What is truth?

Icon of Christ the Bridegroom, by Theologic (found here).  Title reads "Behold the Man" (John 19:5)

 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning.  But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.  Pilate then went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?"  They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you."  Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law."  Therefore the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.

Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?"  Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew?  Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me.  What have You done?"  Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world.  If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."  Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?"  Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"  And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."

- John 18:28-38

 Yesterday we read that, after Jesus' arrest, Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple.  Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.  But Peter stood at the door outside.  Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in.  Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, "You are not also one of this Man's disciples, are you?"  He said, "I am not."  Now the servants and officers who made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves.  And Peter stood with them and warmed himself. . . . Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself.  Therefore they said to him, "You are not also one of His disciples, are you?"  He denied it and said, "I am not!"  One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?"  Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.

 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning.  But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.   The religious leaders take Jesus to the governor, Pilate.  My study bible cites commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who notes the irony that Christ's accusers do not fear being defiled by condemning an innocent Man to death -- but they would not set foot into a court of justice.

 Pilate then went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?"  They answered and said to him, "If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you."  Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law."  Therefore the Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," . . .    My study bible explains that, since the chief priests of the Jews had no actual crime with which they could accuse Jesus to the Roman state, Pilate refused to pass judgment.   When the chief priests say, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," they are not referring to the Law of Moses, but rather to the laws of Roman occupation.  The Romans reserved the right for themselves only to execute people.  Therefore, the chief priests were relying on Pilate to sentence Jesus to death.

. . . that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.   Under Jewish law, stoning was the prescribed usual means of execution.  But Christ has prophesied that He would be killed by being lifted up on the Cross (3:14; 8:28; 12:32-33), expressing the foreknowledge that He would die, not at the hands of the Jews, but by the Roman state method of crucifixion. 

 Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?"  Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew?  Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me.  What have You done?"   My study bible comments that it is unheard of that the accused would have to name charges against himself in any court, since it is the captors who would be the ones to name the crime.  That Pilate has to ask Jesus what the charges are shows that the chief priests could name no crime that He might have committed (see the previous verses above).   Moreover, it shows that Jesus was Lord over the events of His death (see also verses 4, 8 which take place at the time of His arrest).  Even the governor has to come to Him in order for the trial to proceed.

Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world.  If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."  Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?"  Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"  And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all."  My study bible says that although Pilate knows Jesus is innocent of any crime, he attempts to strike a compromise with the Jews by declaring Christ to be guilty, but will seek to free Him on account of Passover (verses 39-40).   He seeks to placate the chief priests with an official declaration of guilt, but avoid the unjust punishment of Christ through the traditional clemency practiced on the Passover.

Jesus says to Pilate: "You say rightly that I am a king.  For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  And Pilate responds:  "What is truth?"  These important statements in some sense can be understood to sum up the whole of the Gospel of John.  Jesus speaks of bearing witness to the truth.  Moreover, He declares that those who are of the truth hear His voice.   It is in John's Gospel that Jesus declares, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" to His disciples at the Last Supper (14:6).  Pilate is right to ask, "What is truth?" as this is a truth that is more than simply facts on the ground, an article in an encyclopedia, a newspaper story, or some kind of report on a subject we seek to know more about.  Truth, in Jesus' sense, is inclusive of, but much more than ascertaining the guilt or innocence of a person on trial, and obtaining witness statements.  This truth is an entire field of reality, and it is connected to a Person.  Or, if we want to take it as Jesus has pronounced it, truth is a Person.  This is a special kind of a person, not one exactly like you or like me, but a Person who is divine, a creator of our world.  And thus, Jesus is the truth, and also bears witness to the truth.  This is the reality behind all that is, and it is that field of existence, the one that truly gives us life, of which Jesus is sent in order to bear witness, to testify for us about all that truly is.  He seeks to reconnect us with our Source, our origins in that truth.  And when He speaks of bearing witness to the truth -- even revealing this boldly and plainly to Pilate -- we must understand that it is all of this to which He refers, and so much more that we cannot know, that remains for us to discover in our journey of faith which lasts a lifetime and beyond a lifetime.  When Pilate asks then, "What is truth?" we should not scoff and we should not simply remark upon some kind of flaw of character in him, for at least Pilate knows that he does not know what Jesus is talking about.  Pilate's question gives over to the perspective that he is, in fact, outside of this truth and has no exposure to it.  And so, he asks, "What is truth?"  While we may speculate that perhaps, as Pilate is presumably a well-educated man, educated in the Greek and Roman system of his time and prepared for public service to the Roman Empire, he may be asking a philosophical question.  Whatever is behind it, Pilate shows that he is in some sense outside of the "system" or "field" of the capacity to perceive this truth.  Pilate reflects very much a modern mindset of a particular kind, in which truth is only what lies in formal education, popular understanding, or a certain kind of zeitgeist -- the "energy" of the time.  But the truth of which Christ speaks is always there and it is also eternal.  It is precisely because the truth Christ refers to is personal -- that it is, in fact, a Person -- that we may commune and participate in it.  We may have relatedness and relationship in it and with it.  This is where the recognition comes in that Christ tries to speak of before Pilate.  This truth, the Person who is truth, is also the Person who is love, for God is love.  And love makes possible the interrelation between persons who are "of" the truth to hear His voice.  St. John writes, "We love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).  It is this field of love, which is God, in which we find Christ's truth.  It is there where the gate or door is opened to the sheep who hear His voice (10:9).  It is this field of love where we find truth, the truth that makes us free, indeed, of all the misleading missteps that would teach us half- or partial truths about what love is and isn't; it is this field of love that defines our reality and lights our way on the path that opens up a deeper understanding, gives us the discipline we need, teaches us how to participate and know a greater love than we know from our less-than-perfect lives.  That is the truth into which we are invited in communion and relationship, in which we have a home and a way that we may go forward.  Pilate asks rightly, "What is truth?" because this is the question of the world.  And the One who stands in front of Pilate, awaiting judgment, is the answer.

The image above is an icon called "Christ the Bridegroom."  It is also considered to be an icon of marriage.   As our Bridegroom, He humbles Himself for us before Pilate, as a prisoner.  The Bridegroom is the judge of all, and yet He submits to be judged by one who must ask, "What is truth?"  As our Bridegroom, He sacrifices all out of love for us.  Christ the Bridegroom is an image of the mutual devotion and love in marriage, the two becoming one flesh (Mark 10:7-8), as Christ becomes one flesh with us in His humanity, and suffers voluntary for us.