We are flooded with information of all kinds about many topics.
We are given much detail about happenings in our surroundings and about events from around the world.
But we are sometimes wondering whether the description we are given corresponds to reality or if…
If it is not somehow ‘changed’ to suit the aims of the reporters and their sponsors!
We feel we are sometimes subjected to what is called ‘fake news’!
The text of today’s gospel (John 18:33-37) has something relevant to address this situation.
We see Jesus being questioned by Pilate, the Roman procurator.
Jesus has been brought to Pilate by the Jewish leaders with the accusation of claiming to be king.
Pilate asks Jesus:
“Are you the king of the Jews?”
As Jesus does not reply directly, Pilate asks again, or rather declares:
“You are a king, then!”
It is then that Jesus says openly what people had asked him about during his life.
They wanted to know why he had come into our world.
Now, he states clearly the purpose of his coming to us:
“I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth”.
Strangely enough, today’s gospel text stops short from giving the next verse where Pilate asks (verse 38):
“What is truth?”
But, it is noteworthy that Pilate did not wait for Jesus to answer!
In this day and age, perhaps many people do the same:
either, they do not dare to ask what truth is, and how it can be found;
or, they do not pay attention to the answers that are given to them.
To Pilate, Jesus said:
“Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
Do we?… Are we on his side?…
During his life, when teaching the crowds, Jesus had assured them:
“The truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
We cannot stand the very idea of not being free, yet…
We can ask ourselves: Is it the truth that shapes our ideas, our decisions, our interactions?…
Note: Another reflection is available on a different theme in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/34e-dimanche-fete-du-christ-roi-annee-b-2024/