John 18:33-38a
33Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” 35Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” 36Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” 37Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” 38Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”
___________________________________
This passage is so timely! What with fake news and artificial intelligence concocting what we read on the internet, we all find ourselves asking, “What is truth?”.
Jesus used the word “truth” many times in the Gospel of John. I first read that he used the word 26 times. I did my own count and got 48 times. Then I read that Jesus used the word 55 times in John’s Gospel. Maybe it depends on which translation you’re using, but the point is Jesus mentions truth a lot! In fact, one of His most common phrases is “I tell you the truth, …”.
So what are we to do when we can’t be sure that what we read and hear is an accurate and complete picture of what is happening in the world? Part of the answer is not to accept whatever we read or hear without questioning it and looking for corroboration from multiple sources for anything of significance. Another part of the answer is to be aware of our own biases, i.e., what do we want to believe is the truth versus what does the most objectively credible information tell us.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to always be open to the truth even when it may make us uncomfortable. And help us to do our part to act on the truth, no matter how discouraging it may be, to make the world more as You would have it be. Amen
—Gary Vig