The Second Golden Rule

Do you remember the brief but famous dialogs between Pontius Pilate and Jesus? In spite of his faults, Pilate must have felt some resonance with or for Jesus. Obviously the prisoner standing before him was not a criminal or any kind of a threat to Roman power. Even Pilate’s wife advised him to have nothing to do with the case. Was it possible that this man standing before him was the Christ, the promised Messiah, as He claimed to be? It was clear to Pilate that Jesus was a very unique or special individual. Pilate seemed to grasp the fact that ‘innocence’ actually stood before him. We may safely draw this conclusion because of the number of times that Pilate tried to have the Savior released. This is also supported by Pilate’s own words when he said: ”I find no fault with this man.”

Given the standing military forces he had at his command, Pilate should not have feared either Jesus or the Jerusalem crowds. But he was very much aware of political realities centered in Rome. His duties would have included maintaining a quiet populace in addition to his major assignment of keeping the tax revenue flowing smoothly to Rome. As a result, Pilate found himself in a corner from which he felt forced to issue that infamous death sentence, in order “…to content the people…”

When Jesus stated that He was come to bear witness of the truth, “…Pilate saith unto him, what is truth?” Of all the questions that can be asked, this is one of the most critical. This is because it leads to consideration of the firmness or reliability of the ground upon which we stand. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are all deeply immersed in our own search for truth. For example, in our courts we demand ‘…the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth…’. In spite of our best efforts, we all too frequently end up with selective bits and pieces of the truth. However, our attempts to find truth remain worthwhile.

One way in which we can obtain information or truth is by instruction. The word ‘lecture’ has two basic meanings: one is a presentation of information as in a classroom setting while the other carries an attitude of correction or reproof. I have had the opportunity to lecture or to give instruction to my children on occasion. I have also had the privilege of teaching others. I always make every effort to be both brief and gentle, on such occasions The subject of one of my mini-lectures to my children had to do with truth. It went something like this:

There are only two kinds of truth. I have titled these as ‘Objective Truth’ and
‘Subjective Truth’. In other words, there is ‘what truly is’ and there is ‘what is
perceived to be’. A useful illustration of the difference can be found with an auto
accident. The witnesses would each view the event from geographically different
vantage points and as influenced by their own personal perspectives. As a result, their
testimonies would rarely coincide completely. And yet there would only be one actual
set of events. Point number one of that mini-lecture was that in our daily walk, we
must learn to navigate our way around how other people view life. If we do not learn
this ‘social skill’, we will spend a great deal of time and effort bumping into
Subjective Truths as understood by others. Point number two is that if we do not learn
to deal with Objective Truth, or ‘what is factual’, then sooner or later it will catch up
with us. And such events are sure to occur at most inconvenient times and in most
painful ways. For ‘what is’, like gravity, is only ignored at our peril.