John 18:28-40

28-29They led Jesus then from Caiaphas to the Roman governor's palace. It was early morning. They themselves didn't enter the palace because they didn't want to be disqualified from eating the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and spoke. "What charge do you bring against this man?"

30They said, "If he hadn't been doing something evil, do you think we'd be here bothering you?"

31-32Pilate said, "You take him. Judge him by your law."

The Jews said, "We're not allowed to kill anyone." (This would confirm Jesus' word indicating the way he would die.)

33Pilate went back into the palace and called for Jesus. He said, "Are you the 'King of the Jews'?"

34Jesus answered, "Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you this about me?"

35Pilate said, "Do I look like a Jew? Your people and your high priests turned you over to me. What did you do?"

36"My kingdom," said Jesus, "doesn't consist of what you see around you. If it did, my followers would fight so that I wouldn't be handed over to the Jews. But I'm not that kind of king, not the world's kind of king."

37Then Pilate said, "So, are you a king or not?"

Jesus answered, "You tell me. Because I am King, I was born and entered the world so that I could witness to the truth. Everyone who cares for truth, who has any feeling for the truth, recognizes my voice."

38-39Pilate said, "What is truth?"

Then he went back out to the Jews and told them, "I find nothing wrong in this man. It's your custom that I pardon one prisoner at Passover. Do you want me to pardon the 'King of the Jews'?"

40They shouted back, "Not this one, but Barabbas!" Barabbas was a Jewish freedom fighter.

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This sure gets complicated. What is a King? What is Truth? Jesus Christ is both, but the kind that Pilate wouldn't recognize. His vision was so caught up in the world's view of power and truth he wouldn't have been able to see that Jesus was a different kind of kind, a different king of truth, one that loves without end and has mercy big enough for us all. Jesus is the kind of king who runs to us, rather than waiting on our being brought to him. Jesus is the kind of truth who is eternal, not relative to the here and now. Jesus is the answer to all of Pilate's questions, dreams and hopes, but he fails to see it, and hands him over. We often do the same, but we know the end of the story, and know that Jesus picks us up, sets us on our feet, and embraces us in his eternal and undying love.

Blessings