What Is Truth? Poem by Divina Boulangé

“Crucify Him! Crucify Him! ” sounds the shout.
The mob grows louder as Pilate comes out.
The bound Man is led into the judgment hall
To be interrogated and condemned before all.

“Are You the King of the Jews? ” asks Pilate.*
“Do you say this of yourself, or did others tell it? ”
The answer comes quietly and turns the tables.
Pilate, taken aback, replies as well as able.

His sharp response comes, “Am I a Jew?
Your own nation and chief priests betrayed You!
What have You done? ” Pilate questions.
Skillfully, the Man skirts the question.

“My kingdom is not of this world, ”
His words slice like a javelin hurled.
“If it were, My servants would fight,
And I would have not been captured tonight.”

Confused, Pilate says, “Are You a king then? ”
“You say that I am a king, ” states the Man.
“For this reason was I born,
And for this cause came I into the world…

“That I should bear witness of the truth;
And everyone that is of the truth
Will hear my voice, ” He confidently declares.
His unanswered words hang hauntingly in the air.

“What is truth? ” the sudden cry echoes in the hall;
One can see Pilate with arms stretched out to all.
In hopeless despair, his arms fall to his side.
Pilate, not expecting a reply, despondently sighs.

Yet even now his question whispers in our hearts.
“What is truth? ” still continues to haunt us all.
Is there truth? And can we know it?
Or are we destined to despair like Pilate?

What joy to know that we can have the truth!
The Apostle John says, “Thy Word is truth.”**
The Word is the Bible – God’s holy Book.
In it is the Truth, if you’ll but look.

*see John 18: 33-38 KJV
**see John 17: 17 KJV