December 1 — "Truth on Trial"

Today's Reading: John 18:19-40

Jesus stood before Pilate. Bruised. Bound. And seemingly beaten. Yet He carried Himself like the only truly free Man in the room. Pilate tried to cram Him into political boxes—king, rebel, threat—but Jesus refused the labels of earthly kingdoms. Instead, He spoke a sentence so bold it still slices through centuries: “For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.” In a moment dripping with tension, the true King quietly revealed the real battlefield. It was never about Rome. It was never about power. It was always about Truth.

Here’s the shocker: Jesus didn’t defend Himself—He revealed Himself. He didn’t fight for His rights—He testified to reality. And in that dim, echoing chamber, the Truth incarnate stared into the eyes of a man who couldn’t even recognize Him.

Pilate’s question still hangs in the air: “What is truth?” It sounds almost academic, but it’s tragic. The Truth was literally standing three feet in front of him.

And here’s the twist we often miss: Jesus wasn’t just bearing witness to the truth—He was bearing witness AS the Truth. When He spoke, Truth had a voice. When He stood there, Truth had a spine. When He chose the cross, Truth had a mission. While Pilate is concerned with a political threat (an earthly king), Jesus pivots the conversation to a spiritual reality: His Kingdom is built on Truth, and His subjects are those who listen to it.

Then Jesus drops a stunning line: “Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” He isn’t sorting humanity into the educated and the ignorant, nor the privileged and needy, but into those who recognize His voice as the sound of life and those who drown it out because it unsettles their comfortable illusions. Jesus ties truth not to intellect but to relationship—hearing His voice, recognizing His tone, responding to His call.

Truth, in this passage, isn’t a concept to be debated; it’s a Person to be encountered. It’s not something you master; it’s Someone who masters you—and then sets you free.

So when life feels like Pilate’s courtroom—loud, pressured, confusing—Jesus reminds you of your purpose too: to listen for His voice above the noise. You won’t always get answers, but you will always get direction. You won’t always know the “why,” but you will always know the One who is Truth, unshakable and unchanging.

May the Lord open your ears to His voice, anchor your heart in His Truth, and steady your steps as you follow the One who came to reveal the very heart of reality.