The Riddler

The answer to Pilate’s question is that truth is not merely propositional but experiential.

The third Batman movie, Batman Forever, offered viewers a new Batman, a new Robin, a new Batgirl and two new villains -- Two-Face and the Riddler. Played with typically over-the-top whackiness, Jim Carey's Riddler came off as wonderfully twisted and crooked as his question-mark walking stick.

Even if he hadn't been wearing lime green duds and sporting orange hair, the Riddler would have been the movie's most colorful character. The Riddler was intriguing because he never offered any straightforward answers. He never directly addressed either his cohorts or his enemies. Every statement he made, every hint or challenge he gave Batman, took the form of a mind-bending riddle. If you wanted to know what the Riddler was trying to get at, you had to think.

Jesus appears to be a bit of a "Riddler" himself in today's gospel lesson. Standing before the Roman prefect Pilate, the one official who can either condemn him to death or set him free, Jesus appears oddly obstinate. Pilate hurls at...