Jesus was the truth

JESUS WAS THE TRUTH
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 18:37-38 Pilatethereforesaid unto him, Art thou
a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a
king. To this end have I been born, and to this end am
I come into the world, that I shouldbear witness unto
the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my
voice. Pilatesaith unto him, Whatis truth?—John
18:37-38.
GreatTexts of the Bible
The Kingdom of Truth
1. Jesus was ontrial for His life on a charge of sedition in claiming to be a
king. The charge was expressedin the question, “Art thou a king then?” His
answerto this charge was a puzzle to His judge. His kingdom was not of this
world, and yet it was to be supreme and universal. Pilate could understand an
authority which was enforcedby Roman legions, and maintained by Roman
bribes, but could not comprehend his prisoner when He rested His claims
simply upon the truth to which He was to bear witness. “ ‘What is truth?’ said
jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer.” The severe assuranceofthe
prisoner brings into bold relief the frivolous scepticismof the judge. It would
almost seemthat in the two were representedthe extremes of modern thought
and character.

2. They were standing face to face in the splendid hall of a palace in
Jerusalem. It was adorned with vessels ofgold and silver: the floor was of rich
mosaic, the columns were of many-coloured marble. The speakerwas a
Roman Governor, seatedon his tribunal in all his pomp. On either side were
the Romansoldiers, in full armour, with spear and shield. Behind his gilded
chair stoodthe lictors with their fasces. Politically, he representedthe
mightiest power on all the earth—the powerof Imperial Rome. Personally, he
wielded an almost irresponsible despotism. Before him, worn and wasted, His
visage marred more than any man—the agonyof long hours of struggle, and
torment, and sleeplessnessin His eyes, the marks of blows and insult on His
face—stooda Jewishprisoner. His hands were bound behind His back; His
garb was the humble dress of a Galileanpeasant. The burning sunlight of an
early Syrian spring streamed through the lattices, and the deep silence which
hangs over an Easterncity at early dawn would ordinarily have been broken
only by the plashing of fountains in the green spaces ofthe garden, or by the
cooing of innumerable doves which sunned their white bosoms over the
marble colonnades. Itwas broken now by far other sounds. The voices of the
two speakerswere almostdrowned by the savage yells ofa Jewishmob—all
raging againstthat toil-worn prisoner, all demanding that the Roman
Governorshould shed His blood.
On the north-east of the Temple in Jerusalem, in menacing attitude, stoodthe
greatHerodian Citadelcalled, after Mark Antony, Turris Antonia. The
perpendicular sides of the hill on which this palatial fortress was rearedwere
facedwith polished marble so as to defy all attempts to scale its walls. On the
platform immediately above this impregnable rampart was planted the
square-built Citadel itself. At eachangle of it there shot up a tower, the one to
the south side being conspicuous by a turret from which the Roman garrison,
much to the annoyance of the priests, could command an unbroken view of
the interior of the Holy Temple. To render this marble camp an abode
suitable for the Roman Governorin times of danger, Herod had built, on a
lowerplatform hewn out of the living rock, a sumptuous residence,

embodying Greciantaste and Oriental luxury. The praetorium, of which the
Gospelspeaks,was approachedonits westernside through an open court or
forum, leading to a noble Roman archwayflanked by two others on a smaller
scale. This triple archwayopened into an area paved with red flagstones,
calledby Greeks,Lithostrotos, and by Jews, Gabbatha. Here at right angles
with the archwaystoodthe white marble Tribune or Bema from which the
Governorwas wont to administer justice. Beyondit sprang a grand staircase
sloping up to the balcony or loggia sweeping to the right and left of the
Governor’s hall. From this point Pilate probably surveyed the accusersof
Jesus.1 [Note:B. Vaughan, Society, Sin and the Saviour, 89.]
I
Truth is a kingdom. It is the kingdom of the Spirit. Its Divine authority was
distinctly enunciated by Jesus in reply to Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this
world,” therefore its swayis inevitable, its passagecannotbe prevented. Men
may try to distort its outlines, but its essentialpowerthey cannotcontrol. It
does not change with the political boundaries or military dominance of earth’s
kingdoms. “If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight.”
Kings cannot prevent its growth. Your Cæsarshallbe forgotten, and his
throne overturned—while My Kingdom shall be spreading over the world and
absorbing all other kingdoms. Priests cannot defile it, howevermuch they may
seek to interpret truth for their own ends. When the ecclesiasticsbrought
Jesus to Pilate, they would not enter into the palace themselves, “lestthey
should be defiled”—and the Passoverwas yetto be eaten. It was an admission
from false ceremonialismof its own weakness. The living truth had gone out
of their system; they had only the outward forms to rely upon, and they did
not dare relinquish one of these, for they had no other authority.

The answerChrist gave to Pilate suggests the best reply to the question,
“What did Christ mean by the Kingdom of God.” He was king, He said, in the
kingdom of the truth, meaning thereby not a mere dogma, but the truth of
God and the truth of man. The kind of power which He here claims is
spiritual power, and that is the greatestthatcan be swayed. Forit is spiritual
power—true or false—thatdetermines history, shapes the characterof
society, directs the tendencies of life, the movements of the world. There are
uncrowned kings who have swayedthe destinies of mankind as no leaders of
armies have been able to swaythem. There have been poets and teachers who
have inspired enthusiasms and kindled hopes that have moved the world, for
they have reigned over the domain of human thought and so determined the
actions of mankind. There have been kings on other thrones than those of
State who have been the realmonarchs of humanity,—Gutenberg with his
printing-press, Baconwith his inductive method, Isaac Newton, James Watt.
What a wide domain of conquest the very mention of these names suggests.
May we not say with truth that if we are to find the influences which have
given power to any of the great epochs ofthe world, we must look not to the
brute force which was calledinto exercise, but to the ideas which gave nerve
to the arms that wielded the force? Wherein, for example, lay the powerof the
armies of revolutionary France? Notsurely in the number of her soldiers or in
the genius of her commanders alone. These countless battalions marched with
songs ofjoy against a world in arms because everyheart there was stirred
with the sense ofa grand cause. It was the charmed words Liberty, Equality,
Fraternity that excited their enthusiasm into a fierce world-conquering
fanaticism. So is it that the true kingdoms which govern men are not those
which strike the eye. They do not excite observation. They are the kingdoms of
human conviction, thought, aspiration, passion. It is in the sphere of ideas, in
the domain of the affections, in the faiths, the hopes, the loves which sway
humanity, that we discoverthe real forces ofthe world. And so it was that
Christ touchedthe true fountain of all powerwhen He refused to use the
forces which the world imagines omnipotent, when He left Cæsaron the
throne and Pilate in the praetorium, and said, “My kingdom is not of this
world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight but my
kingdom is not from hence. For this cause came I into the world, that I should
bear witness to the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”

1. The kingdom of truth is wide in extent.—The truth to which Christ bore
witness at the first was the truth which concernedHis person, and His claims
to the love and obedience of men. On the cross He bore witness to the love of
God for sinning man. By rising from the dead, and ascending to His Father,
He testified that He was indeed the Sonof God. By His present spirit He has
witnessedeversince for the living God as againstthe godlessness andself-
worship to which man is prone. To the truth which enforces the duties of men,
Christ also bore witness, first by His spotless andinspiring life, by His
penetrating and faithful words, and then by the long successionofobedient
disciples who have imitated the one and exemplified the other.
There is, however, truth of other descriptions than the truth which we call
religious and ethical. There is the truth of science,whichis expanded every
year into grander proportions; the truth of letters, which is more and more
abundant and instructive; and the truth of the imagination, which is more and
more varied and inspiring. Has Christ any testimony to give concerning these
kinds of truth? Does Christ hold any relations to Science,Letters, or Art?
And, if so, what are these relations? We believe that they are many and
important. We also hold that the spirit of earnestdiscipleship to Christ always
favours, and often inspires, the highestachievements in every one of these
forms of truth. We hold not only that Christianity satisfies the wants of which
the scholaris conscious as a man, but that it is equally efficient and equally
essentialin stimulating and guiding him rightly as a scholar. In other words,
we contend that allegiance to Christ is a favouring, and in one sense an
essential, conditionof the best human culture and education.
I notice that among all the new buildings which cover your once wild hills,
churches and schools are mixed in due, that is to say, in large proportion, with
your mills and mansions;and I notice also that the churches and schools are
almost always Gothic, and the mansions and mills are never Gothic. May I ask
the meaning of this? for, remember, it is peculiarly a modern phenomenon.

When Gothic was invented, houses were Gothic as well as churches; and when
the Italian style supersededthe Gothic, churches were Italian as well as
houses. If there is a Gothic spire to the Cathedral of Antwerp, there is a
Gothic belfry to the Hôtel de Ville at Brussels;if Inigo Jones builds an Italian
Whitehall, Sir Christopher Wren builds an Italian St. Paul’s. But now you live
under one schoolof architecture, and worship under another. What do you
mean by doing this? Am I to understand that you are thinking of changing
your architecture back to Gothic: and that you treat your churches
experimentally, because it does not matter what mistakes you make in a
church? Or am I to understand that you considerGothic a pre-eminently
sacredand beautiful mode of building, which you think, like the fine
frankincense, should be mixed for the tabernacle only, and reservedfor your
religious services? Forif this be the feeling, though it may seemat first as if it
were gracefuland reverent, at the root of the matter, it signifies neither more
nor less than that you have separatedyour religion from your life.1 [Note:
Ruskin, The Crown of Wild Olives (Works, xviii. 440).]
2. It is a conquering kingdom.—“Magna estVeritas et praevalet.” Like the
magnificent palace of the Incas of Cuzco, the ancient imperial city of Peru,
whose ponderous stones were united by seams ofmelted gold, the whole social
fabric is cementedby this pure and durable element, without which the noble
structure would soontotter to its fall. Falsehoodmakes warwith God’s
grandestattribute, as manifested in heaven and earth, but this attribute must
ultimately triumph to vindicate the glory of His reign.
Truth, crush’d to earth, shall rise again,
The eternalyears of God are hers:
While Error, wounded, writhes in pain,

And dies amid his worshippers.
Many moral victories that we want to see won in the world can be won only
when we are gone;but let us make our contribution, and others will carry on
the struggle. CaptainUrquhart, dying in the Battle of Atbara, in the Soudan,
said to the men who were attending him, “Nevermind me, lads, go on!”
Inspired with the worth of the cause and the importance of his army’s victory,
he could forgethis pain and give up his life, and tell the others to go on. We
have a more important battle to fight—we must carry on the war of God
againstall wrong—andevery soldierthat falls must inspire the others to go
on.1 [Note: T. R. Williams, God’s Open Door, 56.]
3. Its progress is securedby sacrifice.—Christ’s throne is a Cross. The throne
of this king was not like that of Solomon, with its golden lions and ivory steps;
not like the jewelledthrone of Byzantium, or the peacockthrone of the
Moguls. It was the throne of sorrow;it was the throne of awful self-sacrifice.
“By this conquer” gleamedaround that Cross in the vision of Constantine;
and it was before this implement of a slave’s shame and a murderer’s
punishment, that the eagles ofancient, the dragons of later Rome gave way. It
was before this Cross, wovenon the Labarum, that the Paganarmies of
Maxentius were driven into the panic which Raphaelhas so grandly pictured
in his Battle of the Milvian Bridge.
When upon one occasionthe Emperor Justinian was about to surrender to the
clamorous claims and the harsh and violent demands of the mob, his wife
Theodora is representedto have said to him that it was better to meet and go
down to death as the avowedruler of all than purchase life for a little while by
yielding to the unworthy exactions of the unrighteous few;and empire, she
tells him, “is the best winding-sheet.” Empire, universal empire, throughout
all the world, throughout all the ages, is the winding-sheet of Jesus Christ.

