I teach an Adult Bible Community at Thomas Road Baptist Church called the G.A.P. (for Graduates and Professionals), and each week I post the outlines and discussion questions from my lessons on the G.A.P. page on Facebook. A few weeks ago I started posting these notes on the blog too. So, here is the outline and questions for our meeting on November 29. The lesson is on John 18:25-38 and is entitled "Truth on Trial." If you have any questions or would like to add a comment or two, that would be great!
Truth on Trial
John 18:25-38
Introduction
Struggles with truth
I am a philosopher by nature, and a skeptic as well
I like to pursue truth, but often find myself in a struggle to know what it is in certain situations (e.g., news stories, sermons, personal testimonies)
Our society has a problem with truth as well
Barna Research
Politics
Even university education
Today’s lesson looks at a time when truth was on trial
The end of the story is that Truth put everyone else on trial
Three views of truth are expressed in our passage for today:
1. Truth is Relative
2. Truth is Pragmatic
3. Truth is Absolute
John 18:25-38
When truth is on trial, what is our testimony?
1. Truth is Relative
Peter and the Jews (John 18:25-32)
Discussion Questions
a. When confronted with a true statement, how does Peter respond?
b. Why do you think Peter responded this way?
c. When given a chance to tell the truth, how did the Jews respond?
d. The Jewish leaders would not enter Pilate’s court to avoid being defiled. Would lying defile a person at Passover?
Peter and the Jewish leaders seem to relate to truth as a malleable substance subject to their own interpretation
a. They deny it outright (Peter)
b. They spin it (Jewish leaders)
c. They only use part of it for their own ends (Jewish leaders)
The Problem with Relative Truth
a. It creates a situation where bad cultural ideas become in some sense “true” or “good” (e.g. Nazi Germany, genocide, etc.)
b. It can be very contradictory (My truth and your truth may not be THE truth), and in fact it is self-contradictory
c. It claims absolute authority (all truth statements are relative to the person(s) making the statement)
d. It doesn’t fit with how we live out lives everyday (we make decisions based on an idea of absolute truth or objective reality—e.g. we don’t buy the green meat at Wal-Mart)
“In the absence of truth, power is the only game in town.” Richard John Neuhaus
When truth is on trial, what is your testimony?
Do you spin it to fit your own terms, or do you stand for God’s truth (the absolute Truth)?
2. Truth is Pragmatic/Power
Pilate (John 18:33-38)
Bear with me in a bit of speculation here
a. Scholars are not sure why Pilate asked his infamous question
b. It is not clear exactly what Pilate may have thought about truth
c. Pilate certainly spoke some truth in his encounter with Jesus
d. Pilate finally decides to give up one man to preserve the peace of a nation (pragmatism)
Pilate’s experience with the Jews shows that he often operated from a pragmatic stance in which he understood truth to be determined by the person with the most power or by the idea that seemed to work the best
Let’s take a closer look at Pilate’s dilemma
a. He had a bad history with the Jews
b. He had to please his superiors and keep peace with the Jews
c. It was early in the morning
d. He had problems accepting the story of the Jewish leaders
e. It was Passover, a high holy day for the Jews
f. Jesus didn’t look like much of a king or a threat for that matter
g. He had to make a choice that would please the most people and cause the least problem
Pilate questioned the Truth as it stood before him, but failed to stay and listen when he asked the most important question—”What is Truth?”
Truth often confronts us in silence before it screams to us
Jesus stood before Pilate as the revelation of Truth, and Pilate simply turned away and chose a pragmatic or practical route instead
But pragmatic truth has some of the same problems as “relative” truth, doesn’t it?
When truth is on trial, what is your testimony?
Do you simply do what works, or do you stand for God’s Truth?
3. Truth is Absolute
Jesus (John 18:33-38)
Look at what Jesus says to Pilate
a. He gets to the heart of the issue by asking Pilate a question (v. 34—Do you really want to know?)
b. In response to Pilates’ question “What have you done?”, Jesus responds with a definition of his kingdom
His kingdom does not have a worldly origin
Doesn’t mean that it won’t have influence in the world
Means that the authority of Jesus and his kingdom is higher than the authority of worldly kingdoms
Jesus defines his kingdom by its testimony to the truth
a. Jesus’ kingdom is true
b. Jesus’ followers listen to him
c. Jesus’ kingdom is characterized by people who speak and live the truth
Jesus seems to promote a view of truth that corresponds to what is real, to reality
Jesus’ view of truth is an absolute one
a. Truth is defined by a reality outside of the observer
b. Truth corresponds to actual or absolute reality
c. Something is either true or false as it describes what is real or actual
d. Truth is not simply an “it,” it is a person
e. Jesus came to testify to the Truth of God and his relationship to humanity (John 1:9-18; 14:6)
f. Jesus is Truth
When the Bible speaks of truth, it speaks of that which corresponds to reality, that which is factual and absolute
What is Truth? Truth is Jesus, everything that does not correspond to his character is false
When truth is on trial, what is your testimony?
Application
“What is Truth?” asks Pilate, while Jesus reminds us that his kingdom and his very existence is to testify of the Truth. Jesus further says, “Everyone who is of the truth hears (or listens to) my voice.”
Do the lives we live give evidence that we hear the voice of Christ, that we live his truth?
If God’s Word is Truth (John 17:17), and if that Truth produces holiness, then what should our response to Truth be?
To be “true” followers of Christ we must be “true” to his word
This week:
a. Examine your life for “truth.” What in your life corresponds to the character and teaching of Christ and what doesn’t?
b. Spend at least 15 minutes every day reading the Truth, the Word of God
c. List at least one thing you can do in response to the Scripture that will show you are living God’s Truth, then go out and do it
d. Speak the truth of God’s redeeming love or encouraging grace to someone who needs it this week—show them God’s love by sharing with them his Truth
When truth is on trial, what is your testimony?
Thanks for reading!
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