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Was Pilate inquiring, being sarcastic, or waxing rhetorically? What we know for sure is that Truth incarnate (Jn 14:6) was standing before his very eyes, and Pilate didn’t recognize Jesus as the Truth. Pilate’s famous question came about because Jesus commented, “For this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (Jn 18:37).
Pilate didn’t give Jesus an opportunity to answer his question. All that Jesus was to him was an inconvenient truth, and He quickly turned away and “went out again to the Jews” declaring His innocence – “I find no fault in Him at all,” hoping to appeal to the crowd because of Jesus’ popularity. But the Jewish leaders held sway over the multitude to release the robber known as Barabbas (Mt 27:20; Lk 23:18-19, 25).
“Are you a king then?” Pilate asked (Jn 18:37). He got Jesus’ answer – “You say rightly that I am a king.” But the chief priest relayed another response when Pilate presented a bloodied Jesus before the Jews, “Behold your king” (Jn 19:14)! But the crowd cried out the more, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate asked, “Shall I crucify your King?" Then came the words of the chief priests, “We have no king but Caesar!"… (Jn 19:15). You know how the story ends.
In another passage of Scripture Jesus declared, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me (Jn 10:27). How do we know we are His sheep? “They follow Me.” Is Jesus an inconvenient truth or the ruling truth in our lives? Do we use Him only when it’s convenient, or do we follow Him because we hear His voice? “My sheep hear my voice….” <><
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