Quid est veritas?

John 18:38a “Pilate said to [Jesus], ‘What is truth?’” Whether wittingly or no, a question of great profundity was uttered by Pontius Pilate to Jesus in those three words. In biblical Greek (using our alphabet) it’s “Ti estin aletheia?” The latin is above in the title. Most people would answer this question with a doctrinal proposition. And then someone would disagree with that proposition. And then we would start fighting (refer to pretty much all of human history for evidence of this). But for we who call ourselves Christians…if we take the time to reflect on this question…we find that truth is not a proposition. It’s a person. In John 14:6 Jesus says “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

So if Jesus is the truth, then what is a lie? I believe that the answer is un-Christlike, literally. If Jesus is the truth, then anything we willfully do that is not like Jesus is not truth…and therefore a lie. Now, I’m not being shallow about this. I don’t mean to say that when you watch TV your being not like Jesus because Jesus didn’t have a TV. I’m talking about when you live out relationship in a way that is incongruous with how Jesus lived out relationship. The example could be big (pushing someone down a flight of stairs) or small (telling someone ‘yes’ [or ‘maybe’] when you know the answer to their question or invitation is ‘no’). But either way it is un-Christlike…and so is lie.

Take some time to think about that. Think about truth as a person rather than a proposition…and see if it alters how you operate in relation to others.

Grace and peace to you,

Kevin