“What is truth?” retorted Pilate... John 18:38
Pilate—the man who handed Jesus over to be crucified—turned to Jesus in His final hour, and asked, “What is truth?” It was a rhetorical question, a cynical response to what Jesus had just revealed: “I have come into the world, to testify to the truth.”
Over the past 100 years or so, truth has come under scrutiny. For centuries humanity has believed certain things are true and we need to discover what the truth is.
Two thousand years later, the whole world breathes Pilate’s cynicism. Some say truth is a power play, a narrative constructed by the elite to control the ignorant masses. To some, truth is subjective, the individual world of preference and opinion. Others believe truth is a collective judgment, the product of cultural consensus, and still, others flatly deny the concept of truth altogether. What is true for me doesn't have to be true for you.
Today for some, truth is old-fashioned, uncool, and maybe even offensive. Except for hardly anyone actually believes that. When controversy strikes, everyone wants the truth, they demand it.
" The #MeToo movement wants the truth about sexual abuse in the film industry. Black Lives Matter wants the truth about racial inequality. Greta Thunberg wants the truth about climate change. When there is an election we want the truth about the results. When it comes to controversy, when it comes to the big issues in life, people still want the truth."
God is Good and You are You-Thomas Davis
The truth is the truth. And anything that is not true isn't true. Climate change can't be true and be a hoax. Trump and Biden cannot both have won the election.
Truth forces us to recognize that certain things are fact, certain things are fiction; certain things are right, certain things are wrong; certain things are genuine, and certain things are false.
Here’s a simple definition drawn from what the Bible teaches: Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory, and being of God. Even more to the point: Truth is the self-expression of God. That is the biblical meaning of truth. Because the definition of truth flows from God, truth is theological.
Truth is central to life. The people around you want the truth. They need the truth. They demand the truth.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
John 17:17
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place
Ephesians 6:14