Day 665: Is Jesus the Messiah? - Luke 22 vs 63 - 71

63-65 Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him.

66-70 When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council, and they said, “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.” 71 Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.” Luke 22:63-71 English Standard Version

We've reached the part in Luke's gospel where he writes of the terrible things Jesus would experience as He humbly and obediently chose the Father's will. Having been roughly arrested in the garden where He had been praying, He was led by the rabble under cover of darkness to be questioned by the chief priest and scribes. John's gospel tells us that he was first taken to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was the High Priest that year, and then to Caiaphas himself. But what else happened to Jesus during those hours? (vs 63-65)

He suffered blows and intense mocking at the hands of those who had arrested him. The same would happen later at the hands of the soldiers that the Roman Governor would hand him over to. When the prophet Isaiah foretold how the Messiah would suffer at the hands of men he had said “By oppression and judgement he (the Messiah) was taken away.” (Isaiah 53:8) This is surely what was happening that day. I suspect vs 66-70 are a shortened account of the sort of questioning that was flung at Jesus by the assembly of Israel's leaders. It sums up the gist of what they were wanting to know, namely, did Jesus think He was the long awaited Messiah? How do you interpret Jesus' reply?

To me His answer suggests that they weren't worthy of a definitive response because they were asking for the wrong reasons. And they wouldn't accept the truth anyway. But He doesn't deny being the Messiah. In fact, His statement that “from now on the Son of Man shall be seated  at the right hand of the power of God” was a strong confirmation of that. Verse 71 implies that they took His words that way and it was enough for them to find Him guilty.

Some thoughts. I suspect that the crime they considered Jesus guilty of was blasphemy. John's gospel tells us that “the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Jesus, because not only was He 'breaking the Sabbath', but He was even calling God His own Father, making himself equal with God.” (John 5:18) The problem though was that the leaders were refusing to look at the evidence of His miracles that supported the truth that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.

But this section is also important for people who ask God to 'show them a sign' that He is real. The question they need to first ask themselves is: “Why do I want Him to prove Himself to me?” Jesus said to the Jews “If I tell you, you will not believe.”

Lastly, Christians mustn’t forget Jesus’ warning to His disciples in the previous chapter of this gospel. He said “People will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake.” (Luke 21:12) We mustn't assume or expect a fair trial if ever we are brought before the courts of men. But Jesus also promised to be with us at such times and to give us words with which to respond.