Pontius Pilate was the prefect of the Roman province of Judea AD 26-36. He is most known for the trial and crucifixion of Christ. Pilate asked him (Jesus), “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” (John 18: 37-38). After asking that profound question, Pilate did not wait for a reply; he simply walked away. As was true then, we often ask “What is truth?” Like Pilate, we often consider it a rhetorical question. We do not expect an answer. We also walk away because we believe that truth is not the same for everyone. Yet, we seem to recognize the truth, when we hear it. At least, we believe we can recognize it. How can we know the truth about God? Here is an excerpt from A Journey Toward Perfection, which addresses that question:
"The life of the man called Jesus of Nazareth is well documented not only by Biblical sources, but also by Jewish and Roman historians and scholars. Various ancient writings verify that He lived 2,000 years ago and was crucified with criminals. His brief three year ministry changed the world forever. Was He a prophet, a wise man, a good man, or actually the Son of God as He claimed? What was it about this man that caused so many to follow Him and even be willing to die for Him? Those who believe Jesus was simply a good man, wise man or a prophet must still be able to explain why He would claim to be the Son of God. This contradicts sound judgment. Today, a man who might claim to be the Son of God would be considered mentally unstable, at the very least, possibly even insane. Jesus is an enigma to many, yet to Christians, He is the Son of God, part of the Godhead, part of the Holy Trinity. This is difficult for our limited minds to fathom, yet as Christians, this is our faith. We believe that Christ was fully God and fully man, our Creator and our Savior.
During His three-year ministry, the disciples traveled with Him day and night. They knew Him intimately, and they believed His claims. They believed that Christ was God, one person of the Trinity. The disciples believed Him so faithfully that they willingly died horrible deaths rather than renounce their faith. They believed He rose from the dead on the third day. They claimed to have seen Him bodily after His resurrection, not as a spirit, and claimed to have eaten and drank with Him. If the Roman and Jewish leaders wanted to dispel the rumors that Christ rose from the dead, and thereby crush the Christian movement, all they had to do was to produce His dead body, yet they never could. At first, some claimed that the disciples stole His body, but this would have been impossible with Roman Centurions posted to guard the tomb. Besides, would anyone be willing to die for what they knew to be a lie? This rumor simply faded away. Instead, the martyred disciples were the lights of the world that ignited a fire that burns to this day.
To unbelievers, the resurrection and Christ’s claim to be the Son of God must be the greatest lies ever perpetrated by one man. To Christians, Jesus is the light to which we are all drawn. He is the light that gives us hope. He is the light, which even unwittingly draws unbelievers. That light is centered on love; “He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love” (I John 4:8). Even unbelievers acknowledge the power of love. God is the source of love. But why would an all-knowing God descend from His throne of glory to become a man in a world full of evil, knowing He would be rejected and even crucified? Christ became man to save us from the curse of sin and to offer us the gift of eternal life. He became a man to allow us to “see” God or to know Him, to invite us into a relationship with Him, and to teach us how to love by being a role model for us.
God dwells in a distant place, in a spiritual dimension. He is not of this world. We cannot experience Him through our physical senses. Only certain prophets had firsthand knowledge of God because He chose them. According to scriptural accounts, He spoke to them, sometimes audibly, and sometimes through angels, dreams or visions. When Christ became man, He entered our dimension, our reality. The more we understand Christ, the better we understand God. “Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:8-9). By getting to know Christ, we can know God!"
