What is Truth?

Joseph Rochefort was an intelligence officer in World War II who co-headed a team with Edwin Layton, assigned to break the Japanese Navy’s cipher system during World War II. This team was called Hypo, whose job was to figure out what the enemy was planning. The team earned its keep when they decoded messages about the island of Midway.

Rochefort was a disheveled nerd, making his appearance unimpressive. However, with his team, he figured out almost to the minute when and where the Japanese would strike the island of Midway. The information was accurate, and the United States Navy won one of the most strategic battles of all time. Admiral Nimitz, the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet, took a chance and believed this guy when no one else did.

Appearances can be very deceiving. It was that way for the Jews and even for Pilate. Jesus didn’t look like a king—not any king they had seen or even imagined, so they dismissed any possibility of Jesus being anything other than an impostor. They were dead wrong!

In response to Pilate’s question of whether he was a king, Jesus proclaimed himself a spiritual king. Jesus’ answer threw Pilate into an agonizing dilemma. Pilate would have immediately given the execution order if Jesus had declared himself an earthly king. But a spiritual king? Jesus was guilty of nothing. And his wife had warned him to have nothing to do with this man.

Christ was born to establish a new kind of kingdom. He cried, “For this, I came into the world.”
On that day, life was not as it appeared. Christ was in control, not Pilate. When Pilate stated, “You are a king, then!” 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.” (John 18:37).

Pilate responded, “What is truth?” With that, he went out to the Jews. Pilate did not know the truth, but sadly he wasn’t interested in finding the truth. He did not honestly want an answer because he did not wait for one. Pilate exemplifies modern man. With his “What is truth?” Pilate stood transparent before Christ, as does the whole world. The truth that comes from Jesus Christ is what we all need but are not willing to look for. Even those who know the truth are often afraid to speak it because the crowd will cancel them. This story tells us truth is Jesus Christ, and those who follow him find the truth.