The conversation went as follows:

Then Jesus is led by Caiaphas into the praetorium. It was early in the morning, and the Jews themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they be profaned, for they were about to eat the Passover. Therefore Pilate came out to them and asked emphatically, “What charge do you bring against this man [Jesus]?” They answered him, “If this one had done no evil, we would not hand Him over to you!” Pilate now replied to them, “You take Him and judge Him according to your law!”

Then the Jews answered Him, “It is not lawful for us to kill anyone,” so that Jesus’ word might be fulfilled that He had said when He indicated the death He was about to die.

Then Pilate went back into the Praetorium, summoned Jesus and asked Him, “You are the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Are you asking this of yourself, or did others tell you about Me? Pilate replied: “I am not a Jew! Your nation and the high priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingship were of this world, My subjects would have interceded for Me so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. My kingship is not from here now.

Then Pilate said to Him, “So you are a king after all?” Jesus answered: “You say it that I am a king. I was born for this purpose; and I came into the world for this purpose, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate answered Him, “What is truth?” When he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and declared to them, “I find no fault in Him!”
John 18:28-39

It is a frank dialogue between Jesus and Pilate, in which the latter tries to understand why the Jews bring Him to him. Why does it work and what did you do? This is the question of Pilate. Indeed, the Jews themselves cannot bring a charge against Jesus. There was also nothing that could lead to an indictment. All that is said is that they probably would not have brought Him if He were blameless. A strange statement, and in no way a justification!

Jesus was only to be condemned. But this was to be done as simply, quickly and with deadly consequences for Jesus as possible. You do not want to open a court case with the prospect of jurisdiction. This religious upper class wants Jesus out of the way. The Jews were not allowed to kill anyone themselves, but they are dependent on the Roman rulers here. That is why Jesus was brought before Pilate.

You said it!

When Pilate asks Jesus if He is a king, Jesus replies, “You say so.” In Greek, the “you” is stressed. Wherever the emphasis falls in the Greek in the text, I have highlighted it as red writing. In the Concordant New Testament, this emphasis is also noted throughout the German text.

So Jesus does not say here “You say it quite correctly!”, but he says “You say it! It is your statement, not mine”. Jesus mirrors Pilate’s question and does not allow Himself to be led into using the term “king” according to Pilate’s worldly understanding. If He had bluntly said, “Yes, I am a king,” it would have been as clear as day as a danger to the Roman rulers. Just as Herodus once heard from the magicians of the East that a king had been born (Matt. 2:2) and Herodus then had all the children up to the age of 2 killed (Matt. 2:16-18). Jesus Himself had not spoken about Him being King. It is Pilate who uses this word in his question. Jesus responded by pointing out that Pilate had brought in the word, not Himself.

My kingdom is not of this world

When Jesus began to preach, the proclamation was “The kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Mt 4:17). In fact, the proclamation had to do with a kingdom, and likewise He was King. Jesus did answer Pilate that it was he who had mouthed the word king, but Jesus also said “I was born to this” (John 18:37).

His kingdom, Jesus answered Pilate, is not of this world (John 18:36). It is a demarcation from the imperial rule of Rome. Jesus is not in competition with the emperor. That is why Pilate could not find fault with Jesus. Jesus had done nothing that needed to be condemned under Roman law. Neither the Jews nor the Romans found anything in Jesus that could be used for condemnation.

The Kingdom of Heaven is a kingdom with heavenly origins. It is not a kingdom in heaven, nor is it a description of the afterlife. It is a kingdom that the prophets foresaw (Dan 2:44 and Dan 7:27) for a future time. The God of heaven, says Daniel, will establish this kingdom among all the heavens. This time and the Kingdom had “come near” with Jesus. The raising does not require rebellion, which is why the disciples did not become violent (with one exception John 18:10). The kingdom is coming in due time, even though Jesus could not say exactly when that would take place (Acts 1:6-8).

A testimony for the truth

In the conversation with Pilate, Jesus brought a turning point when He said: “and I have come into the world for this purpose, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37). It was not kingship that was important to Jesus, but something else entirely: He was to bear witness to the truth. That is the reason He came into the world.

A chapter earlier, Jesus spoke at length of His testimony:

I have revealed Your name to the people You have given Me from the world. Yours they were, and to Me You gave them, and Your word they preserved. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You, for the words You have given Me I have given them, and they have accepted them, and have truly come to know that I have gone forth from You, and they believe that You have sent Me forth.
John 17:6-8

In the same context, Jesus also said:

Your word is the truth.
John 17:17

A testimony is what you give to others. Jesus bears witness to the truth. This is the essence of His proclamation, quite apart from the content of the proclamation. Especially in the Gospel of John, there is a particularly frequent mention of witnessing. A whole 33 times the Greek martureo (to bear witness) is used by John. The word marturia for witness is also used particularly much in John’s Gospel compared to the other Gospels (14 times).

