July 29th 2018. Truth encounters: Pilate. (John 18:32-40). In this final ‘truth encounter’ Jesus stands before the most powerful man in Jerusalem, the representative of the Roman Emperor himself, Pontius Pilate. Pilate is the furthest from the faith of Judaism too, and represents perhaps a view that corresponds to the contemporary distrust of absolutes. John’s gospel is concerned with Truth however. The Greek word for truth Alethia occurs 25 times and it has connotations of faithfulness and ‘unveiling’ as well as factual truth. Download Discussion notes