By Mike Caton

John 18:38, “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.”

Pilate asked a question that has been asked for thousands of years and is still asked today. What is truth? Scholars and philosophers have been asking that since the beginning of time. The Greeks were especially enamored with this question. It has been asked, I guess, millions of times since then. Parents have asked their children to tell the truth. Spouses have asked each other this question in times of stress. People have asked preachers. We ask it when we watch the news. What is the truth?

It says this was Pilate’s retort, that word means to say something in answer to a remark or accusation, typically in a sharp, angry or wittily incisive manner. Pilate had heard all the debates about the truth, maybe even been involved with them himself. And it seems he really doesn’t expect this uneducated carpenter from nowhere to have an answer. But we all desperately need the truth. Just, as Pilate asked, what is it? Where do we find it? How can we know it?

What is truth? The short answer is Jesus. Going back to the verse we referenced from John 14:6, Jesus said I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life. It sounds simplistic to say, but whatever we are searching for, God not just has the answer, but God is the answer. That is not to say God has spelled out the person we should marry, the address we should live at or the job we ought to have. But the ideas, the principles, the directions we need are there for us to read and learn. And as we study what God has provided us through his word, the way we ought to live our life comes even clearer. And the truth becomes easier for us to see and understand. The truth is there, we simply need to seek it and we will find it. But then we need to apply that truth to our own lives, we need to live it out. And usually, that is the hard part.

Father, thank you for the truth, and help me live it out. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works full time with Hyde County EMS. If you would like to receive daily devotions in your inbox, email mikecaton@centurylink.net.

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