Victorious in the wilderness, victorious in Gethsemane, before that worldly-
minded Governorin the judgment hall, victorious on the Cross, because His
eye lookednot upon the unworthy demands of the immediate occasion, but
upon the everlasting years, upon all future times, and wrapped around in the
winding-sheet of empire does He die.1 [Note:D. H. Greer, From Things to
God, 36.]
II
The King of Truth
1. Jesus claimedKingship.—Pilate askedour Lord plainly, “Art thou a
King?” Jesus answered, “Thousayestit,” an expressionwhich in Oriental
language was equivalent to an affirmative, “Yes, I am what thou sayest.” But
Christ took no place or rank among the acknowledgedworld-kings. All forms
of world-dominion He refused. Throughout His life He repressedevery
attempt to gain for Him an earthly royalty, even as at the beginning of His
ministry He repelled the devil’s offer of the kingdoms of the earth and the
glory of them. The only royal robe He everwore was the scarletrobe of
mockeryand insult; the only crown that ever encircledHis brow was the
crownof suffering and plaited thorns; the only sceptre He ever bore was the
reed with which cruel hands smote Him. This does not seemkingly; yet, could
we but understand and appreciate it aright, there is a grandeur and moral
splendour about it such as never circledround the marble throne, and
gorgeous draperies, andjewelledcrowns of any mere world-king. World-
kings are kings of wealth, and genius, and lands, and people, and armies. The
Christ-King, crownedwith thorns, is yet the King of the suffering, King of the
patient, King of the spiritual, King of souls, King of the eternal, King of truth.

2. Jesus is the embodiment of truth.—Milton says of truth: “Truth indeed
came once into the world with her Divine Master, and was a perfect shape
most glorious to look on.” Milton looks upon truth as one who comes with
Christ into the world. Would it not be better to say that Christ Himself is the
Embodiment of truth, for He says, “I am the truth”? Christ’s own testimony
is proof of this, for three times in the Gospelaccording to St. John He speaks
of Himself as the True One. He is the True Vine for reproduction (John 15:1),
in contrastto Israel, who proved to be the false vine (Jeremiah 2:21). He is the
True Bread for satisfaction(John6:32), in contrastto the manna in the
wilderness, which only met the present necessityofthe people; and He is the
True Light for illumination (John 1:9), in contrastto the false wrecker-lights
of men.
3. Jesus bore witness to the truth.—This was the purpose of His mission. “To
this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I
should bear witness unto the truth.” He is now before Pilate and nearing the
close ofHis earthly life. The unity of His life, we see as we study it, is the
following out to the minutest detail of the principle which He says has been
and is His controlling purpose—to testify to the truth. In the events which are
to follow, Jesus is true to the conceptionof His mission, eventhough His
persistence in bearing witness to the truth leads Him to the ignominious death
upon the cross. Fidelityto His mission He carriedto the extent of yielding up
His own life rather than ceaseto bear witness to the truth.
(1) He bore witness by His character.—Itis nothing more than a simple
truism to saythat, apart from the metaphysics of His Person, which opens a
wide field for speculative controversy, Jesus is the supreme revealerof God.
The characterofthe invisible and omnipresent Deity, whom no eye can fully
see, and no life can adequatelyexpress, who is without an equal in wisdom
and powerand goodness,is focused, as it were, in the personality of Jesus.
That which overwhelms us by its mystery and vastness, as we look into the
universe around us—ofwhich we are a part—is brought within the range of

our vision, and the reachof our love, by Jesus of Nazareth. Notonly is there
revelation in its loftiest compass, andin its most unveiled expression, but there
is something specialand unique in the form of it.
(2) He bore witness by His Ministry and Passion.—There are groups of pines
on the crag-ledgesofUmbria which strike the eye againstthe clearstill sky
when the autumn night is coming. Each tree alone is weird, it is gnarled and
twisted, bared by the tempest, or distorted and tortured by the pitiless wind;
but the group they form togetherhas nothing but dignity, the dignity of
support and endurance in a lonely world. So it is essentiallife, togetherwith
unparalleled pain leading up to a voluntary and a dreadful death, that gives to
the witness of the Passionthe emphasis of extent and intensity.
When in the fifth century the Byzantine Empire was sinking into the
decrepitude of a merely nominal Christianity, St. Chrysostomsaw some
convertedGoths, with their clearblue eyes and yellow hair, kneeling to
worship in one of the BasilicasofConstantinople, and he prophesied that that
bold and hardy race should snatchthe torch of truth from the more faithless
and more feeble hands. They had laid down their barbarism, they had broken
their idols at the feet of Him whom they called“The White Christ.” Their own
fierce chieftains they chose from the boldest soldiers, and lifted them upon
their shields, amid shouts of warriors and clashof swords;but they bowed
before the royalty of a crucified Redeemer. Of their race in part are we. And
if we fail in our allegiance to Christ, He will never lack other soldiers and
other servants;for though the heart of men be full of evil, though for a time
they may say, “We will not have this man to reign over us,” yet when the last
appeal shall come to them, whether they will have Christ for a king, at last
they will fall upon their knees in agonies ofpenitence, and in dust and ashes,
with tears and with misereres, with beatenbreasts, with uplifted hands, they
will sigh back their answer—“Christis King!”1 [Note: F. W. Farrar, True
Religion, 200.]

III
Allegiance to the Truth
1. Jesus before Pilate is the Truth making its appeal and waiting for
judgment.
(1) Pilate was indifferent to the truth.—It was said of a distinguished
American jurist that he finally retired from the bench because he could not
there escape making decisions. Pilate was this kind of man. The French
statesman, Talleyrand, writing in his old age of the qualities of a Minister of
ForeignAffairs, said: “He ought to be gifted with a kind of instinct which
prevents him from committing himself.” Pilate was a goodexample of the
schoolof Talleyrand. Here was this young enthusiast who had so stirred the
people by the kingly declarationof His mission, “To this end was I born, that I
should bear witness unto the truth”; and Pilate, the consistentneutral, looked
down on Him with serious pity and answered, “Ah, my young friend, what is
this illusion for which you want to die? Die for it, then, if you will! I find no
fault in you; I washmy hands of blame. You bring your fate upon yourself.”
And so dismissing this case ofan alien, he retired into his palace, wellcontent
with himself because he had been neither ensnared by the enthusiasm of the
reformer nor misled by the bigotry of the mob.
(2) Pilate turned away from the truth.—The Prisonerbefore him had
acceptedthe title of a king. He basedHis claim to this title on the factthat He
had come to bear witness to the truth. He declaredthat those who were
themselves of the truth would acknowledgeHis claim; they were His rightful
subjects;they were the enfranchisedcitizens of His Kingdom. Strange
language this in the ears of a cynical, worldly sceptic, to whose eyes the most
attractive type of humanity was a judicious admixture of force and fraud.

“Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went
out.” The altercationcould be carried no further. Was not human life itself
one greatquery, without an answer? Whatwas truth, what else, exceptthat
which eachman thought? Truth! This helpless Prisonerclaimed to be a king,
and He appealed, forsooth, to His truthfulness as the credentialof His
sovereignrights. Was ever any claim more contradictory of all human
experience, more palpably absurd than this? Truth! When had truth anything
to do with founding a kingdom? The mighty engine of imperial power, the
iron sceptre which ruled the world, whence came it? Certainly it owednothing
to truth. Had not Augustus establishedhis sovereigntyby an unscrupulous
employment of force, and maintained it by an astute use of artifice? And his
successor, the presentoccupant of the imperial throne, was he not an arch
dissembler, the darkestof all dark enigmas? The name of Tiberius was a by-
word for impenetrable disguise. Truth might do well enough for fools and
enthusiasts, for simple men; but for rulers, for diplomatists, for men of the
world, it was the wildest of all wild dreams. Truth! What was truth? He had
lived too long in the world to trust any such hollow pretensions.
(3) Pilate was surprised and judged by the truth.—He found himself
unexpectedly confronted by the truth, and he could not recognise it. His whole
life long he had tampered with truth, he had despisedtruth, he had despaired
of truth. Truth was the lastthing that He had setbefore him as the aim of his
life. He had thought much of policy, of artifice, of fraud, of force;but for truth
in any of its manifold forms he had cared just nothing at all. And his sin had
workedout its own retribution. Not truth only, but the Very Truth itself,
Truth Incarnate stoodbefore him in human form, and he was blind to it. He
scornedit, he played with it, he thrust it aside, he condemned and he crucified
it. “Sufferedunder Pontius Pilate” is the legendof eternalinfamy with which
history has branded his name.
2. Those who are in sympathy with the truth will pay it homage. A very good
illustration of this will be found in the methods of scientific inquiry as it is now

prosecuted. Forthe man of science seeksnothing in his researchesinto nature
but Bimply to discoverthe truth. For this purpose he toils, working hard by
day, and watching long by night, if that should be needful. He spares no pains
to verify his facts and observations. He multiplies experiments to rectify
possible errors. If these show that he was before on a wrong track, he gives it
up, and follows the line suggestedby the later results of his inquiries; for his
objectis not to establish a foregone conclusion, but simply to find out the
truth. That truth, when he finds it, may startle many folk, may unsettle
former opinions, may seriously affectmany interests and recognized
authorities. He cannot help that. It is his business simply to find what the facts
are and what they plainly teach;and when he has done that he says:“There is
the truth, and that is the way by which I reachedit, step by step. As for all
else, I have nothing to do with it whatever. A lie has no vested interests that I
can respect:nor will any authority make it anything but a lie. Truth, too, is
always, in the long run, wholesome and best for all. And if this be true it is at
your peril that you rejectit. Be sure that, in so doing, you shall be the losers.”
Thus, in his ownprovince, he seeksthe truth diligently and fearlessly;and one
of the noblest results of his researchesis the state of mind which he thus helps
to produce, with its loyalty and courage andpersistent love of truth. Out of his
own province, indeed, he is often very much like other men, hasty, not over
careful about his facts, and jumping to ill-considered conclusions. Butin
prosecuting his proper work, his methods and his spirit afford a good
illustration of what it is to be sincerely“of the truth.”
“I say,” broke in one of the boys, who was just emerging from the tenderfoot
stage, “o’course that’s in the Bible, ain’t it?”
The Pilot assented.
“Well, how do you know it’s true?”

