Pilate therefore said unto him, Are you a king then? Jesus answered,
You say that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth hears my voice.
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Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
Thou sayest that I am a King, i.e, I am in truth the King of the Jews, to rule in the faithful by faith and grace, and bring them to My heavenly Kingdom.
To this end was I born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. To evangelical truth, which mainly consists in these things—(1.) In the true knowledge of God, namely, that He is One in Essence, and threefold in Person.
For every being is true, that is a true and not an imaginary thing, and is true in itself. Wherefore God, who is Very Being (I am that I am) is also truth, and good itself. Because His essential Being is Truth and Goodness. Again, the Son who proceedeth from the Father, as His Word, is Truth Itself, not merely of existence but of mind. Whence S. Augustine says, when Jesus bears witness to the truth, He bears witness to Himself, for He Himself is truth.
(2.) In the knowledge of the Incarnation; namely, to know that the Son was sent into the world in the flesh, that He might...
He makes use of Christ's truth-speaking to charge Him withal. When he heard Him say: My Kingdom is not from hence, he was indeed quit of his fear of an insurrection; but he still compels Him to openly profess this thing, and defines as a charge His mere assertion that He had a kingdom, though He asserted that it was not of this world. He drives Jesus, as it were, to make this profession; and says, Thou hast confessed already that Thou art a King.
If then He was born a king, all His other attributes are by Generation, and He has nothing which He received in addition. So that when you hear that, As the Father has life in Himself, so has He given to the Son also to have life John 5:26, deem of nothing else but His generation, and so of the rest.
And for this cause came I, that I should bear witness unto the truth.
That is, that I should speak this very thing, and teach it, and persuade all men.
5. But do thou, O man, when you hear these things, and see your Lord bound and led about, deem present things to be nought. For how can it be otherwise than strange, if Christ bore such things for your sake, and thou often canst not endure even words? He is spit upon, and do you deck yourself with garments and rings, and, if you gain not good report from all, think life unbearable? He is insulted, bears mockings, and scornful blows upon the cheek; and do you wish everywhere to be honored, and do you not bear the reproaching of Christ? D...
1. A marvelous thing is longsuffering; it places the soul as in a quiet harbor, fleeing it from tossings and evil spirits. And this everywhere Christ has taught us, but especially now, when He is judged, and dragged, and led about. For when He was brought to Annas, He answered with great gentleness, and, to the servant who smote Him, said what had power to bring down all his insolence; thence having gone to Caiaphas, then to Pilate, and having spent the whole night in these scenes, He all through exhibits His own mildness; and when they said that He was a malefactor, and were not able to prove it, He stood silent; but when He was questioned concerning the Kingdom, then He spoke to Pilate, instructing him, and leading him in to higher matters. But why was it that Pilate made the enquiry not in their presence, but apart, having gone into the judgment hall? He suspected something great respecting Him, and wished, without being troubled by the Jews, to learn all accurately. Then when he ...
