Stand Firm in Truth

Friday, July 10th, 2026

8:20 am

Good morning! Today I am in Matthew 27:11-14, Mark 15:2-5, Luke 23:1-7, and John 18:28-37. The Jewish leaders took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. The leaders would not go into the Roman headquarters because it would defile them and cause them not to be able to celebrate Passover, so Pilate went outside to them. Pilate asked them what their charge was against Jesus. They told Pilate that if He wasn't a criminal, they wouldn't have brought Jesus to Him. They told Pilate that He was causing riots all over Judea, from Galilee to Jerusalem. Saying that Jesus had been leading people astray by telling them not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming He is the Messiah, a king. While the leaders were accusing Jesus, He never replied, He remained silent. Pilate told them to take Him away and judge Him by their own law. But the leaders told Pilate that only Romans were permitted to execute someone. So Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought in. Pilate asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews? Jesus asked him if that was his own question or did others tell him about Him? Pilate told Him, "Am I a Jew? Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?" Jesus told him that His Kingdom was not an earthly Kingdom. If it were His followers would have fought to keep Him from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But His Kingdom is not of this world. Pilate asked Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus told him, "Yes I am a king." He told Pilate that He was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. And that all who love the truth recognize that what He says is true. Pilate told the leaders that he did not find anything wrong with Jesus. And told them that since He was a Galilean, to take Him to Herod Antipas because Galilee was his jurisdiction. Herod was in Jerusalem at that time.

I find it very interesting that the Jewish leaders would not go into the Roman headquarters because it would defile them, but they were trying to get Jesus killed. In their hearts they were already defiled by what they were trying to do, but they did not see that. When they brought Him to Pilate, Jesus didn't try to defend Himself or nothing, He just stood there quietly. He had no reason to argue and try to get out of it because He knew what He had came to do. He knew His mission.

When we stand firm in the truth, we don't have to be afraid. We don't have to argue or anything. Our actions speak for themselves. Jesus did nothing wrong, and He spoke the truth always. Even when Pilate pulled Him aside, He still spoke the truth. So much so that Pilate found nothing to condemn Him for. But that did not matter. Pilate heard the truth, and found nothing wrong with Him, but still handed Him over to those condemning Him. He could have let Jesus go, but he was afraid of the crowd that was there. Pilate knew the leaders wanted Him dead, so when he found out Jesus was a Galilean, he thought he had a way to get out of having to deal with the issue.

We too have a decision to make when we hear the truth of what Jesus came to earth for. We either choose to believe and follow or we reject the truth and turn back to the world's ways. Jesus came to bring truth to the world. Jesus was truth. When we choose Him and start obeying Him, we too start walking in truth. And when the world tries to condemn us over something we didn't do, we can stand firm and trust that God has everything under control.