DRINKING THE CUP: ANOTHER KINGDOM

PART II

JOHN 18:33-40

AUGUST 24, 1997

 

In the context of our Lord explaining the reality of His kingdom, He tells us that His purpose for coming to earth was "to bear witness to the truth."  The weight of this statement should startle us when we think of the unwillingness on the part of most people to hunger for truth.  Even among evangelical Christians, the desire for "truth" seems to be secondary at best.

 

I read that a recent Barna Research Group poll stated that 52% of professing Christians said that Satan "is not a living being, but is a symbol of evil."  That number was not far below the percentage of Americans who doubted the personage of Satan (61%).  Surprisingly, according to Barna's poll, a majority of "born-again Christians (55 percent) also reject the existence of the Holy Spirit," considering Him to be only a symbol of God's presence, not a living person ["What We Believe," SBC Life, August, 1997, 14].

 

It seems that in answer to Pilate's revealing question, "What is truth?" that most people have answered, 'It is whatever I want it to be'.  Such relativism is the fruit of man-centeredness in theology, evangelism, thinking, and living.  It is popular in our day to denigrate anyone who dares to take a stand upon "absolutes," whether moral, religious, or social.  Everyone wants to establish his own benchmark for truth, the futile imagination of one's own mind.

 

Pilate was not asking a strange question.  He actually represented much of humanity that innately possesses an inner yearning for truth.  He asks the question but is either afraid of what "truth" might be or is so wrapped up in himself that he cannot consider anything to be truth which does not originate in his own thought.  Like Pilate, many people will ask the question, "What is truth?" but will not stick around for the answer.  They know that they need to understand truth, whatever it might be, but they have an inner realization that such truth might radically change them.  Truth does not simply go away just because we may ignore it, anymore than an on-coming tornado goes away if we ignore it.

 

Whatever this truth is, Jesus Christ said that He came to bear witness to it.  This "truth" is so important, so necessary to the human existence, that God Himself left heaven to become a man, facing all of the limitations of humanity, experiencing untold suffering, and ultimately facing the cup of God's wrath on the cross, so that man might have truth.  Christ had earlier stated that it is the truth that can set you free but only if you know it (John 8:32).  He even stated that He Himself is the truth (John 14:6).  The work of Christ can be summed up as 'bearing witness to the truth'.

 

What is the truth which our Lord came to make known?  If God Himself came to deliver truth, should it not be the duty of life itself to know His truth?  Do we not see the greatest revelation of God's truth in the cross of Jesus Christ?  Here, our Lord gives us the truth which alone can make us new creatures, reconcile us to God, and fit us for eternity.  "Wherever the cross is known, the truth of God is known; and wherever the cross is unknown or obscured, there the truth is unknown or obscured," wrote Gardiner Spring in the 19th century [The Attraction of the Cross, 29].

 

Jesus came to bear witness to the truth that can set men free from the bondage of sin--it is the truth of His atoning work on the cross.  Perhaps three observations on our text will help us frame this study in God's Word.  (1) Whatever constitutes truth, it must originate in God Himself and can only be disclosed by God Himself.  (2) Though man has a natural desire for truth, albeit corrupted by the fall, he cannot know truth through purely natural means.  (3) The kind of truth of which our Lord spoke is of necessity both cognitive (it can be understood) and experiential (it must be practiced).

 

With this in mind, let us seek to answer Pilate's question, "What is truth?"  And let us seek to discover the truth which alone sets us free.

 

I.  Truth understood

 

How do you define truth?  R.L. Dabney, the 19th century Southern Presbyterian theologian, wrote, "The word truth is so simple as to be, perhaps, undefinable.  It may be said to be that which is agreeable to reality of things" [Systematic Theology, 171].  For something to be "truth" in the sense that our Lord uses the word, it must be real--i.e., it exists, and it must remain stable--i.e., it is always true.  For example, I can say, 'It is true that grass is green'.  While this statement is true during this particular time of year, it is not always true.  Therefore I cannot say that it is a truth that grass is green.  Sometimes it is--that is a reality, but sometimes it is brown, therefore it lacks stability or consistency.  Truth never changes from age to age or culture to culture.  It has reality and stability.

 

I believe this is why our text speaks to the whole issue of truth when Jesus Christ said, "For this reason I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth."  The incarnation finds its rationale in our Lord bearing witness to the truth.  The whole matter of the kingdom of God cannot be understood or experienced apart from our Lord bearing witness to the truth.  So whatever "truth" may be, without it we will not know Jesus Christ nor be part of His kingdom.  Our Lord was not referring to mere academic themes that are to be enjoyed by the 'professional' but forgotten by the 'non-professional'.  He is referring to true life and liberty in relationship to the truth.

 

1.  In Person

 

Truth is not an idea that is cast upon the sea of human thought, tossed up and down by different people in different ways.  The kind of truth in which you can anchor your eternity cannot be found in the passing philosophies of the age.  You must look to the One, Eternal Being--the Rock of Ages--who embodies all truth.  Jesus came "to bear witness to the truth."  The message of truth which Jesus Christ bore is trustworthy because of His character which is grounded in truth.

 

Our text actually has a two-pronged thrust to it.  It speaks of truth which can be stated propositionally.  And it also speaks of truth which has its foundation in the God of truth.  For Jesus to call Himself, "the truth," implies His deity, for God alone is eternally true.  All humans have within them areas of non-truth or deception or lying.  We cover-up our sins; we are limited in our knowledge so that we state matters incorrectly; we twist and manipulate conversations to put ourselves in more profitable positions.  All of that is the lot of humanity and the evidence of our fallenness.  But Jesus Christ was totally different.  No untruths ever came from His lips nor even entered into His thoughts.  He never led people on nor deceived even in the least degree.  He spoke with perfect transparency and lived in that same kind of light.  So our Lord could boldly declare, "I am the truth" (John 14:6).

 

For Christ to be "the truth" gives eternal weight to His message of truth.  If a sinful man, affected by lying lips was the sole revealer of what was called 'truth', you might justifiably have doubts concerning its trustworthiness.  Though Pilate did not understand the scope of what Christ spoke, our Lord identified Himself as deity who took on humanity so that He might be the final Revealer of divine truth to mankind:  "For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world...."  God alone, who created all truth, can reveal truth.  He is "the God of truth," as the Psalmist expressed it in Psalm 31:5, i.e., the God in whom all truth dwells and finds its profoundest expression in Him.  

 

2.  In precept

 

If truth is simply a characteristic or attribute of deity without any precepts or propositions, we would have difficulty understanding truth.  When God tells us that He is holy, righteous, loving, full of mercy, we understand these things because they were stated propositionally in God's Word and manifest in the life of Jesus Christ.  We might say they were written in the Word and illustrated in Christ.  We understand the truth of Christ's character 2000 years after His earthly life because of what is written in the Word of God.  For it is within the Word of God that we have God's perfect revelation of truth.  Anything outside the scope of the Bible concerning Christ is not acceptable to us.  It is purely subjective.  

 

Jesus had already clarified this in John 17:17, "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth."  If we want to know truth, then the one place to find it is the Word of God.  It cannot be found in philosophies, even though some philosophers might speak some things that are true.  It cannot be found in modern day prophets, even though some might speak some things that are true.  We are not to rest the weight of our eternity upon some things that are true, but upon the truth of the ages, revealed in Jesus Christ and written in the Word of God.  The Word of God, which is a record of the utterances of God Himself, an extension of His character and ways, is the objective standard of truth.  It's culminating message is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  Again I quote Spring, who adds, "Nowhere is the true character of God so fully revealed as in the cross."  He continues,

Every truth in the Bible brings us at last to the cross, and the cross carries us back to every truth in the Bible; so that the sum and substance of all truth is most impressively proved, illustrated, and enforced, by "Christ and him crucified."  A right conception of what is included in the cross, insures a right conception of every important doctrine contained in the Bible.  This is the hinge on which the whole system turns, and the great truth by which alone any and all truths can be understood [Attraction of the Cross, 25].

 

Our day has a glut of supposed revelations from God.  They come from all corners of religion and philosophy, vying for the attention of any who will give ear.  The pride of man is eager to find something new which God has not spoken so that he can glory in his understanding.  But truth is eternal.  It never changes for its reality comes from the character of God.  James P. Boyce expressed this clearly a century ago:

No truth ever taught by God can be opposed by any new truth from him.  What with God is truth is eternal truth.  Like himself, it is the same "yesterday, to-day and forever."  It may be more abundantly or clearly revealed.  We may learn to comprehend it better and to correct our own misapprehensions of it, but whatever God has once given as truth must so remain forever, as changeless as his own life [Abstract of Systematic Theology, 50].


In a general way, I believe we can say that Christ implied to Pilate that whatever is written in the Word of God is truth and He came to bear witness to it.  To be more specific in this context, I believe our Lord is speaking of those truths which constitute the gospel of Jesus Christ, for He is speaking of what is necessary to be part of His kingdom (John 18:37).  Jesus Christ came to bear witness to the truth of Who God is, what His nature is like, what His purposes are in humanity and in creation.  In the cross we see the awfulness of God's wrath and the greatness of His mercy and love.  Jesus came to bear witness to mankind's sinfulness and the corruption that became man's lot through the Fall.  He came to bear witness to the judgment of God against sinners, showing that one day all will stand before God as Judge, giving an account of all our deeds.  In so doing, Jesus Christ bore witness to man's helplessness and desperate condition before God as He hung on the cross on our behalf.  He showed humanity that no one has enough righteousness to commend himself to God, that apart from the grace of God in Christ, no sinner can ever be reconciled to God. (Matt. 11:20-24; 12:33-45; 15:1-20).

 

The fact that Jesus Christ came from heaven to earth in the incarnation shows that Jesus was bearing witness to humanity's need for atonement for their sins and the need for God's wrath to be propitiated [satisfied] (Rom. 3:21-28).  He bore witness to Himself as 'the way, the truth, and the life,' so that no one can come to the Father except through His righteousness and sacrifice on their behalf, and that apart from being 'born again' a person cannot see the kingdom of God (John 14:6; 3:1-8; 14-18).  He testified that He was the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep in a bloody, sacrificial death (John 10:11, 17-18; I Pet. 1:18-19).  Jesus bore witness that He alone is "the resurrection and the life," so that through faith in Him a person might have life and have it abundantly and eternally (John 11:25; 10:10; 6:47).  Our Lord bore witness to our need for repentance for the kingdom of God is at hand and believing in Him as the Bread of God that has come from heaven, so that in feeding by faith upon Him we might have eternal life (Mark 1:15; John 6:52-58).

 

"What is truth?" Pilate asked.  Truth stood before him and he did not know it.  The satisfaction of God for sinners awaited the gory death of the cross to atone for our sins.  There is truth--in Jesus Christ at the cross!  Do you understand the truth?

 

II. Truth revealed

 

We sometimes speak of 'discovering Christ' or 'finding the Lord' in referring to our conversion.  By that we are implying the heart-searching on our own part when we realized our desperate plight before God, so that coming to Christ was as if we had discovered the greatest treasure contained in the universe.  Indeed, from the human perspective, that is a good picture.  We even see this picture painted for us in the parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price.  But all of this is viewing salvation from our perspective.  Behind our discoveries is the revelation of God.  How did we find the Hidden Treasure?  How did we come upon the Pearl of Great Price?  God was there, revealing Himself and the glorious work of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, so that we might come to faith in Him.

 

1.  Desire for truth

 

There is a sense that every human being has a desire for truth.  The problem is that he has no idea what truth is nor does he have an affinity for the God of truth.  All people want and even expect to be told truth.  You notice this in a small child.  Everything you tell a child is considered to be truth by him.  If you tell him that the moon is made of green cheese, then he will argue with anyone else who disputes what you have told him.  Man's seemingly natural skepticism results from the experience of continually facing deception, so that he becomes more and more wary of truth.  When I was a child I recall seeing a tree trunk where a limb had long before broken off and left a scar with a crevice down the middle.  Someone told me that at night that crevice would open up and an owl would come out of it.  I believed that for years!  There was not even the faintest notion to truth in that statement, but because my mind innately desired truth I believed what I was told.

 

Dabney stated, "As the eye craves light, so the mind loves the truth" [Systematic Theology, 422].  The problem is that the mind looks for truth in all the wrong places.  It seeks satisfaction and fulfillment, going from one pleasure to another, from one achievement to another, from one relationship to another.  But no truth is found.  So the mind keeps seeking in all the wrong places and wrong things.  

 

I believe that this is a good reason for us to give much attention to teaching our children and youth the truths of God's Word.  While their minds are open and impressionable, let's give them the Word of God.  They can get entertainment and tickling of their fancies from plenty of other places, but from the church they need the Word.  They need to hear over and over the truth of God's character and being, the truth of God's divine purpose, and in particular, the truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and raised from the dead as the only Savior for sinners.  

 

2.  Perception of truth

 

But I must hasten to point out that while we must endeavor to teach truth because the mind has some desire for it, be it ever so faint, it cannot be perceived apart from divine grace.  Why is this so?  Multitudes of people listened to the message of Jesus Christ.  They saw Him climb the hill of Golgotha and hang on a cross between two thieves.  They heard about His resurrection.  But though they found some interest in it and even enjoyed hearing what He had to say (Mark 12:37), they were not eternally changed.  Their minds were stirred and even their thoughts were elevated; but their natures remained just as black and barren as ever.  Our Lord expressed it to Pilate like this, "Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  Plenty of people heard Him speak.  Their ears tuned into the sound waves created by His vocal cords.  But they did not hear Him.  

 

Do you recall that occasion when Jesus was teaching the multitudes in parables and offered that marvelous parable of the sower [better, parable of the soils]?  After giving the parable to these people, the disciples questioned Him on this practice.  Christ stated, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted" (Matt. 13:11).  This statement clearly tells us that whatever understanding the disciples had, it came not because of their own keen perception, but as a gift from God.  It was "granted," i.e., given to them to understand.  This same passage in Matthew's gospel continues to explain,

Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, 'YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT YOU WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES LEST THEY SHOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I SHOULD HEAL THEM.'  But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear (13: 13-16).


We cannot be satisfied with simply hearing truth or delivering truth for it to be heard.  Unless we perceive truth, it will not eternally affect us.  Unless truth comes in all of its power and divine light into our minds and hearts by the gracious revealing work of the Holy Spirit, then we will be no better off than the multitudes of whom Christ spoke.  It is the Holy Spirit who convinces us concerning the offensiveness of sin to a Holy God, the sufficiency of the righteousness of Jesus Christ and His merits on the cross, and the surety that God has judged our sin in the person of Jesus Christ so that "there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" (John 16:8-11; Rom. 8:1).  Such revelation comes, not by the size of our intellect, but by the grace of God.

 

Why did Peter understand and not Pilate?  Why did John perceive the truth but not Caiaphas the high priest?  Pilate and Caiaphas were certainly keen-minded.  But their hearts were dull and their ears were shut to the truth of God in Christ.  God in His mercy gave light to the fishermen, Peter and John, so that they might see and hear Jesus Christ and Him crucified in order to find the only eternal refuge for the souls of men.

 

Have you perceived the truth of what Jesus Christ has accomplished for the salvation of sinners?  Perhaps you can recite the 'facts' of the gospel with great clarity.  But has the weight of its truth--the only truth for the salvation of men--has it come to you with such power that you have run to Jesus Christ for mercy, forgiveness, and life?  My friend, if not, then I can only plead with you to cry out to the Lord to give you understanding of the gospel of Christ so that it becomes more than ink on a page.  Cry out to Him until it becomes your only life and joy!

 

III. Truth owned

 

The truth found in Jesus Christ, the truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified on behalf of sinners, must be owned if it is to impart its life-giving power.  We are not interested in simply expanding our mental apprehensions so that we can consider ourselves brighter than most of the world.  That is foolish when eternity is at stake.  There have been plenty of brilliant people who have expanded their minds with all sorts of material related to the truth of God, but they never owned this truth to the saving of their souls.  We could line the walls of our church with books written by 'learned men' who were "always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (II Tim. 3:7).  Facts, facts, facts--yes, you can fill your mind with facts concerning Jesus Christ but never know Him and go through life empty and into eternity separated from Him!  The truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified must be owned by faith.

 

1.  Relation to truth

 

The truth of the kingdom of God that Jesus had begun to explain to Pilate involves a relationship.  His kingdom is His reign of righteousness over our lives.  It is Jesus Christ conquering the wretched sinfulness of our hearts through His atoning death and reigning over us as our King.  He told Pilate, "Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  To be "of the truth" means that you are living within the sphere of the effect of truth; you are living out your life in relationship to the truth of God in Christ.  The truth has become yours through faith in Jesus Christ.  Now, you are "of the truth."

 

Jesus Christ was speaking of a reality that would be known by multitudes throughout the ages.  All who are born of God are part of the "everyone who is of the truth" to which He referred.  It is not everyone who attends church or everyone who claims to be a Christian that is "of the truth."  For He qualifies the statement by saying that such a one "hears My voice."  That is the same idea which He spoke earlier before a mixed group using the illustration of a shepherd with his sheep.  "...The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.  When he puts forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. And a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers" (John 10:3-5).  The repetitious idea of hearing His voice speaks of the revelation of God's truth that has come to the heart and mind so that we have embraced it by faith.  Now Christ is our own and we are His own.  

 

The same truth was expressed by our Lord in His high priestly prayer.  In John 17:8, He prayed, "For the words which Thou gavest Me I have given to them; and they received them, and truly understood that I came forth from Thee, and they believed that Thou didst send Me."  The "words" which the Father gave to Christ constitute the whole message of the gospel, truth which can be stated in propositions.  But it is truth that can be "received...understood...and...believed."  

 

Have you heard the voice of Christ in your own heart?  Oh, please understand; I am not speaking about some strange experience that has no foundation in the Word of God.  Instead, I am referring to the saving message of the gospel of Christ being so communicated to you by the Holy Spirit that you can exclaim with Peter, "Lord, you have the words of life!"

 

2.  Experience of truth

 

Pilate could stand before Him who is the Truth of God and ask the question, "What is truth?" then walk away without waiting for an answer.  Truth stood before Pilate but he wanted none of Christ.  There are 'Pilates' everywhere.  They see the truth but they don't see it.  They hear the truth but they don't hear it.  They ask the right questions but they don't wait for the answer in Christ.  They are so consumed with themselves and their own agenda in life that they miss the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

If truth could not be experienced, then Jesus wasted His time bearing witness to the truth.  But we see that He refers to people being in relationship to the truth so that they hear His voice.  "Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."  This statement demands experience of truth.  The little preposition "of" literally places the "everyone" right in the middle of truth.  These people are "of the truth," they have experienced the ultimate truth of God as revealed in Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

 

Once a person truly experiences the truth in Christ, their experience of Him grows year by year, from one degree of grace to another.  But the experience of truth must have a beginning point.  Jesus Christ is the living truth of God, revealed to sinners as the only Redeemer of sinful men, and offered to all who will come to Jesus Christ by repentance and faith.  He is the Prophet who speaks savingly to you so that you can 'hear His voice'.  He is the Priest who mediated the way to God for you through His bloody, sacrificial death on the cross.  He is the King who reigns personally over all He redeems, whom He has made to be an actual kingdom unto Him. 

 

Conclusion

 

Come to Jesus Christ, the truth of God, the only Savior of sinners!  Come with all of your burdens, all the weight of your sin, and find Him to be the great sufficiency of God who has born your burden at the cross so that you might be joyfully reconciled to God by faith in Him.

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