*** SHOW NOTES (not a transcript) ***

Lead:

How do we know what Pilate and Jesus talked about if no one else was there?

Intro:

Let’s just say…you’re in a conversation and someone is trying to give you a reason doubt the Bible. The point they bring up? It records the conversation between Pilate and Jesus…but there’s no one else there!

The good news is

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. ~ Galileo Galilei, Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina

…so we’ll help you answer that in today’s All Our Minds segment. That said, today we finish up the book of Luke.

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Bible Segment:

Passage: Luke 22-24
Translation: NASB (New American Standard Bible)
Verses: 109
Words: ~2330

All Our Minds Segment:

How do we know what Pilate and Jesus talked about? A few bullet points:

All four gospels record their interaction.
None of them mentions other people present.
- Just because the Bible doesn’t mention other people doesn’t mean, however, that no one else is there.
  - Example: How many women were at the tomb? Some gospels say two, but one of them mentions there were other women there, too. In other words, saying there were two women doesn’t mean there weren’t more.
- Pilate was a ranking political official. It’s highly plausible that guards were present.
Other conversations could have happened afterward.
- We know Pilate’s wife got in his business about Jesus. Was she a convert or at least a sympathizer? Don’t know. Could she have been present? Don’t know.
- Jesus could have told his disciples after the resurrection.

So if we were responding to people, here’s a list of possible angles (there’s no perfect one, and this isn’t in a specific order):

The overall purpose of the Bible is salvific — how do we recognize our own sin, recognize the goodness of God, and find new life in renewed relationship with Him if we accept Jesus as Lord. It doesn’t purport to have every answer.
We can not assume we have Jesus’ exact words. The originals were in Greek and Aramaic. Even the most literal translations aren’t exactly word-for-word, but that doesn’t mean they’re unreliable in communicating precise meaning.
Luke told us right up front that his writing was to put forth orderly account of what happened, and we know he interviewed eyewitnesses. He wasn’t one himself. This is what we do in courtrooms.
As John Oakes at evidenceforchristianity.org points out, there’s strong evidence for the Bible being the inspired word of God.
If there is a God who created the cosmos and such a God chose to reveal Himself in creation, in His Son, and in His word, He could make sure we understand correctly. Remember, Jesus affirmed the Old Testament and promised the Divine authority of the New Testament.
Finally, it would be a fallacious argument to argue that since we don’t know exactly how that it didn’t happen. By that argument the universe doesn’t exist because we don’t know exactly how it happened. And that’s stupid.

The bottom line

The most basic defenses for the veracity of Christian truth claims comes down to two things — the existence and character of God, and the authority of His revelation in His word. Not everyone accepts either one of those things, and we’re not here to argue someone into the kingdom. But it’s not just Christianity where someone makes an argument as the most plausible explanation of the facts or that we do the best we can with what we’ve got. The call on every human heart is to trust Jesus as Creator and Lord instead of perfect knowledge. We don’t have perfect knowledge about anything, religious or secular, so you’re going to be trusting something or someone somewhere anyway.

Wisdom Segment:

Passage:
Translation: NASB (New American Standard Bible)
Verses:
Words:

Love you!

-R

ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.

Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.

Sources and resources:

Thank you for supporting this ministry should you choose to use the Amazon affiliate link behind the citation.

(1) Donald G. Bloesch, A Theology of Word & Spirit: Authority & Method in Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 140. (link)

#903: Luke 22-24 | How do we know Jesus' words with Pilate?