ADVENT WEEK ONE: HOPE
November 30 F. Douglas Powe Jr., PhD
John 18:36-37
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a King. For this I was born and for this I
came into the world to testify to the truth.” John 18:37b
Jesus shares with Pilate that he was “born and came into the world… to testi-
fy to the truth.” As Christians our hope during advent is in anticipating Jesus’
reign that looks nothing like what this world has seen. Jesus’ word choice
about testifying to the truth should give us all pause.
Do we see our own missions like Jesus’ of testifying to the truth? Not the con-
venient answers being promoted by various interests around us, but the truth.
Testifying to the truth seems more challenging today because what I may see
as the obvious truth to someone else is perceived as a political agenda. This
text reminds us that hope is not a made-up belief, but is in fact predicated on
the hard work of testifying to the truth.
This requires consistently seeking the truth even when we may not like what
we learn. It means testifying to the truth which will put us at odds with others
who prefer the truth to stay hidden.
This advent season, as we anticipate the arrival of Jesus, our hope should
be predicated on testifying to the truth as Jesus did when facing Pilate. In a
world where we easily dismiss the truth or want to manipulate the truth, testi-
fying to the truth of our hope in Jesus’ reign being different from anything this
world has ever seen or experienced is a part of our calling as Christians.
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