I AM

I AM : M. M. Ninan
Evidently, when Jesus said I am the Truth he implied something,
which everyone knew.
The question ‘What is Truth’ was asked by Pilot to Jesus and he
explained it to him.
John 18:36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my
servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my
kingdom is from another place."
John 18:37 "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are
right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for
this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of
truth listens to me."
John 18:38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to
the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him.
Pilot here was grappling with two questions at the same time. One
was the question of Sovereignty. Are You the King of the Jews? But
Jesus goes beyond that question, while the answer to that question
is yes, the sovereignty of Jesus is beyond that. It is true that by
legal descent from David, the Kingdom of Judah belongs to Jesus.
But Jesus points out that His Kingdom is not of this world. It will
be a poor King to be the king of a decaying universe. Pilot got the
point right on the nail’s head. He was a Roman Scholar and knew
his philosophy well. Truth, Virtue and Beauty are the absolutes of
the universe. Ancient Indian Philosophy puts it as Sathyam, Sivam,
Sundaram. He was also aware of the many stories in the Roman
mythology about the children born to God. It was not difficult for
Pilot to connect the issues and realize that Jesus was indeed
claiming to be not the son born to a god, but an incarnation of God
himself. This was probably new to him. But Jesus explained to him
that He is indeed a King, but not of this world.
101