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When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him (Jesus of Nazareth) away to their council, and they said, “If you are the Christ, say to us.” But he said to them, “If I say to you, you will never ever believe, and if I might ask you to pass judgment, you will never ever do so. But from now on the son of man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” So they all said, ““You are the son of God, then.” And he stated to them, “You are deciding that I am.” Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own mouth.” Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. And they began to accuse him, affirming, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and affirming that he himself is Christ, a king.” And Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You are deciding that.” Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” But they were forceful, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.” Luke 22: 66 - 23: 5 |
Imagine you are present in Jerusalem in AD 30. Imagine that, before your very own eyes the incidents above (from Luke’s first-century biography of Jesus) take place – for real.
What I would like you to do is to decide about one particular matter only. The issue is this. These members of “the assembly of the elders of the people” (rather like our States members, especially as constituted before WW2) – are they acting honestly or dishonestly?
The day is the first “Good Friday”. It’s very early in the morning. Despite that, these assembly members have gathered, have picked up Jesus from the prison where he had been held for only a few hours, and are now in their assembly room.
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‘If Jesus Christ is not true God, how could he help us? If he is not true man, how could he help us?’ (Dietrich Bonhoffer, German pastor and anti-Nazi dissident, 1906-1945)
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Do they actually know, deep within, that Jesus is indeed the Messiah (Hebrew for Christ) – and are still intent on having him executed? Or do they deep within, believe him not to be the Messiah – and decide therefore to have him killed because his claims are false?
They ask this man, whom their officers have arrested on their instructions, to say so if he is the Messiah. (Messiah is the Hebrew word for Christ.) Jesus says three things in reply: (a) If I say to you, you will never ever believe; (b) If I might ask you to pass judgment, you will never ever do so; (c) But from now on the son of man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.
He is probably referring here to a Jewish Scripture written some 600 years earlier by Daniel, a senior civil servant in Babylon. This is it: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
No sooner has Jesus said these words (which are certainly not a statement by him that he is the Messiah) than the assembled council has made up its mind. They say, not that he is the “son of man”, but “You are the son of God, then.” It seems that they had linked Jesus’ words to that ancient Scripture and concluded that he was the one who would “from now on” be seated at the right hand of the power of God, the right hand of the Ancient of Days.
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‘He produced mainly three effects: hatred, terror, adoration. There was no trace of people expressing mild approval.’ (C S Lewis, novelist and academic, 1898-1963)
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Intriguingly, this man, having earlier said that, if he told them, they would never ever believe now points out: “You are deciding that I am.”
Even more intriguingly, having earlier said that, if he asked them to pass judgment, they would never ever do so now points out: “You are deciding that I am.” So what do you think? Do these assembly members know, deep down, that he is the Messiah – or not? Would you be good on a jury?
It may be relevant to note a lie told by these members (see above) when they accused him in front of Pilate. “We found this man … forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar …” Quite wrong. Often today world wrongdoers are found out through the lies they use to cover their deeds…..
But what do you think? Why, deep within, are they rejecting Jesus?
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