The Pilot was proceeding to elaborate his argument when Bill cut in
somewhatmore abruptly than was his wont.
“Look here, young feller!” Bill’s voice was in the tone of command. The man
lookedas he was bid. “How do you know anything’s true? How do you know
the Pilot here’s true when he speaks? Can’tyou tell by the feel? You know by
the sound of his voice, don’t you?”1 [Note:Ralph Connor, The Sky Pilot, ch.
xxi.]
(1) Sometimes the truth comes to us at once. It dawns upon us, shines on us,
without any consciouseffortof our own or immediate seeking onour part:
Think ye ’mid all this mighty sum
Of things for ever speaking,
That nothing of itself will come,
But we must still be seeking?
This is intuition: but it does not come miraculously; there has been a long
preparation for it in the race and often also in the individual. There are other
truths that have to be long and earnestlysoughtfor, in the quest of which all
our intellectual powers must be employed, and the endeavour strenuously
made to free the mind from all personal bias and unwillingness to believe. We
often go without the truth because we are too indolent or indifferent to seek it
earnestly, or because we are prejudiced againstit and unwilling to receive it.

There is certainly a moral element involved in the searchfor and the reception
of truth. We have ears that hear not and eyes that see not. Truth reveals itself
to those who love it; it comes to those who will give it a home.
(2) And sometimes we reach it gradually. In ascending the mountains of
Switzerland, the climber begins his journey by a disappointing contradiction.
He descends from some sheltering châlet, by the light of the waning moon; he
has to go over a broken path, and with a stealthy step; there are before him
real tracts of trouble; the dim light alters proportions, and deceives as to
distance, and so, plunging onwards, he hurts his feet. Onward he goes;he
must cross the interspaces ofgloom, where the shadows fall in blackness on
the bases ofthe mountains, thick, with no shading of pity, but dusky and cruel
as the hangings of Death. Onward, onward, the grasp of darkness is at last
relaxing; the skyis clearer;there is a promise of the coming day; he struggles
higher; around him are rising innumerable peaks, sheathedin the frost-sheets
of diamond, and with the glint of the mingling glitter of the moonlight and the
morning. It is an ice-world of splendour,—mountaineering made glorious,—
for the light is increasing, there is a feeling of freshness, a sense ofsecurity, an
exhilaration of joy; the dimness is dying, the severestof the struggle is
distanced, he feels, and, with a sense of triumph, he has his feet on the track of
Dawn.
(3) But our eye must always be single. The seekeraftertruth must fulfil one
condition: he must lead a true life, a life of moral rectitude at least. A false life
can never come to the truth, for truth is revealedonly to truth. “Keepthy
heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life,” was advice founded
on a melancholy experience. “Blessedbeyond all earthly blessedness,”said
one who came through the fiery ordeal not scathless, andis now enjoying the
peace he hardly found on earth,—“blessedbeyond all earthly blessednessis
the man who, in the tempestuous darkness of the soul, has dared to hold fast
to those venerable landmarks of morality. Thrice blessedis he who, when all is
drear and cheerless within and without, when his teachers terrify him and his

friends shrink from him, has obstinately clung to moral good. Thrice blessed,
because his night shall pass into clearbright day.”
We may callto mind the experience of Columbus, when he found himself
entangledin the SargassoSea inthe midst of the ocean, to the westwardof the
Canary Islands. As far as eye could see the surface was thickly coveredwith
weed, through which it seemedhopeless to seek to penetrate. To his sailors the
attempt seemedeven impious; the Almighty had shownHis angerat their
endeavour to peer into His secrets. Columbus himself fearedthat these weeds
might indicate the proximity of dangerous rocks onwhich his vesselmight be
wrecked. But, strong in his faith in an undiscovered land, he steeredright
onward, carefully sounding from time to time, till in a few days they got clear
of the weeds, outagain into the free ocean, and in due time reachedthe
westernshore he was seeking. So it ever is in the searchfor truth, if we are in
earnestand will but persevere, with our minds open to such guidance, Divine
and human, as we can find, carefully taking soundings as we proceed, but
never losing faith in the reality and attainability of truth. We shall not indeed
reachall truth, or even the whole truth on any particular subject;but we shall
find what we need for mental restand true practicallife.1 [Note:W. L.
Walker, The True Christ, 12.]
In the bitter waves of woe,
Beatenand tossedabout
By the sullen winds that blow
From the desolate shores ofdoubt,—

When the anchors that faith had cast
Are dragging in the gale,
I am quietly holding fast
To the things that cannot fail:
I know that right is right;
That it is not goodto lie;
That love is better than spite,
And a neighbour than a spy;
I know that passionneeds
The leashof a sobermind;
I know that generous deeds
Some sure reward will find;

That the rulers must obey;
That the givers shall increase;
That Duty lights the way
For the beautiful feetof Peace;—
In the darkestnight of the year,
When the stars have all gone out,
That courage is better than fear,
That faith is truer than doubt;
And fierce though the fiends may fight,
And long though the angels hide,
I know that Truth and Right

Have the universe on their side;
And that somewhere, beyondthe stars,
Is a Love that is better than fate;
When the night unlocks her bars
I shall see Him, and I will wait.1 [Note:WashingtonGladden.]
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
"the King Of The Jews."
John 18:37
D. Young
It is the peculiarity of some people that a plain "Yes" and "No" canhardly
ever be got out of them. After all, however, it is only an irritating peculiarity,
not a dangerous one. The real danger is when people say"Yes" and "No" too
easily, too thoughtlessly. Here is the question of Pilate to Jesus," Art thou the

King of the Jews?"Whatat first sight could look simpler and easierto
answer? Yet it was not simple and easy. Thus we have to consider -
I. JESUS IN HIS TREATMENTOF PILATE'S QUESTION. TO Pilate the
question was simple enough. He meant, of course, a king in the ordinary
acceptationofthe term. If Jesus had said"No" to this question, the answer
would have been right enough, but it would only have led on to other
questions, without any realresult to the interests of truth. Jesus evidently did
not wish to talk much at this season. The time for teaching was past; the time
for submissionand suffering had now fully come. Still, whatever Jesus had to
say must be significant, and mere "Yes" or "No" to ignorant human
questionings would have told nothing. Hence, without saying he was a king,
Jesus talks about his kingdom and its principles of defense, which, of course,
were equally its principles of attack.
II. Thus we see Jesus answering the question by showing THE ELEMENTS
OF HIS POWER AND THE METHOD OF HIS PROGRESS.
1. The elements of his power. He looks a lonely man before the representatives
of the greatestpowerin the then world. Whatevercould be done by force of
numbers and discipline, Rome could do. But quantity of a lowerkind can do
nothing againstquality of a higher kind. Jesus is not concernedto maintain
the integrity of a fleshly body, though even that he could have done if needful.
It was the integrity of the inner life Jesus had to maintain againsttemptation.
Jesus had his ownpersonal battle to fight and victory to win, before he could
lead men in their greatestbattle and most decisive victory. The risen Savior is
the Man Christ Jesus made fully manifest in his abiding sinlessness. If Pilate
will only wait a little while, and open his mind to the truth, he will see by
deeds that Jesus is a King. Not what a man says, but what he does, proves his
claim.
2. The method of his progress. Jesuswants us to get above the ideas of mere
conflict and victory and overcoming of opposition. What he desires is the free,
joyous, and entire submission of the individual, because ofthe truth which is
made clearto him in Jesus. Jesus is the only one who can distinguish reality
from appearance, truth from falsehood, and the abiding from the perishing.

Jesus, as he says, came into the world. The world was everin his thoughts, for
the world's good. He no more belongedto the land he happened to live in than
the sun belongs to that particular part of the earth where he happens to be
shining. The sun belongs to the whole world, and so does Jesus. The sun
belongs to every age, and so does Jesus. He came into the world to bear
witness to the truth, and wherever there is a soul wrapped in delusion and
falsehood, mistaking realities for dreams, and dreams for realities, Jesus is
there to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. - Y.
Biblical Illustrator
Pilate therefore saidunto Him, Art Thou a king, then?
John 18:37
Jesus, the King of Truth
C. H. Spurgeon.

We are told by Paul, that our Lord before Pilate witnesseda goodconfession.
It was a goodconfession —
1. As to the manner of it, for our Lord was truthful, gentle, prudent, and yet
uncompromising, and courageous. His spirit was not cowedby Pilate's power,
nor exasperatedby his sneers.
2. As to the matter of it; for, though He said but little, that little was all that
was needful. He claimed His own rights, and, at the same time, declaredthat
His kingdom was not of this world, nor to be sustainedby force. In our
families, or among our business acquaintances, we may have to meet some
petty Pilate; may we then also be true witnesses.Note —
I. That our Lord CLAIMED TO BE A KING. The question was but half
earnest;the answerwas altogethersolemn.
1. Our Lord's claim was made without ostentationor desire to be advantaged.
There were other times when, if He had said "I am a King," He might have
been crownedamid generalacclamations.He had no ambition for the
gewgaws ofhuman sovereignty. But now, when no goodcancome of it to
Himself; when it will bring Him derision rather than honour; He speaks out
plainly.
2. The clearness ofHis avowal;there was no mistaking it. When the time has
come for the truth to be spoken, our Lord is not backwardin declaring it.
Truth has her times most meet for speech, and her seasonsforsilence.
3. Our Lord's claim must have sounded very singularly in Pilate's ear. Jesus
was, doubtless, very much careworn, sad, and emaciatedafterrecent
experiences, andmust have lookedvery unlike a king. Yet never earth saw
truer King! None of the line of Pharaoh, or the race of the Caesars, wasso
intrinsically imperial. The carnaleye could not see this, but to the spiritual eye
it is clear. The zeal Christ of to-day, among men, is unknown and
unrecognized as much as He was among His own nation eighteenhundred
years ago.
4. This claim shall be acknowledgedone day by all mankind. To Him every
knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord!

