounter between Jesus and Pilate is one of the most real and tense encounters in all
of Scripture. Jesus is standing before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Jesus is
standing before the person who will decide his fate. Atheist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
once said that this is the most profound scene in the Bible. In it, we find one of the most
powerful politicians in the world confront his own beliefs upon meeting Jesus, this
rabble-rousing preacher from nowhere.
From this, we are challenged to confront our own beliefs and the difficult question that Pilate
asks: “What is truth?” Jesus, unlike modern American culture, affirms that truth is real and
objective, and he shows us what truth really looks like.
The ​
passage​
for this week is John 18:38-19:1, where Pilate encounters Jesus just before
Jesus is condemned to death.
The win this week:
1) Discuss how this encounter is important to Jesus’ ministry and important to the lives
of college students.
2) Understand how Jesus’ idea of truth clashes with our cultures idea of truth.
“What is truth?”
Read John 18:38-19:1
Commentary
In this passage, Jesus is set before the Roman governor of Judea, Pilate. But what we learn
about Pilate in the New Testament and other historical sources doesn’t give us a whole lot.
The word “governor” in the New Testament is more of just a general term for “leader.” Still,
we do know that Pilate has quite a lot of political power. The fate of Jesus is in hands.
We see in this scene Pilate wrestling with who Jesus is. Dealing with Jewish revolutionaries
was a common event for Pilate. He could have dealt with these cases with ease, ordering his
men to just “take care of it.” So it’s a bit surprising he is willing to interact with Jesus at all.
The text doesn’t tell us why. It could have simply been that Pilate saw something different in
Jesus. Pilate first asks Jesus if he is a King. Jesus informs Pilate that his Kingdom comes
from another world. This is key to understanding the person of Jesus. As Jesus says, if his
Kingdom were like the world’s, his followers would fight for him. There would be a knife and
sword fight and a lot of blood. But that’s not how Jesus runs things. His Kingdom is built on
something else, as Pilate is about to find out.
John
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Jesus then says a very remarkable thing: “the reason I was born and came into the world is
to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Jesus says that truth is ​
the
reason he came into the world​
. That is a very remarkable statement for a man who is about
to die for the sins of the world. In John 14:6, he says “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
This is an enormously important passage for this section so feel free to read this verse in
group. Jesus IS truth. He’s not just speaking about truth. He is the full embodiment of it.
This is an incredible statement about the objectivity of truth. Our culture is a postmodern
culture. A defining characteristic of postmodernism is a denial of objective truth. Objective
truth is truth that is unchanging. Subjective truth, on the other hand, is subject to change,
depending on your perspective or opinion. Postmodernism is about choosing your own truth.
Jesus says truth has a standard and an immovable point: himself.
This means that truth really exists. We don’t just decide for ourselves what is right and
wrong. What is right is right insofar as it reflects Christ. The more we choose to conform
ourselves and our wills to him, the more we will live into our purpose. This is what God has
created for.
Socrates has famously suggested that we “follow the truth wherever it leads.” Sometimes a
pursuit of truth will lead us to places we don’t want to be. It might even mean that ​
we are
wrong ​
about something. But in Christianity, truth is a person, not a concept. Our encounter
with Jesus is in fact an encounter with truth. So we might amend Socrates saying to “follow
the truth wherever ​
he​
leads.” This is the goal for each of our lives: follow truth so
passionately that we turn into a little Christ.
Questions
In John 18:36, Jesus tells Pilate a little about his Kingdom. What does he say about his
Kingdom? What do these clues tell us about the kind of Kingdom Jesus is
inaugurating?
Jesus seems to be purposefully ambiguous when responding to Pilate. Why do you
think this is?
Jesus makes strong statements about truth. He even says it is the reason he came into
the world. What is this truth that Jesus is talking about?
John
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Application Questions
Put yourselves in Pilate’s shoes. You’re an important politician who’s supposed to keep
Jewish revolutionaries at bay. You’ve done so multiple times. At first, Jesus seems like
just another in a long line of rabble rousers. Would this interaction change your mind?
Jesus says that everyone on the side of truth listens to him. What does it mean to “be
on the side of truth”? Does that change if you are on the college campus?
In John 14:6, Jesus says: “he is the way, the truth, and the life.” What does it mean that
he is “the way”? “The truth”? “The Life”?
Thinking is sometimes looked down upon in modern Christianity (after all, don’t you just
have to have faith?). But Jesus claims to be truth. What does this mean for how we
engage our minds? How does engage our minds lead us to look more like Jesus?
Have you ever changed your mind significantly regarding a religious topic? Have you
converted to another religion? What was it that brought about that conversion?
Do you think that people are ever converted “intellectually”? What would that look like?
Jesus is in a very vulnerable position, yet remains confident in God’s kingdom, though
it looks different than most Kingdoms. How does what happens next (the crucifixion)
attest to this confidence?
Pilate rhetorically asks: “what is truth?” He seems to suggest that truth may not even
exist at all. Is there something in our culture (maybe a song, TV show, movie, political
view, etc.) that might deny that truth really exists?
Can someone believe something that’s true even if they don’t follow Jesus?
What is the difference in “objective truth” and “subjective truth”? Must you believe in
one to be a Christian? Which one is Jesus talking about? Which one is Pilate talking
about?
How can we “testify to truth” like Jesus? More specifically, what does that look like on
campus?
Have you seen people not see truth when it’s right in front of them?
How do we combat our own tendencies to deny a truth right before us? How can you
fight that in this M-Group?
John
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Resource Toolbox
John Piper on the Truth
Tim Keller on “Finding our own Truth”
Jesus the Logician by Dallas Willard ​
The Gospel Coalition: Jesus, the smartest man who ever lived N.T. Wright on Truth Reason for God by Tim Keller John
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