Truth Triumphs!

[Scripture quotes are from the New International Version.]

The classic saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword,” is true because it’s confirmed on the lips of Jesus. Christ said in John 8:32b, “The truth will set you free,” and He prayed in John 17:17b, “[God’s] word is truth.” So it’s clear: God’s Word is true, and His truth triumphs over every form of worldly bondage.

Of course, the pages of history are littered with examples of many people who sought to shackle God’s Word, but they discovered His truth triumphs.

Consider the trial of Jesus. Doubtlessly dressed in his garb of Roman authority, Pontius Pilate threatened Christ with either release or crucifixion, but Jesus boldly responded to him in John 19:11a, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” Although Pilate asked Jesus about the “truth” (see John 18:28), he didn’t surrender to the truth (see John 14:6; 18:37), but while Pilate first washed his hands and then pierced Jesus’ hands, Christ died in freedom as His Roman captor apparently died in the bondage of his sins. The death and resurrection of Jesus sounded His victory over sin which has reverberated throughout the corridors of human history whereas speculations about Pilate’s reported suicidal death has been reduced to nothing more than an obscure footnote in secular historical tradition because truth triumphs.

Consider the apostle Paul at the end of the Book of Acts. When he arrived in Rome, a soldier guarded Paul, and he remained confined to a rented house for two years (see Acts 28:16, 30). But Luke declares in Acts 28:31, the final verse of his book which narrates the advancement of the Gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, “Boldly and without hindrance [Paul] preached about the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” From both Luke and Paul’s perspective, political powers may confine men, but they can’t bind the Gospel because truth triumphs.

Consider Polycarp, an aged martyr in the early Church. When he stood before a pagan tyrant who demanded he denounce Christ, Polycarp confessed how he served Jesus faithfully for eighty-six years, and then he asked his judge, “How can I blaspheme my King?” History reports Polycarp next succumbed to a bitter and bloody death in the wake of his confession, but even though his elderly eyes closed in valley of the shadow of death, his eyes of faith opened in the light of eternity because truth triumphs.

Consider just a couple of other historical examples. For instance, John Wycliffe labored in the face of great opposition to translate God’s Word into English so every person could have access to God’s truth. But while his enemies have been dead, buried, and forgotten for many years, the truth of God’s Word is still setting people free. Also, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to a Church door in Germany because the Biblical truth of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone liberated him from the futile attempts of his flesh to merit God’s acceptance. And though the dark clouds of religious bondage and political unrest gathered over the land of Germany, the brilliance of God’s truth pierced this darkness like a shaft of light because truth triumphs.

Yes, “the pen is mightier than the sword” because God’s truth can’t be bound. Luke wrote on four separate occasions in the Book of Acts how the Word of the Lord spread throughout the first-century world (see Acts 6:7; 12:24; 13:49; 19:20), and God’s Word is still advancing because Jesus said that He would build His Church and the gates of Hell would not be able to prevail against it (see Matthew 16:18). Believers don’t wage war as the world does (see 2 Corinthians 10:3) since their “sword” is the Word of God (see Ephesians 6:17b). So it’s clear God’s pen has been and always will be mightier than the world’s sword because His truth triumphs.

[Extra-Biblical information on Pilate in this article is adapted from Lorman M. Petersen, "Pilate," in The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, edited by Merrill C. Tenney (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1967), 656-657 and H. W. Hoehner, "Pontius Pilate," in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, edited by Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, and I Howard Marshall (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992), 615-617.]