II. Our Lord declaredTHIS KINGDOM TO BE HIS MAIN OBJECT IN
LIFE. "To this end," &c.
1. He was always the Lord of all, but to be King through the power of truth, it
was essentialthat He should be born in our nature.(1) Becauseit seems
unnatural that a ruler should be alien in nature to the people over whom he
rules.(2) That He might be able to save His people. Subjects are essentialto a
kingdom. But all men must have perished through sin, had not Christ come
into the world and been born to save.(3)Moreover, truth never exerts such
poweras when it is embodied. Truth spokenmay be defeated, but truth acted
out in the life of a man is omnipotent, Now, Christ was truth.
2. He added, "Forthis cause came I into the world."(1)Out of the bosomof
the Fatherthat He might setup His kingdom, by unveiling the mysteries
which were hid from the foundation of the world.(2) From the obscure
retirement of Joseph's workshop. Since He was to he a King, He must leave
seclusion, and come forth to do battle for His throne. He came not forth
because He courted popularity; but that, the truth being published, He might
setup His kingdom. It was needful that He should come out into the world
and teach, or truth would not be known, and consequentlycould not operate.
III. Our Lord revealedTHE NATURE OF HIS ROYAL POWER. We should
have thought the text would have run to this end... "that I should establishMy
kingdom." But had our Lord saidthat He might have misled Pilate;but when
He said that His kingdom was truth, and that its establishmentwas by bearing
witness to the truth, then, though Pilate did not understand Him — for it was
far above his comprehension — yet, at any rate, he was not misled.
1. Our Lord, in effect, tells us that truth is the pre-eminent characteristic of
His kingdom, and that His royal powerover men's hearts is through the truth.
He dealt not with fiction, but with facts;not with trifles, but with infinite
realities.
2. Jesus has powerover His people because He testifies not to symbols, but to
the very substance of truth. The priests lost their power over the people
because they went no further than the shadow, and sooneror later all will do

so who rest in the symbol. The Lord Jesus retains His powerover His saints
because He reveals the substance, forgrace and truth are by Jesus Christ.
3. This powerlies in the factthat He brings forth unalloyed truth, without
mixture of error. His teaching is no combination of God's Word and man's
inventions. Men taught of His Holy Spirit to love the truth, recognize this fact
and surrender their souls to the royal sway of the Lord's truth, and it makes
them free, and sanctifies them. Jesus taught —(1) That worship must be true,
spiritual, and of the heart, or else it would be nothing worth.(2) That all false
living was base and loathsome. He poured contempt on the phylacteries of
hypocrites.
4. But our Lord came not only to teachus the truth, but a mysterious power
goes forth from Him, which subdues chosenhearts to truthfulness, and then
guides truthful hearts into fulness of peace and joy. Have you never felt when
you have been with Jesus, thata sense of His purity has made you yearn to be
purged of all hypocrisy and every false way?
IV. Our Lord disclosedTHE METHOD OF HIS CONQUEST — "ThatI
should bear witness for the truth."
1. Christ never yet setup His kingdom by force of arms. Mahomet drew the
sword, falsehoodrequires the rack of the Inquisition, but truth needs not such
unworthy aid; her own beauty, and the Spirit of God, are her strength.
Moreover, Jesus usedno arts of priestcraft, or tricks of superstition, None can
say that He reigns over men by the glitter of pomp, or the fascinationof
sensuous ceremonies. No kingdom is worthy of the Lord Jesus but that which
has its foundations laid in indisputable verities; Jesus would scornto reign by
the help of a lie. True Christianity was never promoted by policy or guile, by
doing a wrong thing, or saying a false thing.
2. What truth did He witness to? Ah, what truth did He not witness to? Did
He not mirror all truth in His life? In an age of shams, He was always
sweeping awaypretences and establishing truth.
3. This is the way in which Christ's kingdom is to be setup in the world. For
this cause was the Church born, and for this end came she into the world, that

she might setup Christ's kingdom by bearing witness to the truth. I long to
see you all witness-bearers. Youmust do it personally and collectively. Never
join any Church whose creedyou do not entirely and unfeignedly believe. I
would not retard Christian unity, but there is something before unity, and
that is, "truth in the inward parts" and honesty before God. Let us bear
witness to the truth, since there is a greatneed of doing so just now, for
witnessing is in ill repute.
V. Our Lord describedHIS SUBJECTS — "Everyone that is of the truth,"
&c. Wherever the Holy Spirit has made a man a lover of truth, he always
recognizes Christ's voice and yields himself to it. Those who love pure truth,
and know what Christ is, will be sure to fall in love with Him and hear His
voice.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ the King of truth
C. S. Robinson, D. D.
This entire conversationwith the Roman governorwill grow clearer, if, in
every instance, we substitute "reality" or "genuineness" for"truth."
I. CHRIST CAME TO THIS WORLD TO INCARNATE THE "TRUTH" IN
A LIVING HUMANITY. "To this end was I born," &c.
1. So He was "born." Pre-existence mustcertainly be suggested, orthe
expressionsounds like tautology. Pilate felt the powerof this one word; for
afterwards when the Jews toldhim that Jesus had been proclaiming Himself
the "Sonof God," he recalledit (John 19:7-9).
2. He was born for one definite or supreme end; He was brought into the
world to manifest truth to mankind. Let us discriminate —(1) Not ultimate
truth, but available truth. Man wantedfirst and needed most what he could
use for himself in life. Hence, Jesus Christ always preachedreligion, and not
theology;He was practical, and not either abstruse or scientific.(2)Not
speculative truth, but Divine truth. Christ never wastedtime in mere

imagination; what He preachedwas direct as if from heaven. That was why
the people were astonishedat His doctrine (John 3:31-33).(3)Notdogmatic
truth, but experimental truth. Christ was the only religious leaderwho
embodied His teaching in the living, breathing, moving form of a common
man in the pursuit of every-day existence.(4)Notethicaltruth, but spiritual
truth. Very wiselyonce wrote Lord Bacon:"There are three parts in truth:
first, the inquiry, which is the wooing of it; secondly, the knowledge, whichis
the presence ofit; and thirdly, the belief, which is the enjoyment of it." A
proper place, perhaps, into which our Lord's witness should be cast, is found
in this last division. For it was no office of His to put forth a new code of
morals for others to prove or acquire; He receivedHis revelations from His
Father, and what agitatedHis mind and heart was the wish to have men true
enough to enjoy them. He setto others the will of His Fatherto obey; but He
first showedthem it was His will by Himself respecting it (Matthew 3:15).
II. JESUS CAME TO TEACH TRUTH TO THE WHOLE RACE. For this
"cause"came He into the "world."
1. Look at this word "world";what was it? Its three main divisions are
indicated in the superscription on the cross (chap. John 19:19-22). All these
people claimedto seek the truth.(1) The Greeks were seekingby philosophy,
culture, debate and high art. In the time of Christ, these artists of Athens and
Corinth pushed their inquiries into the minutest details. In architecture they
were governedby rigid axioms as to proportion; their Parthenon would never
have been a "true" building with one less of its curves. In the drama, they
insisted on "the unities." They had "the line of beauty" for every feature of a
statue, and "the tone of colour" for eachshade of the painter's pictures. They
even counted the digits, and called only the threes, sevens, and tens perfect.
But when they came to conduct, they had no such thing as fixed
conscientiousness:the juster Aristides became, the soonerthey banished him;
and the more moral Socrates'lectures grew, the nearer came the time for him
to drink the hemlock.(2)The Latins were seeking truth by inexorable law.
They were going to compelhuman beings to become true by correctdrawing,
just as they would triangles or trapeziums. But they had only very poor
success;they gotnothing in the end but a mere book of laws and a phalanx of
soldiers to show the world what truth was. The populace grew rigid and

machine-like; the higher classes reactedinto vice and ingenious forms of
immorality.(3) The Hebrews were seeking truth by ceremonialdevotion. They
had the Scriptures; but they exalted the letter above the spirit, and those
glosseswhichtradition had added far above them both. Hence the people
waxed false with the prismatic distortions of what was true. They claimed a
supremacy over the rest of the world because ofthese "oracles ofGod" lodged
in their hands; and they displayed the Word on their foreheads, but hid it not
in their hearts — phylacteries instead of principles.
2. Look at this word "cause."Whatwas the real cause for which Christ
entered this wistful world of ours?(1)Fix attention upon the facts. He found
the race crying out for the truth. Men wanted something they could trust. And
just then there was heard a single voice in answer, "Iam the Truth," &c.(2)
This was Jesus'"cause;''what did He getfor it? They crucified Him! There
may have been Greeks atthe passoverin Jerusalem;but this crucifixion was
offensive. Mostof the actors were Jews,and they shriekedfor Barabbas
instead of Jesus. And Pilate, the leader of the Latins, stoodthere washing his
hypocritical hands! Plainly, Jesus Christ was a failure so far.
III. JESUS CAME TO "BEAR WITNESS" UNTO THE TRUTH, and that
He did.
1. In despite of His rejection, He left behind Him a testimony for the true
which has lifted into hope the wickedrace that slew Him. "Whole centuries,"
says Schiller, "have shownphilosophers as well as artists, busied in
embodying truth and beauty in the depths of a vulgar humanity; the former
appears often to sink at first; but the latter struggles up afterward, victorious
in her own indestructible energy." Jesus'self-sacrificewas notlost upon the
world, after all. Men are nobler, and womenare happier, even little children
are more blest, because the Truth went to Golgotha, andwas slain upon the
cross.
2. What Jesus declinedwhen, in prosperity, He could now afford to accept,
when, in a desperate suffering for truth's sake, God's providence gave it to
Him. Pilate's title credited to the Son of man all that He everclaimed.
Through pain and ignominy, He was now recognizedas the world's monarch.

Niebuhr writes: "I do not know what to do with a metaphysicalGod; I have
often said that I want no other than the God of the Bible who is heart to heart
with me." When Pilate said, "Eccehomo! it meant, Ecce rex!
3. The only hope of our race is found here in Jesus ofNazareth, the King of
the kingdom of truth (1 John 5:19, 20).
(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
The kingdom of the truth
F. W. Robertson, M. A.
The whole fabric of the Christian religion rests on the monarchy of Christ.
The Hebrew prisoner who stoodbefore the Roman judge claimed to be the
King of men: and eighteencenturies have only verified His claim.
1. On what title does this claim rest?(1)Had the Messiahfounded His
kingdom on force, He would simply have been a rival of the Caesars. This was
all that Pilate meant at first by his question. As a Roman he had no other
conceptionof rule. But the empire of strength was now passing away; for no
kingdom founded on force is destined to permanence. "They that take the
sword," &c. Before Pilate, Christ distinctly disclaimed this. "If My kingdom
were of this world," &c.(2)The next conceivable basis is prescriptive
authority. The scribes'and priests' conception. They claimed to rule on a title
such as this — "It is written." But Christ spoke lightly of venerable
institutions and contravenedopinions which were greywith the hoar of ages.
He taught, as the men of His day remarked, on an authority very different
from that of the scribes. Noteven on His own authority. "If I say the truth,
why do ye not believe Me?"(3)He might have claimed to rule on the ground of
incontrovertible demonstration of His principles. This was the ground taken
by every philosopher who was the founder of a sect. Apparently, after the
failure of his first guess, Pilate thought that he was called to try some new
pretender of a truth which was to dethrone its rival system. This seems to be
implied in his bitter question. Forin those days it was as in our own: the
opinion of to-day dethroned by the opinion of to-morrow: the heterodoxy of

