“Then Pilate said to him, ‘Then you are a king!’ Jesus replied, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world — to testify to the Truth. All who are of the Truth listen to my voice.’”

(John 18:37)

Focus on the Family’s “Truth Project” gets some milage off of this passage, often posing the question: “Why did Jesus come into the world?” The answer, of course, from this passage would be: “To testify to the Truth.” Of course, Jesus does make similar comments throughout his ministry, for example:

“But he said to them, ‘It is essential that I proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God in these other cities also. I was sent for this.”

(Luke 4:43)

“For I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of the one who sent me out. And this is the will of the one who sent me out: that I might not lose anyone from all he has given me, but rather that I should raise him up on the last day.”

(John 6:38-39)

“I have come into this world as light in order that those who believe in me might not remain in darkness.”

(John 12:46)

“And Jesus said, ‘For judgment I came into the world in order that those who do not see may see and those who do see might become blind.’”

(John 9:39)

Certainly it can be said that these passages do tie together for it is truth that Jesus preaches and it is by the rule of truth that Jesus will enter into judgment upon all those who stand opposed to him. At the same time, it is a reminder that while Jesus did come to proclaim the Truth, our understanding of Truth must be deeper and more relational than we perhaps might ordinarily presume.

The bigger question to ask, perhaps, is the relationship between Truth and the Kingdom of God to which Jesus has come to testify. The answer, of course, is that it is only in God’s kingdom that truth can be found and Truth in its ultimate sense, finds its source in God alone. If we are going to know truth, that means we must listen to the voice of Jesus.

How often people pursue truth in foolish places. Men presume themselves to be the final arbiters of what is true and what is not true. How foolish that is! It is like a child who does not understand calculus proclaiming calculus to be gibberish because he does not know what the symbols represent. By definition, our minds are not capable of discerning the fullness of God, yet how often we deem ourselves judge and lord over what is around us.

The Truth that Jesus came to testify to is light and it is gospel, but it is also judgment upon those who will not believe the truth. Jesus says that he came so that the wicked who reject him might remain in their darkness, becoming blind to eternal things. Indeed, how often that is the case, let us pray that God might lift the blindness of those we love and of those with whom we interact so that the Truth of Christ might rise like dawn in their hearts and healing spring up in their lives (Isaiah 58:8).