What is the truth?

 John 18:28-40

Dear Sisters and dear Brothers in Christ,

Without any doubt on this Good Friday the most common feeling which fills the minds and the heart of all Christians is grief. This happens because we revisit all the tragic events which preceded, accompanied and followed the death of Christ; His lonely prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, His arrest, the precipitous fight of the disciples, His trial, His capital sentence, His execution on the Golgotha and finally His burial.

Now in this so particular a day for the Christian faith, I wish to bring to your attention an episode which has normally gone unnoticed, that is to say, the conversation that took place between Jesus and Pilate. Perhaps never two such different persons faced one another.

We have on one side Pilate, the powerful roman procurator on whom hanged the lives of thousand and thousand of human beings, a person with no scruples, feared for his cruelty, on the other side Jesus, the Galilean preacher applauded as a liberator by the Jerusalem population, who since from the beginning of his ministry had preached the imminent coming of the kingdom of God. Pilate, the ruthless politician, seems to be concerned about this claim and wants to get to the bottom of the coming of this kingdom of God.

What does this Kingdom of God mean exactly? This is the crucial question that afflicts Pilate, the practical person who gives meaning and importance to the questions that matter in life, that is to say, those concerning economic and military power.

This is the reason why, as soon he has the opportunity of meeting Jesus, Pilate fires him with the following blank point question. Are you really the king of the Jews? In plain words, are you really interested to become the king of the Jewish people ? Pilate is not interested to the questions which he thinks are only quarrels without rhyme and reason among hot heads.Pilate is concerned only that nobody dares to imperil and challenge his military and political authority. "Are you the king of the Jewish peoples?" For Pilate and not only for him, but also for many other people, what matters is only having power with all its implications. The rest exists only for those who want to waste their time in sterile discussion. Are you the King of the Jews?

The answer of Jesus seems to be evasive. To the question: Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus answers firstly with a counter question "Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?

Then, when Pilate repeated that he is not interested at all in religious questions, the answer of Jesus sounds clear "My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jewish authorities; but my kingship is not from the world. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice.

The truth!What a marvelous and fascinating word, a word that seems easy to understand. "What is truth? " asked Pilate and the same question echoes even today.

Let us try to analyze a little bit the possible meanings of such a question.What is truth? To put it another way, does truth really exist?Is it ever possible to get a true comprehension of the mystery which encompasses our existence or will our life be always be enveloped in an impenetrable darkness? Can an objective truth exist?

The same question has been raised even today.There are many people who believe that an objective truth cannot exist and it will never exist since what can exist is only a partial truth different from that one of the past as well as from that one of the future.And then, some others can wonder, even admitting that there is a truth, is this truth worth knowing? How many times does truth turn out to be difficult, troublesome and the source of innumerable problems? How many times are there situations in which one refuses to accept the truth? How many times does one prefer not to know the truth, since the truth is too painful? How many times I have been told by friends: If I should get a cancer, I would prefer not to be told the truth, since I would die by knowing that I have only few months to live.It is worth wondering: What is this reaction but an explicit attempt to refuse the truth?

Moreover, as you surely know, there are situations in which the knowledge of the truth doesn’t give any benefit and it is of little use.Know the truth? No thank you very much indeed, replies Pilate and with him other people interested only in what is reducible in economic terms. Let us be concerned for what is more concrete, useful and tangible.The knowledge of truth doesn’t enable me to pay the bills, or feed the family.On the contrary in certain situations the truth gives me problems.

What is truth? We can imagine the scornful smile of Pilate when he was raising this question. Some time before Jesus had given an answer to this question by saying. "I’m the way, the truth and the life" Here he stresses the same idea by saying that he has "come into the word to bear witness to the truth", in other words, He has come in order to give the human beings the opportunity to become aware of their own role and responsibilities as persons towards God and their neighbor.Pilate is not able to grasp this.Pilate can understand that people live, work and strain in order to achieve their own goals and interests.Pilate can understand that people live, work and strive in view of their careers, of their own security, and of their families.This is absolutely reasonable and normal for him, but he firmly refuses to take in consideration that Jesus has come to bear witness to the truth. What kind of truth is Jesus taking about?

This is the reason Pilate bluntly stops his conversation with Jesus raising a question which betrays his embarrassment and at the same time his annoyance. What is truth? He doesn’t want to continue discussing with Jesus on such a futile and abstract question. It is not worthwhile. There are other questions that are worth discussing. Let us skip this subject, Pilate seems to say. Pilate and Jesus, these very different persons, were unable to meet one another. There was a gulf between them.For Pilate there was nothing to understand.For Pilate the story of that conversation with Jesus, as well as the trial and his death sentence would have remained inexplicable forever.

Pilate washed his hands because he was incapable of grasping the real reasons underlying Jesus’ life and mission. It is because of such a misunderstanding that Jesus was put to death and it would be accurate to say that Jesus died because of Pilate’s indifference than because of the opposition of the Jewish authorities.If one thinks it over, the same happens today.

The churches are shrinking today not because they are persecuted, but because of the general indifference that surround them. Our faith is in crisis not because it is opposed and contrasted but because it is not taken seriously enough. Our Christian vocation is put at stake because people are not interested in dealing with the question of truth.

"What is truth?" This question has been echoing during the centuries.The number of people who ask with annoyance: "What is truth?" has become greater and greater. This is the reason why the tragedy of the Good Friday continues throughout the centuries.Everyday is good Friday; everyday we are confronted with the basic question of our life. What is truth?

Dear Brothers and dear Sisters in Christ,

You know the answer. Christ is the truth. On this good Friday we have to repeat this message to our generation. There is no truth but Christ. He is the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears His voice.

Amen