What a coincidence that my quiet time reading of John 18 falls on Christmas Day. What’s also amazing is the clear statement by Jesus himself as to why he was born and why he came into the world. Standing falsely accused before Pilate, Jesus answered Pilate’s question, “So you are a king?” by saying, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (37). John 1:14 tells me that Jesus (the Word of God in human flesh) was “full of grace and TRUTH.” Jesus’s testimony about what he had seen and heard from above (from God) was true (3:32). Jesus’s testimony about himself was true (8:14) because he was “the truth” (14:6). Everyone who is “of the truth” and therefore “of God” listens to Jesus (8:47; 18:37c). Everyone to whom truth is important will welcome the One who is truth incarnate. Pilate failed to see or hear this because he was blind and deaf to the truth.
Jesus also teaches me here that his kingdom is not of this world system (36). And since I am a part of that kingdom, I need to testify to the truth as Jesus did. I don’t want to be like Peter, who denied three times that he was one of Jesus’s disciples (17, 25, 27). I have the assurance that Jesus will protect me and keep me safe as I engage in the spiritual struggle for the truth (9). Is there anything more important than for everyone who bears the name of Christ to testify to the truth that is in Jesus? I, too, have been born again to testify to this truth. For me Christmas is the triumph of truth!
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