Читать книгу Much Ado About Everything - Peter Milward - Страница 10

“What is truth? said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer.” These are the words of Sir Francis Bacon, in his essay “Of Truth”. But I wonder if what he says about Pilate is true. Was Pilate really jesting? Or wasn’t he being serious? After all, what is truth? That is no easy question to answer.

Anyhow, what was the context of Pilate’s question? What prompted him to ask it? In the course of his trial of Jesus, he naturally wanted to know why the Jews were accusing him. Then it was that Jesus came out with the strange statement, according to John’s Gospel, “For this was I born, and for this came I into the world, to bear witness to the truth.”

Then it was that Pilate came out with his question. Why did he ask it? As a man of education, he knew that this was a question discussed at length by the philosophers of Greece and Rome. He knew that in their pursuit of an answer to this question they had “found no end, in wandering mazes lost”. He was also aware that the enemies of Jesus were outside, waiting impatiently for an end to this interview with Jesus. How, he may have wondered, could he expect Jesus to answer in a moment what all the philosophers of Greece and Rome had been unable to answer for years?

Then all he could say was, “What is truth?” At least, for him as a practical Roman, unaccustomed to the subtleties of Greece, there was the practical answer, as he went on to give it to the Jews waiting outside, “I find no fault in this man.” They had accused Jesus of seeking a kingdom, but on interviewing Jesus he had found that the kingdom Jesus had in mind wasn’t a kingdom of this world, like the Roman Empire, but merely a kingdom of truth – whatever that truth might be. Jesus might be serious about it, or he might simply be a lunatic, but he was no danger to the Roman state. There was no reason for the Romans to put Jesus to death, however he may have offended against the law of the Jews. So let them look to it! It was no concern of his as governor.

If only Pilate wasn’t such a busy man! If only he wasn’t governor of Judea! If only he wasn’t acting as judge of Jesus in a matter of life and death, with all the accusers of Jesus shouting impatiently outside! If only he had the leisure, over cups of wine, to ask Jesus, “Now tell me, what in your opinion is the truth in which you say you were born and for which you came into this world? Or rather, to begin with, what were the circumstances of your birth? And how was it that you came into this world?”

It could have been such an interesting interview, such as we read in many magazines and newspapers nowadays. Famous people are always giving interviews, and some news of Jesus’ fame had no doubt come to the ears of Pilate. After all, he wasn’t governor of Judea for nothing. He must have known what was going on. But now, alas, he had no time. He couldn’t even wait for an answer. Or rather, what answer Jesus had given was enough to convince him that here was an innocent man, who had done nothing wrong deserving of death. That much was surely the truth of the matter.

But now we can discern a difference between the truth of Pilate and the truth of Jesus. The only truth with which Pilate as governor is immediately concerned was, “Is this man guilty or not? Does he deserve to die or not? Are the accusations of the Jews against him valid or not?” Then, on the strength of this necessarily brief interview Pilate comes to the conclusion that Jesus isn’t guilty, he doesn’t deserve to die, and the Jewish accusations against him aren’t valid at least according to Roman law. That is what he considers to be true. That is for him the truth about Jesus.

But is that the truth in the meaning of Jesus? No, it isn’t. The truth which Jesus has been proclaiming from the time of his baptism by John in the Jordan, and all through his public life, right up till the present moment, is, as he has just told Pilate, the kingdom of God, which is the truth of God, the goodness of God, the love of God.

Pilate is only interested, as Roman governor, in the truth of this world, in the truth of the Roman Empire, in the truth as decreed by the Roman emperor. Whatever is outside Rome, or above Rome, or invisible to Rome, is no concern of his. He is only interested, like the empirical followers of Bacon, in what he can see with his eyes and touch or measure with his hands. So when the Jews claim that Jesus is trying to make a kingdom for himself, all Pilate wants to know is, “Is this a kingdom to be seen with the eyes, or to be measured on a map of the Mediterranean Sea?” No, it isn’t. So that is where his interest in the affair ends. Now he can wash his hands of it all.

But can Pilate wash his hands of it all? Is he just the Roman governor? Isn’t he more than that? Isn’t he a human being? Isn’t it vitally important for him to know the meaning of divine truth? Isn’t it vitally important for him to direct his attention beyond the mere kingdoms of this world, whether Roman or Persian or Chinese, mere kingdoms one can see and measure on a map of the world, to the invisible, intangible kingdom of God?

Then what would I have done, if I had been in Pilate’s shoes? How would I have responded to the good advice of Pilate’s wife, when she came with the dreams she had had about Jesus? Shouldn’t I have told Jesus, “Please wait a moment while I disperse the crowd outside.” And then mightn’t I have returned and asked for glasses of wine and said, “Now we have a little leisure. Now please tell me about this kingdom of God and the truth of God. Who is this God? Is he the same as the Jewish God, or is he different? Isn’t that the reason why the Jews outside have been accusing you?” Now wouldn’t that have been a worthy response to make, as a human being, to Jesus?