What I’m Thinking: Reign of Truth

Before Pontius Pilate, Jesus said that his purpose on Earth was to testify to the truth. Truth, it seems, has fewer proponents lately…

Here’s a transcript:

I’m thinking about Reign of Christ Sunday this coming weekend: the end of the Christian year and the Church’s celebration of Jesus as the monarch of all of Creation.

The Gospel lesson, however, is a curious and fascinating choice. It’s found in the eighteenth chapter of John (John 18:33-37): Jesus’ trial before Pontius Pilate.

Pilate asked Jesus if he was a king. Jesus said, “You say that I am,” and then Jesus went on to say that his purpose on Earth was to testify to the truth.

So much of religion, whether it be Christianity or any other faith, cannot be scientifically verified. Yet what we share with the natural sciences and with the social sciences is a passion for the truth. We don’t agree on what it is, and we probably never will, but the engagement, the endeavor to seek truth, that unifies all the faiths, all the sciences, all the philosophies of the world.

It does not, I’m afraid, unify humanity entirely. Too often the truth is cast aside for advantage, for power, for prestige. I’m sure you can think of a few examples in our current day.

And so I advise that we fall back, with Jesus, to be seekers of the truth – those who testify to the truth even in the face of power that can only ask, “What is truth?” and let it walk away.

That’s what I’m thinking. I’m curious to hear about what you’re thinking. Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below; I’d love to hear from you!