this age reckonedthe orthodoxy of the next. And Pilate, having lived to see
failure after failure, smiled bitterly at the enthusiast who again assertedHis
claims to have discoveredthe undiscoverable. And indeed, had the Redeemer
claimed this — to overthrow the doctrine of the Porch and of the Academy,
and to enthrone Christianity upon their ruins, by mere argument, that
scepticalcry would have been not ill-timed.
2. In these three ways have men attempted the propagation of the gospel.(1)
By force, when the Church ruled by persecution.(2)Byprescriptive authority,
when she claimed infallibility in the popery of Rome or the popery of the
pulpit.(3) By reasoning, in the age of "evidences,"whenshe pledged herselfto
rule the world by the convictionof the understanding, and laid deep and
broad the foundations of rationalism.
I. THE BASIS OF THE KINGLY RULE OF CHRIST. Christ is a King in
virtue of His being a witness to the truth.
1. Truth is used here in a sense equivalent to reality. It would indeed fritter
down the majesty of the Redeemer's life, to say that He was a witness for the
truth of any number of theologicaldogmas. The realities of life, of the
universe, to these His every actand word bore testimony. He was as much a
witness to the truth of the purity of domestic life as to the truth of the doctrine
of the Incarnation: to the truth of goodness being identical with greatness as
much as to the doctrine of the Trinity — and more — His mind corresponded
with reality as the dial with the sun.
2. In being a witness to reality, we are to understand something deeper than
that He spoke truly. Veracity is a correspondencebetweenwords and
thoughts: truthfulness a correspondencebetweenthoughts and realities, To be
veracious, it is only necessarythat a man give utterance to his convictions:to
be true, it is needful that his convictions have affinity with fact. Let us take
some illustrations of this distinction.(1) The prophet tells of men who call good
evil, and evil good;yet these were veracious men; for to them evil was good.
There was a correspondence betweentheir opinions and their words, but none
betweentheir opinions and eternal fact: this was untruthfulness. The
Pharisees were menof veracity. They thought that Christ was an impostor,

that to tithe mint, anise, and cummin was as acceptable to God as to be just,
and merciful, and true: yet veracious as they were, the title perpetually affixed
to them is, "Ye hypocrites." The life they led being a false life, is called, in the
phraseologyofthe Apostle John, a lie.(2)If a man speak a carelessslander
againstanother, believing it, he has not sinned againstveracity:but the
carelessnesswhich has led him into so grave an error, effectually bars his
claim to clear truthfulness. Or a man may have takenup second-hand,
indolently, religious views: may believe them: defend them vehemently, — Is
he a man of truth?
3. It is implied that His very Being, here, manifested to the world Divine
realities. Human nature is meant to be a witness to the Divine, and the
difference betweenChrist and other men is this: they are imperfect
reflections, He a perfectone of God. There are mirrors which are concave,
which magnify the thing that they reflect: there are mirrors convex, which
diminish it. And we in like manner, representthe Divine in a false, distorted
way. In One alone has the Divine been so blended with the human, that, as the
oceanmirrors every star and every tint of blue upon the sky, so was the
earthly life of Christ the Life of God on earth.
4. As truly as it was saidby Christ, may it be said by eachof us, "To this end
was I born," &c.(1)The architectis here to be a witness. He succeeds onlyso
far as he is a witness, and a true one. The lines and curves, the acanthus on his
column, the proportions, all are successfuland beautiful, only so far as they
are true: the report of an eye which has lain open to God's world. If he build
his lighthouse to resist the storm, the law of imitation bids him build it after
the shape of the spreading oak which has defied the tempest. If man construct
the ship which is to cleave the waters, calculationor imitation builds it on the
model upon which the EternalWisdom has already constructedthe fish's
form.(2) The artist is a witness to the truth; or he will never attain the
beautiful.(3) So is the agriculturist; or he will never reap a harvest.(4)So is
the statesman, building up a nation's polity on the principles which time has
proved true, or else all his work crumbles down in revolution: for national
revolution is only the Divine rejectionstamped on the socialfalsehood.

5. Christ's kingdom formed itself upon this law:"Every one that is of the
truth heareth My voice;" that eternal law which makes truth assimilate all
that is congenialto itself. Truth is like life: whatever lives absorbs into itself
all that is congenial. The Church grew round Christ as a centre, attractedby
the truth: all that had in it harmony with His Divine life and words, grew to
Him (by gradualaccretions):clung to Him as the iron to the magnet. The
truer you are, the humbler, the nobler, the more will you feel Christ to be
your King. You may be very little able to prove the King's Divine genealogy,
or to appreciate those claims to your allegiance whicharise out of His eternal
generation:but He will be your Sovereignand your Lord by that affinity of
characterwhich compels you to acknowledgeHis words and life to be Divine.
"He that receivethHis testimony hath to set to his sealthat God is true."
II. THE QUALIFICATION OF THE SUBJECTSOF THE EMPIRE OF
THE TRUTH.
1. To be true: "He that is of the truth heareth My voice." Truth lies in
character. Christ did not simply speak truth: He was Truth. For example. The
friends of Job spoke words of truth. Scarcelya maxim which they uttered
could be impugned: cold, hard, theologicalverities:but verities out of place, in
that place cruel and untrue. Job spoke many hasty, impetuous, blundering
words; but the whirlwind came, and, before the voice of God, the veracious
falsehoods were sweptinto endless nothingness:the true man, wrong,
perplexed, in verbal error, stoodfirm: he was true though his sentences were
not.
2. Integrity — which means not simply sincerity or honesty, but entireness,
wholeness, soundness:that which Christ means when He says, "If thine eye be
single or sound, thy whole body shall be full of light." This integrity is found
in small matters as wellas great;for the allegiance of the soul to truth is tested
by small things rather than by those which are more important. There is
many a man who would lose his life rather than perjure himself in a court of
justice, whose life is yet a tissue of small insincerities. We resenthypocrisy,
and treachery, and calumny, not because they are untrue, but because they
harm us. We hate the false calumny, but we are half pleasedwith the false
praise. Now he is a man of integrity who hates untruth as untruth. To a moral,

pure mind, the artifices in every department of life are painful: the stained
woodwhich deceives the eye by seeming what it is not, marble: the gilding
which is meant to pass for gold; and the glass which is worn to look like
jewels. "Theseare trifles." Yes, but it is just these trifles which go to the
formation of character. He that is habituated to deceptions and artificialities
in trifles will try in vain to be true in matters of importance: for truth is a
thing of habit rather than of will.
3. Doing the truth. Christianity joins two things inseparably: acting truly, and
perceiving truly. If any man will do His will, &c.(l) It is a perilous thing to
separate feeling from acting. The romance, the poem, and the sermon, teach
us how to feel. But the danger is this; if feeling be suffered to awake without
passing into duty, the characterbecomes untrue. "We pity wretchedness and
shun the wretched." We utter sentiments, just, honourable, refined, lofty —
but somehow, whena truth presents itself in the shape of a duty, we are
unable to perform it. And so such characters become by degrees like the
artificial pleasure-grounds of bad taste, in which the waterfalldoes not fall,
and the grotto offers only the refreshment of an imaginary shade, and the
greenhill does not strike the skies, and the tree does not grow. Their lives are
a sugaredcrust of sweetnesstrembling over black depths of hollowness:more
truly still, "whited sepulchres" — fair without to look upon, "within full of all
uncleanness."(2)It is perilous to separate thinking rightly from acting rightly.
He is alreadyhalf false who speculates ontruth and does not do it. Truth is
given, not to be contemplated, but to be done. Life is an action — not a
thought. And the penalty paid by him who speculates ontruth, is that by
degrees the very truth he holds becomes to him a falsehood. There is no
truthfulness, therefore, exceptin the witness borne to God by doing His will
— to live the truths we hold, or else they will be no truths at all. It was thus
that He witnessedto the truth. He lived it. Conclusion:The kingly character
of truth is exhibited strikingly in the calmness of the bearing of the Son of
Man before His judge. Veracity is not necessarilydignified. There is a vulgar
effrontery-a spirit of defiance which taunts, and challenges condemnation.
Again, the man of mere veracity is often violent, for what he says rests upon
his ownassertion:and vehemence of assertionis the only addition he can
make to it.

(F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
Christ's real kingdom
C. S. Robinson, D. D.
I. THE ROYAL PROCLAMATION.
1. Every monarch must have some sortof "Divine right"; what was the right
that Jesus here asserted?(1)It might have been the right of possession. Christ
could have said to him, "I am that Messiahwho was predicted by their
prophets to reign." But Pilate could have answered, "Ido not recognize the
right of even the Jew's Messiahto be a king."(2)It might have been the right
of conquest. Jesus might have told him that He had subjected these people by
His miracles, that He proved Divine authority by wielding Divine power. But
to this Pilate had, for a ready reply, the woeful factthat it was the Jews who
had already delivered this so-calledMessiahinto his hands.(3) It might have
been the right of acceptance;for Christ, in soberearnest, could have appealed
awayfrom priests to populace, and reminded Pilate that once He had been
obliged to withdraw Himself, lest they should make Him a king "by force;"
and just now He rode in a royal triumph even into the gate of Jerusalem. But
here, again, Pilate was at liberty to interrupt Him with a fine sarcasm, in the
suggestionthat He had better settle such matters with Herod, the regular
heir.(4) What Jesus did assert, was the right of personalgenuineness as a man,
and hence as the King of men. The heathen governor, of course, did not dare
dispute this; indeed, he hardly knew what it meant. "What is truth?"
2. What was the nature of His kingdom?(1)It was spiritual in every
particular. It did not need any fleet or flag; it would not want either army or
arsenal;it did not propose to collectcustoms or make treaties. This imperial
officer saw clearlythat Jesus offeredno menace to Caesar.(2)And yet this
kingdom was to be organic. It would have its laws, orders, rulers.It openly
announced that it would lay its hand on men and money, lands and seas,in
order that it might use them as means of advancement in raising the race to
the image of God in purity, and holiness, and strength.

