What Is Truth?

Good morning. I know you probably are not expecting philosophy right when you open your Refuel Devo, but I'm Dena, I'm a philosophy major, and Pilate and Jesus were having an age-old philosophical conversation as Jesus was before him standing trial when he was arrested, right before he goes to the cross. Let's read it in John 18, 37 through 38. 37, he says this, "'You are a king then,' said Pilate." Pilate, of course, is trying to get to the bottom of who Jesus is. Jesus answered, "'You say that I am a king. In fact, 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.'" Then Pilate says, "'What is truth?' With this, he went out again to the Jews, gathered there and said, "'I find no basis for a charge against him.'" You can tell that even Jesus' answer stirred something up in Pilate. It's like he encountered the truth, but it was so much for him, he had to bring it back and say, well, what is even truth? Back to philosophy. The age-old philosophical conversation that Pilate and Jesus were having was the conversation of metaphysics versus epistemology. There are two important questions you have to ask before you can answer any important question. That is, first and foremost, metaphysically, what is real? And then secondly, how do I know what is truth? And philosophers have debated over and over again, what is the right order that we can answer those questions? And in fact, Pilate encounters the truth himself in a person, but instead of realizing that he is before the presence of truth himself and that every word that Jesus says is truth, he backs it up and asks that question, well, you know, how do I even know what truth is? How do I even know whether something is true or not? And here's the truth. We often do the same exact thing that Pilate does. We have an encounter with the truth, but we try to dial it back and ask the question, what is truth and how do I really know what is true? Before you can ever answer the epistemological question of how do I know what is true, you have to answer the metaphysical question of what is real. And here's what the Bible says. God himself is the foundation of reality. As Pilate stared into Jesus's eyes, he was staring into the ground of all truth, but he missed it. He missed it because he was so worried about the possibility that perhaps that he was wrong, that he couldn't even realize who was standing in front of him. So there's what Jesus is and then there's what Jesus says. If you are to fully believe what Jesus says and to not doubt it, you have to start by asking the fundamental question of who Jesus is. Pilate's first question, you are a king? Essentially, who are you? It was a better question than his other question, what is truth? So as you're in this Easter season, I just challenge and encourage you to spend some time truly getting clear on your answer to that question, who is Jesus? Is he king? Is he the way, the truth, and the life? Is he a man who died and was resurrected? Before you go out and try to sift and filter this important but secondary question of how do I know what is truth, you need to make a decision about what you think the nature of reality is. And here's what the Bible says. Here's what God himself says about the world that you live in. He is the basis of all truth. Jesus says I am the way, the truth, and the life in John 14. So as you head into Easter, take some time this morning and think about who God and Jesus is. I hope that encourages you.