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John 18:33-38. John's version of Jesus' trial before Pilate. The first thing Pilate says to Jesus is "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus answers "Do you say that of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?" I absolutely love this - there is so much going on here, so much human nature and truth in these two questions.

 

This is the first time Pilate and Jesus have met, but they have both heard a lot about each other. Jesus loves Pilate and wants his salvation - he will soon be dying for it; but Pilate has free will and Jesus is not going to force himself on him, so he is trying to figure out where Pilate is coming from. When Pilate asks "Are you the king of the Jews?", this could either be Pilate just trying to get the latest mess off of his plate; or it could be Pilate, having heard about Jesus, really wanting to know more - to know who Jesus is.

 

Jesus, more than anything, wants Pilate to know who he is (he wants everyone to know who he is, but, again, he will not force himself on us). So Jesus' question is trying to feel Pilate out - are you asking me this for yourself? In which case, let's talk! Or are you just asking because that is the blasphemy charge the people who brought me here are leveling against me? Pilate's answer tells him. Pilate asks "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me; what have you done?" So Pilate is looking on Jesus as a problem, not as an answer. Jesus immediately resigns himself to this (his patience and love when faced with the constant inability of people to understand him, or even want to understand him, astounds me!), and he tells Pilate that his kingship is not of this world, if it was, he would not be in this situation because his armies would defend him. Right there is the truth of all his restrained power - the power of the universe. This humble, shackled man, whose death is being demanded by the leaders of some strange religion in this backwater town, is holding back the power of God, and will allow his own torture and death. All out of love. Pilate seems to get it a little bit after this. He asks "What is truth?" and then walks away. He doesn't really want to know, it is too frightening to think about.

 

In just a few sentences, John has showed us such human drama - the nuances of conversation, even under these very trying circumstances. The beauty of always speaking the truth, but sometimes having to feel out whether the other is ready to hear it. Jesus has said the most astounding things to Pilate - things that, if true, throw absolutely everything Pilate knows upside down. He simply cannot accept it, but he can see that Jesus isn't a crazy person, so better to question whether truth exists, and walk away.

 

This whole scene is a perfect illustration of "the Jesus question" and its life-changing effect - and why so many people still do not accept him. Jesus said he was God. If he is not who he says he is, he's either a crazy person, or an evil person. Pilate can see he's not crazy (and so can we), so we are left with the choice to either accept him as God, and turn our entire lives over to him (what else can we do?), or tell ourselves that he's lying. We often let our fallen human nature convince us there is no objective truth - "What is truth?"

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"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity