Daily Devotion for Thursday 24th July 2025

St John 18: 28 – 38

Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover.  So Pilate went out to them and said, ‘What accusation do you bring against this man?’  They answered, ‘If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.’  Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.’ The Jews replied, ‘We are not permitted to put anyone to death.’  (This was to fulfil what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.) Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’  Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’  Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?’  Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’  Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’  Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’

Reflection

This is such a familiar passage and yet these verses never cease to have a visceral impact upon re-reading.

In John’s rendering of the trial of Jesus we see the culmination of the way the gospel writer contrasts Jesus’ spiritual realm with the self-serving outlook and grubby dealings of those he meets, including this ultimate encounter with those in authority. Jesus’ focus is upon the sublime aims of the Kingdom of God whilst Jewish and Roman leaders trade negotiation positions on how to unjustly dispatch a clearly innocent man.

What is shocking is that even the words the Jewish authorities themselves use betray the fabricated, utterly false nature of the charges being made. Instead of providing evidence they merely make the tautologous remark: “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” And Pilate’s reaction indicates his awareness of the hollow case against Jesus.  The turning point for Pilate, and indeed for Jesus’ fate, is the statement that the Jewish leaders were not permitted to put anyone to death, raising alarm that this business was of a political insurrectionist nature.

The narrative resonates so much with us because it captures potently how, then and now, innocent lives are at the mercy of the powerful who callously barter untruths and fabrications.  The passage ends with Pilate’s rhetorical question: “What is truth?” This may appear to indicate some profound philosophical musing but, given the squalid context of these kangaroo court dealings, it was more likely expressed as a sneering contemptuous dismissal of Jesus’ proclamation that he came to testify to the truth.

Prayer

Dear Lord,
we pray that
we live Kingdom values;
speak truth to power;
challenge grubby injustice,
and proclaim your Kingdom come,
in all its power and the glory
Amen.