Dave's Diary

Daily Reading: John 18:28-40

As Jesus stood on trial, Pilate’s chief concern was whether this man was somehow claiming to be the rightful king of Israel in opposition to Caesar. Jesus’ response to his questioning was to clarify that His Kingdom was unlike any earthly Kingdom. And when Pilate asked Jesus directly, “You are a king then?”, Jesus responded boldly:

“‘You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’” (v.37)

Jesus was indeed a king, but not one that would ever fit the worldly definition of a king. Jesus came to build a Kingdom that was completely different to every political and military kingdom of the world. He came to build a Kingdom of Truth, by testifying to the truth. Many people today ask the same scoffing question Pilate asked next, “What is truth?”

Today’s Western culture believes that truth is determined by personal preference or perspective, and that there is no objective truth about God or even about oneself; there is only my truth and your truth and one is as good as the other. Though this thinking is strong in our day, it denies the One who said: “In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

When I say that Jesus is Lord of my life, it implies that I submit and surrender to the Truth He reveals about God, about the world and even about myself. Submitting to His revelation of truth is profoundly liberating, precisely because Jesus has revealed the deepest truth – the truth that really matters. We save ourselves so much time and so much futile effort when, instead of thinking that we can somehow uncover a better version of the truth by our own efforts, we simply receive Jesus’ truth-revelation as a beautiful gift, and rest in it. So, today we pray:

Holy Spirit, please help me to receive and to accept the Truth Jesus reveals about God, the world and me. Help me to hold it in my heart by faith. Help me to surrender to Jesus as the King of Truth and to allow Him to shape and fashion my thinking, speaking and acting in the light of that Truth. King Jesus, establish Your Kingdom of Truth in me. Amen.