24 How the Church Has Changed the World What is truth? It is a year later. The man for whom John came to witness, the true Light that enlightens everyone who comes into the world, is being tried for insurrection. The charges are baseless. They are lies. The Roman procurator, an intelligent but ruthless and cunning man, knows very well that they are lies. “Are you a king?” he asks, not suppressing a smirk. Again the contrast is stunning. The accused man has been beaten bloody. He owns nothing in the world but the clothes on his back. Behind the procurator stand all the colossal and bullying symbols of Roman authority. “Are you the king of the Jews?” The man replies. He is a king, but his kingdom is not of this world. “So then you are a king?” says the procurator, wavering between contempt and fear. He had been hoping for a decent night’s rest. The last thing he’d wanted was to have to deal with these Jews and their mad religion, their mad belief in the one true God. He had thought he could dispose of this matter without having to think. Thought is dangerous. Thought can bring you to the door of truth. There are all kinds of reasons for wanting that door to stay shut. Men cannot endure the light. “You say that I am a king,” says the accused. “For this reason I was born and came into the
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