II. THE PROCESSBYWHICH THIS KINGDOM WAS ESTABLISHED ON
THE EARTH.
1. In the beginning, Christ united a few true men to Himself for the sake of the
work they could do. It was not the coming togetherof a people, who, as soon
as they began to feelthe need of government, electeda king.
2. Then He joined these to eachother by rendering them efficient in the
instant conversionof souls. He chose Andrew, and at once managedit so that
Andrew "found" Simon, &c. And in order to show the principle on which this
extensionof His spiritual swaymust proceed, He took pains to say that
Nathanaelwas accepted, becausehe was a genuine, true man, precisely what
every one needed to be in a kingdom of truth.
3. Then a tremendous sifting of the entire community ensued (John 6:53-58,
66-71). The point which our Lord pressedwas that of a supreme and vital
union to Himself.
4. The next step, now become essential, wasfor our Lord to disappearfrom
their sympathy and sight. There was springing up, naturally enough, a human
regard, which was diverting His adherents from truth alone (John 16:5-71
5. Finally, Jesus wentaway, and the promised Comforter came to guide into
all truth.
(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
The heavenly King
At a missionary meeting on the island Rarotonga,one of the Hervey group in
the Pacific Ocean, anold man, a candidate for church fellowship, said, "I have
lived during the reign of four kings:in the first we were continually at war,
and a fearful seasonit was, watching and hiding with fear were all our
engagements.During the reign of the second we were overtakenwith a severe
famine, and all expected to perish; then we ate rats and grass, and this wood
and that wood. During the third we were conquered, and became the peck and
prey of the two other settlements of the island; then if a man went to fish he

rarely ever returned, or if a womanWent any distance to fetch food she was
rarely ever seenagain. But during the reign of this third king we were visited
by another King, a greatKing, a goodKing, a powerful King, a King of love,
Jesus the Lord from heaven. He has gainedthe victory, He has conquered our
hearts; therefore we now have peace and plenty in this world, and hope soon
to dwell with Him in heaven."
The kingdom of truth
J. P. Lange, D. D.
I. THE KINGDOM OF THE KING. Truth —
1. In its profound essence,as a revelation of God.
2. In its highest power as the Gospel.
3. In its broadest extent, as the uniting bond of all life.
4. In its bodily appearance, as the Personof Christ.
II. THE KING OF THIS KINGDOM Christ is personaltruth itself, as the
light Centre of all life, thoroughly at one with itself, and therefore the Light of
the World.
III. THE TITLE OF THE KING. PerfectagreementofHis birth and office,
His ideal and His historical vocation.
IV. HIS GOVERNMENT —
1. The faithful Witness with His testimony.
2. The Host-leaderof all faithful witnesses.
V. THE INCREASE OF HIS KINGDOM The word receivedas His voice by
all who are of the truth.
(J. P. Lange, D. D.)

To this end was I born.
The low ends of modern society
The Standard.
Apparently, the end of societyis still what it has always been — amusement,
and nothing else. As years go on, the race after pleasure grows in severity and
speed. New modes of enjoyment are invented, and fresh ingenuity is exhibited
in combining as many of them as possible. There is absolutely no such thing as
rest or pause. What space is there amid the thronging, surging crush, for
those delicate sentiments which make the higher life of humanity to grow and
prosper? Such as these want light and air: they have neither. Society, in a
word, knows no other existence exceptthat which is material, and gross, and
selfish. It talks vaguely of duty. At heart it is disposedto be scepticalas to
whether there exists any real sanctionfor the performance of duty; and
smiling a smile, which is more like a sneerof despair, puts the question by. It
is struggling to find a sure foothold. It has plunged into a quagmire, has bid
adieu to the firm ground on one side, and has not reachedthe firm ground on
the other. In the worst sense ofthe phrase, it is in a state of transition. It has
defiantly shakenits head at, and turned its back on, the old ologies;it has still
to find consolationin the new isms. Thomas Carlyle says, "To speak in the
ancient dialect, 'we have forgottenGod;' we have quietly closedour eyes to
the eternalsubstance of things, and opened them only to the shows and shams
of things." Its old ideals, its old faiths, its old standards of duty, of right and
wrong, are dissolving or dissolved. It is unsettled, and it is aimless. What
societywants is seriouslyto ask whither it is going, and on what principle it is
acting.
(The Standard.)
An aim in life
Prof. E. B. Coe.

Christ's life was unique, yet it was like ours in some features. We came from
God and return to God. Christ had a definite purpose in life. God has a
purpose for all human lives. That purpose set in motion the Reformation, and
all revolutions by which societyis moulded. This is the Christian view of life.
Let us look at its influence as related to character —
I. IT IS AN INSPIRING FAITH. Want of purpose is a source of weakness.
II. THE GROUND OF TRUE SELF-RESPECT.
III. A MOTIVE FOR MODESTY. Letus not measure ourselves among
ourselves, but ask, "Am I doing God's will?"
IV. IT FOSTERS COURAGE.Difficulty cannot dishearten those conscious of
fulfilling a Divine trust. Conclusion:
1. If you see yourselfdoing your own will, stop!
2. Rememberthat no question is of greaterimportance than the discovery of
God's plan of your life.
(Prof. E. B. Coe.)
The truth delivered and attestedby Jesus
I. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE TRUTH HERE? AND FOR WHAT SPECIAL
REASONS IT WAS THE END OF CHRIST'S BEING BORN, AND
COMING INTO THE WORLD TO BEAR WITNESS TO IT?
1. By the truth we are to understand — that of which Jesus Christ is said to
have been "full" (John 1:14); and which, a will as grace, "came by Him"
(John 1:17). That into which the "Spirit of truth" was promised to guide His
disciples;which, "if they continued in His Word" (John 8:31, 32), they were to
"know," andwhich was to "make them free." The "truth as in-Jesus"
(Ephesians 4:21). It includes —(1) All the doctrines of the gospel, especially
those that are of a primary importance, as those concerning the fall and
recoveryof man; the Divinity and atonement of Christ; the agencyof the Holy
Spirit.(2) The precepts, promises, and threatenings. It is that system of truth,

the articles of which are linked togetherin a kind of chain; that analogyor
"proportion of faith," according to which every one that prophesies or
preaches is to conform his doctrine (Romans 12:6), that he may "speak as the
oracles ofGod" (1 Peter 4:11).
2. Now the end for which Christ was born, was that He "might bear witness
unto the truth." It is certain He came also for other important ends, but one
principal end, without which the others would have been unavailing, was that
here spokenof. The reasons ofthis are —(1) Becausethe truth is the only
means of our illumination (Psalm19:7, 8). If we are translated "out of
darkness into marvellous light" (1 Peter2:9); if we, who "were sometime
darkness, are now light in the Lord;" if we are "not of the night nor of
darkness," but "children of the light, and children of the day" (1
Thessalonians 5:5); it is surely not by error and false doctrine, but by the
truth. Hence the Holy Scriptures, which are "a light shining in a dark place"
(2 Peter1:19), are said to be able to make us "wise unto salvation" (2 Timothy
3:15, 16);and we read of the "light of the glorious gospel" (2 Corinthians
4:4).(2) Because itis the chief means of quickening us, who are naturally
"deadin sin," and begetting in us "repentance unto life" and living faith,
which "comes by hearing" it (Romans 10:17); hence it is termed the "Wordof
Life" (Philippians 2:16), and said to be "quick and powerful, and sharper
than any two-edgedsword" (Hebrews 4:12); and Christ's words are said to be
"spirit and life" (John 6:63).(3)Because itis the grand object, as well as
means, of that faith whereby we are saved (Ephesians 1:17, 18); we are
describedas being "chosento salvationthrough belief of the truth" (2
Thessalonians 2:13;Mark 16:16).(4)Becauseit is a principal means of our
salvation. The original cause is the grace ofGod; the meritorious cause is
Christ's atonement; the efficient cause is the Holy Ghost; but the instrumental
cause is the "Word of truth" (John 15:8), and faith therein. Hence —
(a)The truth is the chief instrument of our regeneration(James 1:18;1 Peter
1:23; Psalm 19:7).
(b)By it we are made free (John 8:31-36;Romans 8:2).
(c)By it we are safely guided in the way to heaven (Psalm19:11; 2 Peter1:19).

(d)By it we are strengthened for duty, for suffering, and for all the conflicts of
our spiritual warfare (2 Corinthians 6:7; Ephesians 6:14-17).
(e)By the declarations and promises of it, we are comforted and supported
amidst all present trials and troubles (Romans 15:4).
(f)By it we are "thoroughly furnished to every goodwork," and made useful
among men, even "burning and shining lights" (2 Timothy 3:16, 17).
(g)By it we are at length fully sanctifiedand perfected in holiness (chap. John
17:17;Ephesians 4:11-16).
(h)By it we are finally saved(2 Thessalonians 2:13;1 Corinthians 15:1, 2;
Romans 1:16).
II. IN WHAT WAY, AND FOR WHAT IMMEDIATE PURPOSESHE
BORE WITNESS TO IT?
1. He did so by word, or by His doctrine, which revealedand explained the
truth. Thus He personally, clearly, and fully bore witness to every part of it —
(1) As to the unity and perfections of God (Mark 12:29; Matthew 5:48).(2)His
spiritual nature (John 4:23, 24).(3)The nature, dignity, condescension,
sufferings, death, and exaltationof the Son (John 13:14; John 8:58; John 17:5;
Matthew 20:18, 19).(4)Our depraved state by nature (John 3:5, 6; Matthew
15:19).(5)Our redemption through Him (John 3:16).
(a)The nature and necessityofrepentance towards God, of faith in himself, of
regeneration, ofsanctification(Matthew 4:17; Matthew 5:8. 48;18:3; Luke
18:14;John 14:6).
(b)He revealedthe immortality of the soul (Matthew 22:32); the resurrection
of the body (John 5:25, 28, 29); a future judgment (Matthew 25:31, 32;
Matthew 12:36); the joys of heaven(Matthew 25:21);the miseries of hell
(Matthew 25:46; Luke 16:23).
2. By His astonishing miracles, and by prophecies afterwards fulfilled: e.g.,
the destructionof Jerusalem(Matthew 24.;Luke 21.). Thus He afforded a
rational ground whereonall men might believe, or be left without excuse
(John 5:36; John 10:37, 38;John 15:24).

