Easter reminds us of the climactic events of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. When the Gospel writers wrote their biographies of Jesus all of them focused most on the last week of his life. That week began with his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem when the crowds proclaimed him as their Messiah King. As he entered the city, he fulfilled a prophecy, written more than 500 years earlier, “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” Jesus is a king like no other; he is the Prince of Peace.
When he was on trial, Pilate, the Roman Governor, asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest. 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.” Pilate asked, “What is truth?”
Pilate decided that Jesus should be executed, even though he knew he was innocent, but that did not bring an end to Jesus’ kingdom. Following his death and resurrection the good news about Jesus has spread throughout the world. In the early years of the Christian church the number of Christians grew despite the fierce persecution they faced. The power of Imperial Rome came to an end, but the kingdom of Jesus continues still. It has outlasted every earthly kingdom because it is different. It is a spiritual kingdom; it is “not of this world.” Those who belong to Jesus’ kingdom are “on the side of truth” and listen to him.
People still ask the same question as Pilate asked, “What is truth?” The pundits of our modern world tell us that there is no such thing as absolute truth, but they are wrong. The outworking of their philosophy is plain to see in the moral chaos and tragic personal emptiness of our western world. How different it is when, like little children, we listen to Jesus and receive the truth we see in him and hear in his words. As we listen to Jesus and trust in him, we understand how we, too, may enter into his kingdom, which is so different from every worldly kingdom, but which will outlast the years.