Daniel 7:13-14 / Apocalypse 1:5-8 / John 18:33-37
We are all very familiar with this name Pontius Pilate.
Every Sunday, in the Creed we will mention his name.
His name is well-known but not for a good reason.
Pontius Pilate went down into history as the governor who sentenced Jesus to death, even though he knew that Jesus was innocent.
Pontius Pilate had the authority to stop an injustice.
In fact he was supposed to stand for justice and truth.
But when Jesus told him that He came to bear witness to the truth and that all who stand on the side of truth listen to his voice, Pilate asked a very intriguing question.
Pilate asked Jesus: “Truth? What is that?”
So what is this truth that Jesus is talking about?
Do we know what this truth is?
We may tend to think that truth is some kind of religious precept or a moral principle.
We may think that truth is some kind of undeniable reality like for eg, the sun rises in the east and set in the west.
But for us Catholics, the first understanding of truth is that truth is found in the person of Jesus because He said: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
So if we follow Jesus and walk in the Truth, will we have justice and fairness in life?
Maybe, but not necessarily so.
Jesus Himself is the Truth, yet He suffered injustice under the hands of Pilate who was supposed to stand for justice.
In life we see injustice and unfairness happening too often and even over and over again.
For example, those who work hard get more work to do and are not promoted, whereas those who just talk a lot and curry favour from the boss get promoted.
The poor seemed to be always in debt and life seems to be so unfair to them.
Those who are sincere and honest seemed to be the ones who always get cheated by others.
The weak and the helpless are often bullied and made use of by the mighty and powerful.
In short, injustice and evil seem to be victorious over truth and justice and good.
So what do we have to say about this?
To console ourselves, we will say that God knows, God sees, and there will be retribution for others who do evil and injustice.
Yes, there can be retribution, but is that how we as disciples of Jesus, look at evil and injustice?
The truth that Jesus wants us to be convinced about is that there is resurrection and eternal life.
Even for Jesus, He faced injustice and evil right up till His death on the cross.
But even in the midst of the insults and the jeering and the taunting, there was a silent witness to the truth.
It was that humble notice that was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek, and what we come to know now as expressed in these four letters “INRI”.
“INRI” stems from the Latin phrase 'Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum' meaning “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”.
This was the notice Pontius Pilate had nailed on the cross. Even when the chief priests protested over the words and wanted it changed to “This man said: I am the king of the Jews”, Pilate stood his ground and said “What I have written, I have written.” This time Pilate was firm enough.
So Pilate may be remembered as the one who sentenced Jesus to death, but he was also the one who wrote the notice that proclaimed the truth of who Jesus is.
But it was a strange and contradictory sight – the notice proclaimed Jesus as king, but on the cross the King of the Jews was nailed and condemned to a shameful and cruel death.
But even if the forces of darkness seem to prevail, the truth is that evil and death do not have the final say.
Because Jesus rose from death and conquered sin and evil.
Jesus rose from death to become King of Glory, King of Truth, King of Life and King of Love.
So the plain and simple truth is this: Our sufferings on earth are nothing compared to the glory that is awaiting us in eternity.
Like Jesus our King, we might not see justice done to us while we are on earth.
But there will be justice for us in eternal life because Jesus is the King of justice.
So we must not be discouraged by injustice or unfairness throughout our lives.
But let us faithfully follow Jesus our King into His death and resurrection and glory and into eternity.
There in heaven, Jesus our King will wipe away our tears and heal our broken hearts.
There in the Kingdom of God, our names will be written forever in the Book of Life.
That is the truth, and it will stand forever. Let us believe that as we proclaim Jesus as the King of the universe.