3. By His sufferings, death, and resurrection;for He laid down His life in
attestationof the truth of His doctrine, and witnesseda good confessionbefore
Pontius Pilate. Thus He showedthat the truth, which He had delivered, was
no trivial matter, but of infinite importance, that mankind might lay it to
heart, and maturely consider, and "give earnestheedto it (Hebrews 2:1).
4. By His Spirit, by whose enlightening and gracious influences we may
understand the truth, experience its efficacy, and find it to be "the power of
God unto salvation" (John 15:26;Acts 2:39; 1 Thessalonians 1:5).
5. By His example, directing and inciting to the practice of it; His precepts,
commanding and enjoining it; His promises, alluring and inviting to it; His
theatenings, deterring us from the neglectof it.
6. By His apostles, who were witnessesboth to Him and the truth (Luke 24:48;
John 15:27; Acts 1:8, 22;Acts 5:32); and, like their Master, bore testimony to
it, by their doctrine, "declaring the whole counselof God" (Acts 20:20, 21, 27;
2 Corinthians 2:17; 2 Corinthians 4:1, 2; 1 Thessalonians 2:9, 11, 12); by their
miracles (Romans 15:18, 19; 2 Corinthians 12:12), and prophecies fulfilled; by
their example (2 Corinthians 6:3; 1 Thessalonians2:10);by their sufferings;
(1 Corinthians 4:11-13;2 Corinthians 4:8-11;2 Corinthians 6:3-10; 2
Corinthians 11:23-31;1 Thessalonians 2:2;2 Timothy 1:8-12; 2 Timothy 2:9-
13).
III. WHO ARE OF THE TRUTH, AND HOW THEY HEAR THE VOICE
OF CHRIST?
1. They are "of the truth" —(1) Who are rescuedfrom the influence of "the
father of lies," and are no longer blinded and deceivedby him, or by the word
and the spirit of it (1 Corinthians 2:12), or by the flesh, through Satan's
agency.(2)Who are no longer deprived of discernment and judgment, as to
their understanding, or of feeling as to their conscience;who are not biassed
as to the choice and intention of their will; nor entangled and occupiedby the
creature in their affections.(3)Who are sincerelydesirous to know, receive
and submit to the truth, howeveropposedto their preconceived opinions, and
their accustomedand confirmed habits.(4) Who, for this purpose, are truly
willing to part with any temporal honour, gratification, or profit, which

appears inconsistentwith the attainment of this object, and especially,
whateverthey find in themselves contrary to the Divine will, and are ready to
submit to any loss, reproach, difficulty, or suffering, to which they may be
exposedin the way of obedience.(5)Who, conscioushow liable they are to be
mistaken, deceived, and misled, in their inquiries after the truth, and
endeavours to obey it, dare not leanto their own understanding, or trust in
their own efforts, but apply to God in prayer and faith, to be "guided into all"
sacredand Divine "truth."(6) Who "callno man master" on earth, but
remember "one is their Master, evenChrist" (Matthew 23:8), and therefore,
"seek the law at His mouth."(7) Who comply with their duty, as far as they
know it already, remembering Christ's words (John 7:17). Such persons will
considerevery part of Christ's doctrine as infallibly true and infinitely
momentous, and will, therefore, desire and delight to hear, read, and meditate
upon it, at all opportunities (1 John 4:5, 6).
2. In regard to the manner of "hearing Christ's voice," we should do it —
(1)With reverence.
(2)With humility.
(3)With seriousness.
(4)With attention.
(5)In a childlike and teachable spirit.
(6)With faith.
(7)With love.
(8)With meekness andpatience.
(9)In a spirit of prayer.
(10)With an obedient mind.
(J. Benson.)

Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice.
Christ satisfying the instinct of truth
DeanVaughan.
Does any one challenge the expression, "instinct of truth," and speak of an
opposite tendency — that of falsehood— as the instinct of fallen humanity?
There is much to support this. "David said in his haste, I saydeliberately that
'all men are liars,'" exclaimed a famous statesman. The world is full of
falsehood. The very framework of societyrests upon semblances andfalse
assumptions. Still this instinct has not supersededin fallen man the instinct of
truth. Societycould not exist if truth were not more probable than falsehood.
There is falsehoodenoughto necessitate caution;there is still an overplus of
truth sufficient to justify confidence.
I. THE INSTINCT OF KNOWING TRUTH.
1. It is in human nature to crave satisfactionofknowledge. We see this in very
low examples. A trial which shocks everypure feeling finds ten thousand
readers who have no motive but vulgar curiosity. This is the twist the Fall has
given to the instinct of knowledge. It is the very snare by which man fell. But
there is an instinct underlying this — not corrupt, but wholesome — the
desire to know the highest truth, to be informed about God, His will, His love.
The Fall did not destroy this. That sort of guessing which is the amount of
nature's help towards this knowledge is felt to be unsatisfactory. Let me not
think but know is the instinctive cry.
2. There are many counteracting influences to this desire.(1)Indolence taking
refuge in the thing in hand — in the receivedopinion, traditions, &c.(2)
Prejudice — never so strong as in matters the most important and mysterious,
never so jealous as when there is most at stake and leastin sight; never so
sensitive as in a regionin which change involves both effort and singularity.(3)
Formalism. These influences have a tendency to dull without satisfying that
natural thirst which God has implanted in us.
3. Every man in whom this instinct of truth is, will hear Christ's voice, i.e., will
recognize in His gospelthe satisfying responses,because —(1)He speaks with

authority. His "verily, verily" has a ring of certainty. It is not every positive
man who convinces;many rouse opposition, because positiveness sometimesis
the mask of weakness,the stimulant of suspicion. It was not so with Christ.
The people felt that there was a difference betweenHim and the scribes in this
matter. How convincing is the voice of a man who thoroughly knows his
subject. Contrast the lecture of a real masterwith that of a smatterer! Christ
was at home in His subject. "We speak that we do know." A man eagerfor
Divine knowledge willfind satisfactionhere because there is no traditional
tentative doctrine, but the word of One who can say, "This is true."(2)Christ
satisfies the instinct of truth by not only speaking it, but being it — "I am the
Truth." Only in a Personcanthe instinct be satisfied. The knowledge of
things, books, theology, &c., cannever quench this thirst. The knowledge ofa
Person, in whom all truth centres and from whom it radiates with light and
warmth to every point in the circumference of being, is provided by the
gospel.
II. THE INSTINCT WHICH PROMPTSTOWARDS BEINGTRUE.
1. There are, indeed, men who dread truth. Some men prefer carrying about
them the suspicionof some fatal malady to running the risk of making
suspicioncertainty by going to a physician. So in things spiritual.
2. This indisposition arises from —(1) Timidity. There is an impression that
certain sins are unpardonable, concerning which we may as well be ignorant
as desperate.(2)Procrastination. Anything which involves exertion is deferred
till a more convenientseason — a seasonalways a little beyond.(3) The innate
gambling spirit of human nature, which loves the excitement of chance. These
powers are mighty, but they do not disprove the assertionthat there is an
instinct of being true — a desire in men to see themselves as they are!
3. How does Christ satisfy this.(1) By removing the question altogetherfrom
the province of innocence. His message is to the sinful. It is a question, then,
only of degree, betweenone who comes to Him and another. He does not say,
"I come to save such and such sinners," but all, even the worst. He encourages
us to be entirely frank with ourselves and Him.(2) Christ says, "Be true," and
interprets this to mean, "Walk in the light with a brave, resolute,

consistency."There is a natural horror of hypocrisy. In treating this as the
one detestable vice, Christ appealedto an instinct of truth which has survived
the Fall. Then He drew to Himself all that is sound, honest, noble; and, in
demanding truth as His one condition, proved also His own adaptation to the
instinctive demands of those whom He came to save.
(DeanVaughan.)
Truth its own evidence
C. H. Spurgeon.
When a man knows he is telling you the truth everything about him
corroborates his sincerity. Any accomplishedcross-examining lawyerknows
within a little whether a witness is genuine or a deceiver. Truth has her own
air and manner, her own tone and emphasis. Yonder is a blundering, ignorant
country fellow in the witness-box;the counseltries to bamboozle and confuse
him, but all the while he feels that he is an honest witness, and he says to
himself, "I should like to shake this fellow's evidence, for it will greatly
damage my case."
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
CharacteristicsofChrist's disciples
B. Beddome, M. A.
I. THEY ARE OF THE TRUTH (1 John 3:18, 19). This implies —
1. Uprightness and integrity of character.
2. A stedfastattachment to the doctrines and precepts of the gospel. The whole
of Divine revelationis called the truth; but the gospelis so calledby wayof
eminence. "Sanctifythem through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth" (2
Corinthians 13:8).

3. A stedfastattachment to Christ, the Truth itself, the essential Truth of God.
He is the original of truth, and its brightest manifestation.
4. An intimate relation to God, as the God of truth. They are begottenby the
Word of truth, and bear a resemblance to the Author of truth.
II. THEY HEAR THE SAVIOUR'S VOICE. Many heard His voice indeed,
while He was on earth, who derived no real benefit. They gave Him the
hearing, as many do His ministers, and that was all; but His chosenpeople
both hear and receive the truth in love. "My sheephear My voice," &c.
Whether He speaks to them in His word, or by His ministers, or whether in a
way of providence, they hear and approve, believe and obey. Such as truly
hear His voice, hearit —
1. With seriousnessand attention.
2. With judgment and understanding. He tells us that His sheepnot only hear
His voice, but they know it; they distinguish it from the voice of strangers.
3. With affectionand delight. Those who have heard with understanding
would be always hearing. They are ready to say, "It is the voice of my
Beloved," &c.
4. As addressedto themselves, and as applicable to their own case. Theydo
not hear for others. With Samuel, they say, "Speak Lord, for Thy servant
heareth."
5. With a humble resolutionto believe and obey. Peterand Matthew heard the
Saviour's voice, saying, "Follow Me;" and they instantly obeyed.
(B. Beddome, M. A.)
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary

Thou sayest - A common form of expressionfor, yes, it is so. I was born into
the world that I might setup and maintain a spiritual government: but this
government is establishedin and by truth. All that love truth, hear my voice
and attend to the spiritual doctrines I preach. It is by truth alone that I
influence the minds and govern the manners of my subjects.
Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
Art thou a king then? - Dostthou admit the charge in any sense, ordost thou
lay claim to a kingdom of any kind?
Thou sayest… - This is a form of expressiondenoting affirmation. It is
equivalent to yes.
That I am a king - This does not mean simply that Pilate affirmed that he was
a king; it does not appear that he had done this; but it means, “Thou affirmest
the truth; thou declarestwhatis correct, for I am a king.” I am a king in a
certain sense, anddo not deny it.
To this end … - Compare John 3:11-12, etc. Jesus does nothere affirm that he
was born to reign, or that this was the design of his coming; but it was to bear
witness to and to exhibit the truth. By this he showedwhat was the nature of
his kingdom. It was not to assertpower;not to collectarmies;not to subdue
nations in battle. It was simply to present truth to men, and to exercise
dominion only by the truth. Hence, the only powerput forth in restraining the
wicked, in convincing the sinner, in converting the heart, in guiding and
leading his people, and in sanctifying them, is that which is produced by
applying truth to the mind. Men are not forced or compelled to be Christians.
They are made to see that they are stoners, that God is merciful, that they
need a Redeemer, and that the Lord Jesus is fitted to their case, and yield
themselves then wholly to his reign. This is all the powerever used in the
kingdom of Christ, and no men in his church have a right to use any other.
Alas! how little have persecutors rememberedthis! And how often, under the
pretence of greatregard for the kingdom of Jesus, have bigots attempted by
force and flames to make all men think as they do! We see here the

importance which Jesus attachedto truth. It was his sole business in coming
into the world. He had no other end than to establishit. We therefore should
value it, and seek forit as for hid treasures, Proverbs 23:23.
Every one … - See John 8:47.
sa40
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
Pilate therefore saidunto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou
sayestthat I am a king. To this end have I been born, and to this end am I
come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that
is of the truth heareth my voice.
Pilate did not understand what Jesus meant, but one thing was crystalclear:
here was no seditionist.
Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice ... This had its personal
application to Pilate, who was not of the truth. His life-style, habits, political
posture as Caesar's representative in that city, his willingness to sacrifice even
the innocent to avoid any political damage to himself - all such things in Pilate
prevented his acceptanceofthe Saviour's words in their higher context or
meaning. Despite this, his inherent cunning and political astuteness enabled
him to see at a glance how crookedand groundless were the false charges of
the Pharisees.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
Pilate therefore saidunto him,.... Upon this free and full declarationof Christ,
concerning his kingly office, and the nature of his kingdom:
art thou a king then? or thou art a king then: for, from his having a kingdom,
it might be very justly inferred that he was a king:

