Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?
Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. (John 18:33-38.)
Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined himbefore you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I will therefore chastise him, and release him. (Luke 23:14-16.)
Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him….
But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas.
Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.
When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. (Matthew 27:15-25.)
Points to Ponder:
- What has Jesus done?
- What is truth?
- How is Jesus a King? How do you know this of yourself?
- As His servants, how are we fighting for Jesus and His kingdom?
- How did envy play a role in Jesus’ betrayal and conviction? How can we avoid envy?
- Why did Pilate wash his hands of the affair? How might we, like Pilate, sometimes try to avoid responsibility for difficult decisions?
Jennilyn,
Some scary thoughts on truth.
Unfortunately to many people, truth is what people believe it is!
The real question is, “Would or do the facts support this belief?”
Thus the dilemma – People believe they know the truth and act upon that belief – often without reviewing the evidence (supported by known facts) which may or may not support their belief.
Simple people say, “Don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up!”
Love,
Dad
As simple as some truth is–north is north, the sun rises in the east, the heart pumps the blood–it is amazing how we often hold our beliefs as truth without verifying the facts or asking God to reveal the truth to us by the Spirit of truth, even the Holy Ghost. There are many today who continue to pervert the truth or even deny the truth, having “put off the Spirit of God,” or Spirit of truth, just like Korihor (see Alma 30). Gratefully, as President Dieter F. Uchtdorf recently said, “Truth is true even if no one believes it.” To read my summary and watch his full address “What is Truth?” check out this climbing blog article.