In our text for Sunday (John 19) we find that Pilate declares the innocence of Christ three times.  Pilate was trying hard to honor his conscience and be politically correct.  This is nearly impossible!  In his various attempts to let Jesus go he learned more about the nature of Christ's kingdom, His reign and the nature of truth.  Pilate revealed by his response that for him there was only one king and one kingdom that he was concerned about and he revealed that to him "the idea of truth was a joke."  Yet, his conscience, the dream of his wife and the majesty of Jesus caused him great concern.  Of course we know they found no fault in Jesus because there was no fault to be found but I wonder if we believe that now.  There are many people today who find fault with His teachings, His actions or the lack of His actions.  However, I had breakfast with a man from our church this morning who has been through many trials including the passing of his wife and with strong faith he declares that God is good and His ways are right.  He seems to be in the minority of public opinion.  Pilate's assessment only had to do with Jesus' threat to the Empire.  We have no credible record that Pilate's mind ever changed about the King and His Kingdom.  There are many more delights about the Christ than the fact that He was no threat to the Empire!  Too bad Pilate didn't take the time to find out the rest of the story.  What do we mean when we say we find no fault in Him?  Are we following Him like we believe He knows what He is talking about? 

You may not think that the subjects mentioned sound very tasty but we are all heavily "into" these subjects whether we realize it or not.  We are all trying to figure out what is real (metaphysics) and there are plenty of people in line to offer alternatives.  We wonder (secretly perhaps) if we can know what is real and how we can know for sure if it is real (epistemology).  These are not just the subjects of philosophers.  Our answers in the discussions of these subjects form our world view and lead to decisions which determine behavior!  This stuff is on the news every night and every commercial, one way or another, uses our bent to "know" to their advantage.  Every person is a philosopher, even if we don't know the terms.  Pilate was no dummy.  The subject of truth was not foreign to him.  He had the writings and musings of the Greek and Roman schools of thought at his fingertips.  He was in the center of the Hebrew world at the time of the Passover.  He was literate and the Light was in his presence.  Whether his response to Jesus was a statement or a question is a bit uncertain to me.  Either way, the result was the same, Pilate walked away from the Truth.  If it was a statement he was scoffing and implying that truth could not be known.  If he was asking, he didn't want to know the answer.  He actually thought he was the one who was the judge in this case when the Judge of all the earth was standing before him.  In refusing to think with Jesus about what life was about and how to live it, he actually brought judgment upon himself.  Many since have done the same.  Do you know what is real?  Are you living in light of that truth?  How do you know that what/who you are living for is the "real deal?"