Jesus answered, thousayestthat I am a king; and which was very rightly said;
and Christ by these words owns and confesses,that he was one: adding,
to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should
bear witness unto the truth. The end of Christ's being born, which was of a
virgin, in a very miraculous manner, and of his coming into the world, which
was by the assumption of human nature, among many other things, was to
bear testimony to truth in general;to the whole Gospel, the word of truth, and
every branch of it, which he brought with him, constantly preachedin life,
and confirmed by his death; and particularly to this truth, that he was a King,
and had a kingdom in a spiritual sense:
everyone that is of the truth; that is of God, belongs to the sheepof Christ,
knows the truth as it is in Jesus, and is on the side of truth, and stands by it:
heareth my voice; the voice of his Gospel;and that not only externally, but
internally; so as to approve of it, rejoice at it, and distinguish it; and the voice
of his commands, so as cheerfully to obey them from a principle of love to
him.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Art thou a king then? — There was no sarcasmordisdain in this question (as
Tholuck, Alford, and others, allege), else ourLord‘s answerwould have been
different. Putting emphasis upon “thou,” his question betrays a mixture of
surprise and uneasiness, partly at the possibility of there being, after all,
something dangerous under the claim, and partly from a certain awe which
our Lord‘s demeanor probably struck into him.
Thou sayestthat I am a king — It is even so.
To this end was I — “have I been.”
born and for this cause came I — am I come.
into the world, that I may bear witness to the truth — His birth expresses His
manhood; His coming into the world, His existence before assuming

humanity: The truth, then, here affirmed, though Pilate would catchlittle of
it, was that His Incarnation was expresslyin order to the assumption of
Royalty in our nature. Yet, instead of saying, He came to be a King, which is
His meaning, He says He came to testify to the truth. Why this? Because, in
such circumstances it required a noble courage not to flinch from His royal
claims; and our Lord, conscious thatHe was putting forth that courage, gives
a turn to His confessionexpressive ofit. It is to this that Paul alludes, in those
remarkable words to Timothy: “I charge thee before God, who quickeneth all
things, and before Christ Jesus, who, in the presence of Pontius Pilate,
witnessedthe goodconfession”(1 Timothy 6:13). This one actof our Lord‘s
life, His courageous witness-bearing before the governor, was selectedas an
encouraging example of the fidelity which Timothy ought to display. As the
Lord (says Olshausenbeautifully) owned Himself the Son of God before the
most exalted theocratic council, so He confessedHis regaldignity in presence
of the representative of the highest political authority on earth.
Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice — Our Lord here not only
affirms that His word had in it a self-evidencing, self-recommending power,
but gently insinuated the true secretof the growth and grandeur of His
kingdom - as A KINGDOM OF TRUTH, in its highestsense, into which all
souls who have learned to live and count all things but loss for the truth are,
by a most heavenly attraction, drawn as into their proper element; THE
KING of whom Jesus is, fetching them in and ruling them by His captivating
powerover their hearts.
People's New Testament
Art thou a king then? If Christ has a kingdom he must be a King.
Copyright Statement

These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that
is available on the Christian ClassicsEtherealLibrary Website.
Original work done by Ernie Stefanik. First published online in 1996 atThe
RestorationMovementPages.
Bibliography
Johnson, BartonW. "Commentary on John 18:37". "People's New
Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/pnt/john-
18.html. 1891.
return to 'Jump List'
Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
Art thou a king then? (ουκουνβασιλευς ει συ — oukounbasileus ei su).
Compound of ουκ — ouk and ουν — oun and is clearly ironical expecting an
affirmative answer, only here in the N.T., and in lxx only in A text in 2Kings
5:23.
Thou sayestthat (συ λεγεις οτι — su legeis hoti). In Matthew 27:11;Mark
15:2; Luke 23:3, συ λεγεις — su legeis clearlymeans “yes,” as συ ειπας — su
eipas (thou saidst) does in Matthew 26:64 (= “I am,” εγω ειμι — egō eimi in
Mark 14:62). Hence here οτι — hoti had best be taken to mean “because”:
“Yes, because I am a king.”
Have I been born (εγω γεγεννημαι — egō gegennēmai). Perfectpassive
indicative of γενναω — gennaō The Incarnation was for this purpose. Note
repetition of εις τουτο — eis touto (for this purpose), explained by ινα
μαρτυρησω τηι αλητειαι — hina marturēsō tēi alētheiāi(that I may bear
witness to the truth), ινα — hina with first aoristactive subjunctive of
μαρτυρεω — martureō Paul (1 Timothy 6:13) alludes to this good confession
when Christ bore witness (μαρτυρησαντος — marturēsantos)before Pilate.
Jesus bore such witness always (John 3:11, John 3:32; John 7:7; John 8:14;
Revelation1:5).

Vincent's Word Studies
Art thou then ( οὐκοῦνεἷ σύ )
The interrogative particle οὐκοῦν, not therefore, occurs only here in the New
Testament. It is ironical. In John 18:33the emphasis is on thou: here upon
king. So then, after all, thou art a king.
Was I born - came I ( γεγέννημαι - ἐλήλυθα )
Both perfects. Have I been born - am I come. So Rev. The Greek orderis I for
this have been born, etc., throwing the emphasis on Christ's person and
destiny. The perfect describes His birth and coming not merely as historical
facts, but as abiding in their results. Compare this confessionbefore Pilate (1
Timothy 6:13) with the corresponding confessionbefore the high-priest
(Matthew 26:64). “The one, addressedto the Jews, is framed in the language
of prophecy; the other, addressedto a Roman, appeals to the universal
testimony of conscience.The one speaksofa future manifestationof glory, the
other speaking of a presentmanifestation of truth. The one looks forwardto
the Return, the other looks backwardto the Incarnation” (Westcott).
Of the truth ( ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας )
Literally, out of: sprung from: whose life and words issue from the truth. See
on John 14:6, and compare John 8:47.
Wesley's ExplanatoryNotes
sayestthat I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into
the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the
truth heareth my voice.
Thou sayest — The truth.

To this end was I born — Speaking of his human origin: his Divine was above
Pilate's comprehension. Yet it is intimated in the following words, I came into
the world, that I might witness to the truth - Which was both declaredto the
Jews, andin the process ofhis passionto the princes of the Gentiles also.
Every one that is of the truth — That is, a lover of it, heareth my voice - A
universal maxim. Every sincere lover of truth will hear him, so as to
understand and practise what he saith.
The Fourfold Gospel
sayestthat I am a king1. To this end have I been born, and to this end am I
come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth2. Every one
that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Thou sayestthat I am a king. See .
To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I
should bear witness unto the truth. Jesus here enlightens Pilate as to the
nature of his kingdom. He, the King, was the incarnation of truth, and all
those who derive the inspiration of their life from truth were his subjects. For
the purpose of thus bearing witness to and revealing truth Jesus had been
born, thus entering a new state of being, and he had come into the world in
this changedcondition, thus entering a new sphere of action. The words
clearly imply the pre-existence of Christ and no doubt arousedthat state of
uneasiness orfear which was increasedby the words of the Jewishrulers
(John 19:7,8).
Abbott's Illustrated New Testament

Heareth my voice;obeyeth me; is my subject. The meaning is, that what he
calledhis kingdom was only a spiritual kingdom, comprising all those that
loved the truth.
Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
37.Thousayestthat I am a king. Although Pilate had already learned, from
the former answer, that Christ claims for himself some sort of kingdom, yet
now Christ asserts the same thing more firmly; and, not satisfiedwith this, he
makes an additional statement, which serves for a seal, as it were, to ratify
what he had said. Hence we infer, that the doctrine concerning Christ’s
kingdom is of no ordinary importance, since he has deemed it worthy of so
solemn an affirmation.
For this cause was I born, that I may bear witness to the truth. This is, no
doubt, a generalsentiment; but it must be viewedin relation to the place
which it holds in the presentpassage.The words mean, that it is natural for
Christ to speak the truth; and, next, that he was sent for this purpose by the
Father; and, consequently, that this is his peculiar office. There is no danger,
therefore, that we shall be deceivedby trusting him, since it is impossible that
he who has been commissionedby God, and whose natural dispositionleads
him to maintain the truth, shall teachany thing that is not true.
Every one that is of the truth. Christ added this, not so much for the purpose
of exhorting Pilate, (for he knew that he would gainnothing by doing so,)as of
defending his doctrine againstthe base reproaches which had been easton it;
as if he had said, “It is imputed to me as a crime that I have assertedthat I am
a king; and yet this is an unquestionable truth, which is receivedwith
reverence and without hesitation by all who have a correctjudgment and a
sound understanding.” When he says, that they are of the truth he does not
mean that they naturally know the truth, but that they are directed by the
Spirit of God.

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary
THE KING JESUS
‘Pilate therefore said unto Him, Art Thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou
sayestthat I am a king.’
John 18:37
It was not as the Son of God that Jesus saidthis, but as the Son of Man. It
would have been nothing that the SecondPersonin the BlessedTrinity should
have been ‘a King.’ Of course He was;and much more than ‘a King.’ But that
poor, weak, despisedMan—thatwas standing there before Pontius Pilate—
that was ‘a King.’ And all Scripture confirms it. It was the manhood of Christ
that was there. This is the marvel, and here is the comfort.
I. God having electedChrist to His throne, put all that is in heavenand earth
under His feet.—‘Forwhen He saith, All things are put under Him, it is
manifest that He is excepted’—thatis, the Father—‘whichdid put all things
under Him.’ This reign of Christ will certainly be to the end of this
dispensation. When this dispensationwill end, and what will come after it, we
do not know. It is safesthere to keepto the exact letter of God’s Word. Now
see it.
II. The subjugation of the universe to the King Christ is now going on.—And
it is very gradual. ‘We see not yet all things put under Him.’ Little by little it
is extending itself. ‘One of a city, two of a family.’ The increase will grow
rapid and immense. When He comes again, atonce, to Him ‘every knee shall
bow, and every tongue shall swear.’The promise to Abraham and to David
will be fulfilled to the seed, evento the world’s end. ‘There will be one Lord,
and His name one.’
III. ‘Thy kingdom come.’—How much of that rich prayer is yet answered?
how much are we waiting for? Three things it means. ‘Thy kingdom’ in my
heart: ‘Thy kingdom’ over all the nations: ‘Thy kingdom’ at the Second
Advent.

Jesus was the truth

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