Pastor Nate Brosher
Apr 4, 2026
John 18:33-38 NLT - 33 Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. "Are you the king of the Jews?" he asked him. 34 Jesus replied, "Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?"35 "Am I a Jew?" Pilate retorted. "Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?" 36 Jesus answered, "My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world." 37 Pilate said, "So you are a king?" Jesus responded, "You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true." 38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, "He is not guilty of any crime.”
1. Questioning Truth
Culture says, “Truth is internal, not eternal.”
“When truth becomes subjective, authority shifts from God to self.” - Soren Kierkegaard, 19th Century Danish Theologian/Philosopher
God’s Truth & Self-Deception
2. Christ’s Identity
John 18:37 NLT - "You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true."
John 14:6 NKJV - 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
- Truth is not a concept - It’s a person!
Pilate = Confusion and Compromise.
Jesus = Clarity and Conviction.
3. Rejecting Truth
John 18:38 NLT - 38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, "He is not guilty of any crime.
We want truth that is comfortable, not truth that is costly.
Matthew 16:24-27 NLT - 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.
4. The Cross
1Peter 2:24 NLT - 24 He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.
- The cross is where truth stopped being a statement and became a sacrifice.
Philippians 2:9-11 NLT - 9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.