What is Truth? Examining Pilate's Infamous and Profound Question
In what was probably April of A.D. 33, Jesus of Nazareth stood before Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect of Judea (sometimes spelled "Judaea"). According to the Gospel of John, Pilate found himself under pressure by an angry crowd outside his palace to crucify Jesus, an itinerant teacher who Jerusalem's religious leaders claimed was a blasphemer and insurrectionist. Pilate's questioning of Jesus, recorded in John 18, produced one of the Bible's most profound exchanges. "Are you a king?" demanded Pilate of Jesus. "You say rightly that I am a king," replied Jesus. "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." "What is truth?" said Pilate as he left him and went outside to speak to the crowd. In reading John's account, one can almost hear the sarcastic edge in Pilate's voice. Pilate's questio