In the conversation with Pilate, this now clearly comes to the fore. Jesus bears witness to the truth. For there are reliable things, said and promised by God, which are now being fulfilled here. This view, however, is alien to Pilate. Pilate answers in such a modern way: “What is truth?”, as if this could not be clarified.

The claim of truth

The claim of truth is unambiguity. But nothing is more difficult in this world than unambiguity. How should we as human beings know an absolute truth? This is impossible. But there is an entry point here that may help. Truth and understanding of God are very close to each other. Uniqueness is something we attribute to God. God is One. With truth it behaves almost identically.

Absolute truth is clear. It is something like the ground on which everything else stands. Truth is and remains truth even if some see it quite differently. However, as difficult as it is to understand God according to our human understanding, we have just as much trouble recognizing truth as unambiguous. It should not be surprising then that the relativization of truth and the relativization of a single God go hand in hand.

Truth is positive precisely because it is unambiguous. Concepts like “justice” are based on truth. This does not mean, however, that one has the truth itself rented. So there is a problematic side to the truth. Whoever says that he possesses the truth not only denies his human limitations, but also elevates himself to God. It does not matter whether he actually means himself or a certain view of the world that has been adopted. This can be easily seen with today’s dictators. They claim to have the truth, and at the same time to embody it. In fact, the two go together. They make themselves godlike. This manifests itself in a Führer cult.

However, Pilate does not stand on this detached level. Pilate seems to be on the way quite soberly when he answers, “What is truth?”. Does he distance himself from an absolute concept of truth? It seems so. His answer is remarkable and also gives an insight into the world of this man. Jesus spoke about truth. Pilate answers without delay, as if he were familiar with this kind of question. He has already thought about it once. In doing so, he probably came to the conclusion that the question of (absolute) truth could not be answered so easily. Accordingly, his spontaneous answer is.

Let’s look a little closer at the backgrounds of Jesus and Paul. Pilate has just said to Jesus, “I am not a Jew!”. That’s right. He was a Roman. The Romans did not have only one God. They accepted several gods. The emperor was also glorified as a god. In Israel, a daily sacrifice was offered by the Romans in the Temple of the Jews. Does not matter, so it does not hurt! It is a religious pragmatism of the conquerors to come to terms with the occupied territories. After all, you don’t have to make people extra angry, which would only lead to unrest. They should just pay taxes. It does not hurt to have sacrifices made in the temple. It is probably difficult to come to an understanding of unambiguous truth in such an environment.

Jesus, on the other hand, was a Jew. He had grown up with the “Shema Israel! Hear Israel, your God is One!” (Deut. 6:4). One God and One Truth. This was clear to Him as a Jew. This is what the Bible testifies to throughout. The fact that Jesus now “bore witness to the truth” fits in excellently with the biblical understanding.

Jesus’ statement “I came into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” must have sounded very strange to Pilate. With such a statement, Jesus was not a threat to the Roman Empire.

Truth is disturbing

The claim of truth is disturbing. If there is an absolute truth, then this also means that everything will once land on the ground of this truth. I can imagine that this thought is not pleasant for everyone. There is then also fierce opposition to the notion of an absolute truth. Truth today is “subjective” and never “objective” or “absolute”. But this seems to concern more the consideration of truth. My understanding is limited and subjective. However, this would not necessarily affect the truth itself.

Let’s compare two ways of looking at the Bible:

• In a biblical interpretation, unambiguous truth is often linked to a particular doctrine. Truth is what certain people believe or what certain teachers say. Truth is regulated. It is a certain understanding that has received the aura of “absolute truth”. They are beliefs that have solidified into ideologies. Religious fanaticism sets in here.
• In a biblical view of the Bible, truth is not regimented, but related to something or someone. Truth, as it is communicated among people, is always only a reflection of truth, and arises from a relationship to truth. Thus Jesus bears “witness to the truth” as it says “He who sent Me is true, and what I have heard from Him I speak to the world” (John 8:26).

John writes: “What He has seen and heard He testifies to; but no one accepts His testimony. He who has accepted His testimony seals with it that God is true. For He whom God has commissioned speaks the words of God” (John 3:33-34). In this sense it is also said: “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Jesus is the true way to life, and no one comes to the Father but through Him. This is not a condition as it is often interpreted, but a simple description of the function Jesus has. Is there a way to God? Yes, Jesus is the true way to life, and no one comes to the Father but through Him. This is explanation: this is how it works, this is true, this is truth. As a figure of speech, this is about a metaphor in three parts, a hendiatry.

So figures of speech are used here, because truth is not parameterizable, just as little as God could be described conclusively. We are introduced to the truth of God through the biblical words in language we can understand. We can only experience it in fragments, and it will perhaps only be fulfilled in its entirety when God will one day be “all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28).