Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

~John 18:38 ESV

Jesus was and is the King, ruling in people’s minds through the power of truth. Yet the world has always opposed absolutes or wondered what is truth.

What the World Says Is True

There once was a clockmaker in Europe. In his storefront, he had a large clock. A man came by every day and checked his pocket watch with the one in the store. One day, the clockmaker stopped the man and commented on how faithfully he checked the time. The man said he oversaw blowing the 4 o’clock whistle at the local factory and wanted to be on time. But the clockmaker said, “I am sorry to tell you this, but at 4 o’clock, I reset my clock with your whistle.” Without absolute truth, the world just goes around in circles.

Pilate tried to find out whether Jesus considered himself the King of the Jews. Jesus said He was a king, but not as Pilate understood kingship. Jesus ruled through truth. The commentator Matthew Henry said that “the spirit and character of Christ’s kingdom is divine truth.”

What God Says Is True

Pilate’s mindset was the same as many in the world who want to know how we can know the truth. Pilate asked a good question, but he was not interested enough to wait for the answer. The scripture records that he left immediately after asking the question. Many believe that Pilate was making a statement by asking a question. The statement was that no one can know the truth.

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

~John 14:6 ESV

The world does not care if we believe in Jesus, but they do care if we believe only in Jesus and that He is the only source of what’s accurate. What upsets them is that we deny their god(s)–truth based on anything but the Word of God. The Bible says we can know the truth, and that it will set us free.

Stand for what God says is true. It will set you free.

Father, give me the courage to always stand for what is right. In Jesus’s name, amen. 

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2026: What Is Truth: Ken Barnes: All Rights Reserved.