Truth & Reason
John records the scene. The Lord Jesus Christ is standing before Pilate moments before He is sent away to be scourged and then crucified:
Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are you a king then?”
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:37)
The one who is truth stands before this world’s representative authority and declares that truth is a matter of divine revelation. Truth does not originate with fallen men. Truth is not accessed through his intellect or experience. Truth is revealed by God who has spoken at various times in various ways, but in these last days has spoken to us by His Son. Truth comes through Jesus Christ. He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
You can hear the crass cynicism in Pilate’s answer, “What is truth?” That is not a humble request to know it, but a prideful rejection of the Lord’s assertion that truth may be known, and that it may only be known through Him. Jesus Christ was bearing witness to that wisdom “which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7). Pilate simply didn’t have the ears to hear His voice.
The disputers of our own age have matured past Pilate. Having suppressed the voice of Jesus Christ in unrighteousness, they have determined that truth is knowable, but only because truth originates with them. Something becomes true when they believe it, and it remains false when they do not. In that fictional flight from reality, science is consensus, biology is transphobic, and you don’t know what a woman is. You have your truth and I have mine. Identify as whatever you like.
Professing to be wise, they became fools.
Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are you a king then?”
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:37)
The one who is truth stands before this world’s representative authority and declares that truth is a matter of divine revelation. Truth does not originate with fallen men. Truth is not accessed through his intellect or experience. Truth is revealed by God who has spoken at various times in various ways, but in these last days has spoken to us by His Son. Truth comes through Jesus Christ. He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
You can hear the crass cynicism in Pilate’s answer, “What is truth?” That is not a humble request to know it, but a prideful rejection of the Lord’s assertion that truth may be known, and that it may only be known through Him. Jesus Christ was bearing witness to that wisdom “which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7). Pilate simply didn’t have the ears to hear His voice.
The disputers of our own age have matured past Pilate. Having suppressed the voice of Jesus Christ in unrighteousness, they have determined that truth is knowable, but only because truth originates with them. Something becomes true when they believe it, and it remains false when they do not. In that fictional flight from reality, science is consensus, biology is transphobic, and you don’t know what a woman is. You have your truth and I have mine. Identify as whatever you like.
Professing to be wise, they became fools.
The problem for those who have embraced that parasitic lie is the intransigence of truth. Truth is recalcitrant. Truth does not compromise, bend, or break…come what may. Truth doesn’t fret that the parasitic lie has colonized the planet. Truth reflects the immutable character of its source, while all the speculative, experiential, mystical, superstitious, corrupt, blasphemous, and perverted truth claims reflect the character of their source.
By suppressing the truth, you abandon the necessary raw material of reason. Truth is entirely reasonable. But without it, you are easy prey to every charismatic snake oil salesman, con man, and crook who seeks to exploit your ignorance. Behind them all is the forked tongue of a serpent and the doctrines of demons.
In the midst of Paul’s gospel defense before King Agrippa in Acts 26, Festus the governor bellows, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad! But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason” (Acts 26:24-25). A crucified and risen Savior sounded like the insane babblings of a madman to the Roman governor. Christ crucified is “to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23). Festus simply didn’t have the ears to hear His voice.
In contrast to the brief rant of that madman, it was Paul who spoke the words of truth and reason. The words of truth and reason stand in defense of the faith from the claims of madness and from the actions of madmen. Without truth and reason, you are prey to false teachers, tossed about by every wind of doctrine, gullible, loaded down with sins, and led away with various lusts.
Truth and reason are the means used by God to protect your faith from ignorance or blindness. Truth and reason are the means used by God to keep you Berean. Faith knows that we are merely wading in the shallows of incomprehensible depths, while truth and reason beckon us to dive in, do the hard work, and learn.
We are the called of God, commissioned to be enduring witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ, “defending the faith from madness…speaking the words of truth and reason” (Acts 26:24-25).
By suppressing the truth, you abandon the necessary raw material of reason. Truth is entirely reasonable. But without it, you are easy prey to every charismatic snake oil salesman, con man, and crook who seeks to exploit your ignorance. Behind them all is the forked tongue of a serpent and the doctrines of demons.
In the midst of Paul’s gospel defense before King Agrippa in Acts 26, Festus the governor bellows, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad! But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason” (Acts 26:24-25). A crucified and risen Savior sounded like the insane babblings of a madman to the Roman governor. Christ crucified is “to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23). Festus simply didn’t have the ears to hear His voice.
In contrast to the brief rant of that madman, it was Paul who spoke the words of truth and reason. The words of truth and reason stand in defense of the faith from the claims of madness and from the actions of madmen. Without truth and reason, you are prey to false teachers, tossed about by every wind of doctrine, gullible, loaded down with sins, and led away with various lusts.
Truth and reason are the means used by God to protect your faith from ignorance or blindness. Truth and reason are the means used by God to keep you Berean. Faith knows that we are merely wading in the shallows of incomprehensible depths, while truth and reason beckon us to dive in, do the hard work, and learn.
We are the called of God, commissioned to be enduring witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ, “defending the faith from madness…speaking the words of truth and reason” (Acts 26:24-25).