Everyone has their own truth, but the gospel tells us: truth is a person. “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
“What is truth?” Pilate’s question seems to come straight from a heated comment section on social media. “This is MY truth”, “alternative facts”, “fact checking”. Everyone talks about truth, but what people usually mean are opinions, moods, or majorities. Pilate’s question is surprisingly modern. Only, he had no idea that the answer was staring him straight in the face. He did not have to look for it. The truth was standing before Him in the flesh. But he failed to recognise it. Jesus as truth is not some religious fact, but an imposition precisely because this truth cannot be categorised or pressed into a line of reasoning. This is the suspense of the gospel. In Christianity, truth is not an abstract concept, not a perfect definition, but a Person. One cannot simply consider it to be right, one must encounter it. Jesus did not say, “I will tell you the truth.” What He said was, “I am the truth.” Those who encounter Him sense that Jesus is not primarily about words, but about people changing.
Truth as a relationship
When Jesus presents Himself as “the way, the truth, and the life”, He is not offering a philosophical essay, but a relationship. Truth here is not the result of debate, but the character of God Himself: faithful, reliable, and transparent. You cannot possess this truth simply by signing the right statements; you can only allow yourself to be found by it. It is a truth that does not play every game: Jesus does not reason on every ground. When faced with trick questions (taxes to the emperor, the adulteress, and the Sabbath) Jesus reversed the perspective, asked counter-questions, and told parables. “Jesus refused to play the game ‘Who will win the debate?’ He was not a debating club, but a revelation.” He did not provide endless lines of evidence, but simply said, “Come and follow Me.” Those who commit themselves to Him will learn that this truth is not an additional element in their world view, but a foundation that carries them through guilt and failure, illness and fear, and feelings of guilt and self-deception.
Truth with authority
The people in Jesus’ time sensed that there was more to this man than His intelligent speeches. “He teaches with authority, not like the scribes,” the gospel says. His words were never just words. He spoke of forgiveness, and forgave sins. He proclaimed freedom and released people from their bonds. He spoke of life and raised the sick, helped the outcast, and brought the dead back to life. The truth, which He is, testifies to itself simply through its effects. The proof of this truth is not to be found through deductive reasoning, but as the story of a life. Everyone who was there experienced this power and was able to testify of it. “I was blind, now I see.” “He was lost and is found.” Jesus did not give a PowerPoint presentation to defend His theses. The evidence was right there, namely the people whose lives had changed. This is still the case in our divine services today: the gospel must not only convince but also touch people.
A mirror in a loving hand
And doing so, this truth remains both uncomfortable and liberating. Jesus is not there to make us feel comfortable in our opinions. In fact, He shows us what is really in our hearts, like a mirror that He holds up to us. He says, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Free us from what? From masks (“I have to represent something”), from religious pressure to perform (“I have to earn God’s love”), and from the fear of being wrong. Christian truth is not a weapon against other people, but first and foremost a mirror for ourselves, our inner being. But this mirror is framed by love. Ephesians 4: 15 talks about “speaking the truth in love”. Truth without love will be harsh. Love without truth becomes arbitrary. And in Jesus, both love and truth come together. He reveals guilt in order to heal, not to expose. He said to the adulteress, “Go and sin no more,” but only after He had saved her from being stoned. This is how freedom is born—not because my mistakes are trivialised, but because I can face them under the merciful eyes of God.
The truth that speaks through people
When Jesus sent out His disciples, He did not make them arbitrators over all matters of this world, but witnesses: “You shall be witnesses to Me.” Witnesses do not explain everything, but they can tell what they have seen and experienced. It is not a matter of having understood everything but of having experienced something. We do not need to win every discussion on social media. But we can tell others how this truth carries, comforts, and changes us. And here is how the truth of Christ still speaks as credibly as ever today: through people who admit that they do not know everything, but who know in whom they can trust. Through congregations where we do not win every discussion, but where we often exercise forgiveness. Through Christians who do not loudly insist that they possess the truth, but who are quietly and persistently guided by the truth. In a world full of opinions, faith is less about defining the truth than allowing ourselves to be shaped by it. Pilate’s question goes unanswered in the gospel. Jesus did not provide a definition of truth but pursued it even further: from the courtroom to Golgotha, and from there to the empty tomb. The truth does not have to shout. It is so sure of itself that it can even remain silent. The truth does not explain itself in a discussion, but on a journey. And whoever embarks on this journey with Christ will discover that the most important answer is not spoken, but experienced.
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