John 18:33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
34 Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?
35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
39 But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
40 Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.
The Bible reveals to us that God, the Creator of heaven and earth, knows the past, the present and the future. There is nothing hid from Him. We find that as He directed the holy men of God that He chose to write His Word for all generations. He would sometimes use practical illustrations to help the people to see themselves. We know that Jesus sometimes used illustrations that the people were very familiar with, to drive home an important truth.
I believe the Bible is just as relevant today as it ever was. It is TRUTH. It declares the TRUTH.
In our text, Pilate was the very proud governor who was assigned to pass judgment on the TRUTH, the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about that for a moment. Here was a corrupt politician who wanted to climb the political ladder and get closer to the king. He would do whatever he needed to, just to get closer to his idea of ultimate power. He sold his soul to the devil for a little political gain.
In this passage, Pilate asked Jesus an important question in verse 38. Pilate had no idea what truth was or where to find it. He was so brainwashed by his political ambitions, that he refused to allow the Holy Spirit to show him just how corrupt he was. He had the TRUTH standing right in front of him and he could not identify Him as the TRUTH. He dared to asked the TRUTH, “what is truth?” Pilate lived his entire life in a vacuum, because he was too proud to listen to sound teaching.
Pilate was not alone in that foolishness. The chief priests and the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the lawyers were all in that same boat. Many of the people of Jesus’ day were the same. They closed their mind to the TRUTH, and they would not see it for anything.
This week I noticed a “conservative” conference being held in Alberta in 2026. One of the speakers was a law professor from Ontario. This man talked about freedom and truth. It was not a very long talk and I chose to listen to the man. He proved himself to be as big a fool as Pilate. He obviously does not believe in God. He does not believe the Bible is true. He said only two of the ten commandments were worth consideration, and possibly half of another one. It takes a first class fool to judge God’s preserved and inspired Word and come away declaring that God may not be real and His Word is not real either.
The interesting thing about this corrupt speech, is that the people in the audience applauded this fool at least twice during his speech. Those people were just as foolish as that speaker. As I listened to him speak, a few other names came to mind, of men that I know. They too do not believe there is such a thing as absolute truth. They insist that truth is relative. If there is a verse in the Bible they like, they hold to that. If there is a verse or passage they do not like, they know how to twist it or just plain ignore and even reject it. Yet they can talk in a very pious manner as if they are solid, God-fearing individuals.
Matthew 6:23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
The speaker at this conference I spoke of rejected absolute truth. He suggested that we all have our own version of truth and we can have that, but we cannot impose that on anyone else. The fact this “educated” man rejects is that there is One True God and He is TRUTH, and whether this man likes it or not, he will answer to this true God one day. Those in his audience who applauded his foolishness will also meet the true God one day and they will be ashamed and sorry for their foolishness. However, unless they get saved prior to death, there will be no relief for them after death.
There may be some people who will read this devotional, who are not saved. You might agree that there is no absolute truth. You have your version of truth and it works for you, and that is all that matters.
I can tell you with certainty that Pilate knows better now. He knows the TRUTH now. However, he is in torment and will be there for all eternity. He rejected the TRUTH and scoffed at the fact that Jesus Christ was the TRUTH, and yet He was under arrest and on trial as an imposter. In his mind, Jesus Christ would never have allowed Himself to be in that position if He truly was the TRUTH. Jesus declared:
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
That is not subjective truth open for our interpretation. That is absolute TRUTH and whether a person likes it or not, Jesus Christ IS THE TRUTH. The few in any generation that are truly born again, can testify that the TRUTH is truly liberating. To believe a lie is bondage. Most people do not even know they are in bondage, because they have chosen to allow themselves to be convinced that the life they are living is the best it will get. By the grace of God, as long as God gives me breath and a sound mind, I will continue to contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints. God has not changed. It is the fool who rejects Him in His entirety. No man is commissioned of God to take Him apart and rebuild Him in some other way. Don’t be fooled by smooth talkers. Take the King James Bible as It is — the sure Word of God. You may be surprised by what you read, but you will not find anything there that is not God’s Word. Submit to Him and you will be blessed.
Pastor Bartel