What Is Truth?

I am currently in my final year at Oral Roberts University as an undergraduate student. As a result, I am spending much time working on my Senior Paper. The primary text for my Senior Paper is John 18:33-19:16a, and one of the themes that is central to not only this specific passage, but the entire Gospel of John, is the theme of "truth."

John's Understanding of Truth

The Gospel of John is unique from the other three Gospels in the New Testament; whereas Matthew, Mark, and Luke--commonly referred to as the Synoptic Gospels--are incredibly similar to each other in narrative arc and shared content, John stands somewhat alone in his storyline and his content. For example, while the word "truth" (in Greek, it is alēthia) appears only 7 times in all three of the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John uses this word a total of 25 times! 

What, then, does John have to say about "truth"? And also, what does he mean whenever he uses this word? 

Usually, we interpret "truth" as being synonymous with "fact"; simply put, "truth" is the opposite of "false" or "lie." While this understanding of "truth" may coincide somewhat with John's usage of the word "truth" in his Gospel, primarily John associates "truth" with "divine reality." 

At the outset of his Gospel, John describes Jesus and his Incarnation at length, and he brings this theme of "truth," and especially how it coincides with "divine reality" to the forefront of the Incarnation story. He declares that the "true light" has come into the world, and that it is this "true light" who enlightens everyone (John 1:9). When he declares that this "true light," the "Word," is Jesus and that he has indeed taken on flesh and humanity, John declares that Jesus is "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14), and that although "no one has ever seen God[,] it is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known" (John 1:18). John connects "truth" to the revelation of God through the person of Jesus. 

Not only does John describe Jesus as the "true light" (John 1:9), but Jesus is also the "true bread from heaven" (John 6:32) and the "true vine" (John 15:1). He enlightens all humanity (John 1:9), and he displays the glory of God on earth (John 1:14).

But John does not stop here. He takes it even further. Jesus is not simply "full of ... truth" (John 1:14), but he is the "truth" (John 14:6): "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." What does Jesus mean by this? I believe he gives the answer a few verses later: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father," and "I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (John 14:9-10). 

Jesus is the "way" by which we come to God. He is the "life" of all humanity. And he is the "truth" who reveals perfectly who God is.

Pilate's Rejection of Truth

Finally, John leads his readers in his discussion about "truth" to the first trial-scene between Pilate and Jesus at the close of John 18. In one of the most dramatic points in the entire narrative of John's Gospel, all time seems to stand still as Pilate, a Roman political ruler, interrogates Jesus, the King of Kings. And yet, one soon recognizes that it is truly not Jesus who is on trial, but rather, Pilate. 

For example, Pilate's first question, "Are you the King of the Jews?" (John 18:33), is not met by Jesus' compliance or an easy response; instead, Jesus responds with a question of his own, in order to bring clarification to Pilate's question (John 18:34). And after Pilate asks a second question (John 18:35), Jesus once again responds with a definition of his kingdom that not only helps one understand the kingdom of God, but also forces one to examine the kingdom that Pilate represents, and to notice how they function differently from one another (John 18:36). 

Pilate, perhaps more confused than anything now, finally restates his original question from v. 33, and asks, "So you are a king?" (John 18:37a). Jesus does not deny the fact that he is king, for indeed, he is the King of the Kings; he is the only true King and Lord and Ruler--not Caesar, nor Pilate, nor anyone else. However, Jesus further defines what kind of King he is: "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth" (John 18:37b). He is a King whose primary task is to testify to the "truth." 

And Jesus ends by declaring, "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice" (John 13:87c). 

With this final statement, Jesus is once again putting Pilate on trial; in essence, he is asking Pilate, "Do you belong to the truth? Do you hear and listen to my voice? Or will you choose to reject the truth?" 

In this moment, face to face with Jesus--who is "truth" himself, who is the one who reveals God to humanity, who is God in flesh--Pilate refuses to acknowledge him as such, and he denies him as "truth" with a simple question, "What is truth?" (John 18:38a). And with that question, the conversation ends, and Pilate leaves the room. He has denied Jesus. He has denied his "truth," and has decided to craft his own form of "truth." He has refused to accept Jesus as the defining factor of his life, and he will not listen to the voice of "truth." 

Our Response to Truth

The ball, so to speak, is now in our court. This is the final time John speaks of "truth" in his Gospel. The final mention of "truth" is in a three-word question uttered by an unwavering political ruler, "What is truth?" And because the scene abruptly ends and switches to a new scene, no answer is given, either by Jesus himself or by John as the narrator. 

What is truth, then? John has given his definition of "truth" throughout the entirety of his Gospel, and indeed, his definition is God's definition--it is Jesus himself who is "truth"! Pilate has also given his definition; by asking this rhetorical question and abruptly leaving the room, Pilate has chosen to reject Jesus' definition of "truth" in order to adhere to another "truth." 

How, then, will we define "truth"? Will we accept Jesus as "truth" and listen to his voice? Or will we respond in the fashion of Pilate and even the Jewish leaders, and create our own worldly "truth"; one which cries out blasphemously, "We have no king but Caesar!" (John 19:15)? 

If we truly accept Jesus as our "truth," then we must allow him to define who we are. We are the sheep, and he is the good shepherd; and the sheep listen to the voice of the shepherd (John 10:3, 16, 27). We are his servants, and he is the master; and no servant is greater than his master (John 13:16; 15:20). We are his kingdom people, and he is our King; we dare not bow our knee to another! 

-Luke E. Wagner