The Truth on Trial

David opened our Passion Series with a sermon on the trial of Jesus. Pilate asked “What is truth,” yet as judge he did not seek the truth because he was afraid of the truth. This failure revealed his weakness, possessing neither the power of a judge nor a king. Instead, the world’s true judge and king was the one he presumed to condemn:

God gave Pilate power to rule people, and with this power, he became the judge over people. Pilate’s first duty attached to the power given to him was defending and testifying to the truth. In fact, he knew everything. He knew that Jesus didn’t do anything wrong. He knew that the high priests delivered Jesus for envy. So, using his power from above, he should have released Jesus and condemned the Jewish leaders who were accusing Jesus falsely. But he didn’t have power to defend the truth. He gave up Jesus in order to protect his self-interest. He was not a truth-bearer. Although he was the last defense line of the truth, he was powerless and irresponsible. In this sense, he was not a king. But Jesus is true king. He testified to the truth and defended it until sacrificing his own life. As this truth was defended by Jesus’ blood, there is no place for a lie in this truth. And this truth is the foundation of God’s salvation, the foundation of Jesus’ gospel, and the foundation of our faith.