If You are the Christ, tell us

 Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him.  And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, "Prophesy!  Who is the one who struck You?"  And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.

As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, "If You are the Christ, tell us."  But He said to them, "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go.  Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God."  Then they all said, "Are You then the Son of God?"  So He said to them, "You rightly say that I am."  And they said, "What further testimony do we need?  For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth."  

- Luke 22:63-71

Yesterday we read that Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who has come to arrest Him, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs?  When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me.  But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."  Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest's house.  But Peter followed at a distance.  Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.  And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, "This man was also with Him."  But he denied Him, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him."  And after a little while another saw him and said, "You also are of them."  But Peter said, "Man, I am not!"  Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, "Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean."  But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!"  Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.  And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.  Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."  So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

 Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him.  And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, "Prophesy!  Who is the one who struck You?"  And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.  We observe the deliberate humiliation of Christ.   He is widely considered to be a prophet and a holy man, and He was welcomed into Jerusalem as Messiah by His followers.  These men who hold Him for the chief priest and the council mock and belittle any gifts of grace that may be His, any properties of the holy or divine. Let us observe that although He is beaten, He makes no reply to any of them, nor does He use authority or power against them.

As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, "If You are the Christ, tell us."  But He said to them, "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go."  My study bible notes here that Jesus asked many questions of the Jewish leaders which they refused to answer.  By doing so it would have meant confessing Him as the Christ (20:4-7, Matthew 22:41-46, Mark 3:4). 

"Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God."  Then they all said, "Are You then the Son of God?"  So He said to them, "You rightly say that I am."  And they said, "What further testimony do we need?  For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth."   To "sit on the right hand of the power of God" is to declare oneself equal with God.  This declaration Jesus makes of Himself to the council.

We observe Jesus enduring injustice and brutality and humiliation.  He accepts what the Father has asked Him to accept to endure.  He knows it is impossible to defend Himself or reason with the members of the council who have no interest in a fair hearing.  He tells them in answer to their question to Him as to whether or not He is the Christ:  "If I tell you, you will by no means believe.  And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go."  He makes one declaration, speaking about Himself in the third person:  "Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God."   They ask, "Are You then the Son of God?"   In the Greek, He literally replies, "You say that I am."  Ironically, in a sort of strange mirroring, they then declare they have heard these words from His own mouth.  Although Jesus speaks the truth about Himself, declaring that from hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God,  we perhaps may find it something to remark upon that He doesn't quite openly declare Himself directly to these men.  He speaks of Himself in the third person, and He acknowledges His identity as Christ only by saying to them, "You say that I am," referring to the wording in their question.  It gives us perhaps a sense of the power of a direct declaration to those who refuse to believe, that this would be a kind of condemnation in itself should it be so openly and boldly rejected.  There is a sense here that is always maintained in the "set apart" quality of Christ under all these circumstances, even when He is being beaten.  He refuses to answer directly to those who would only degrade, whose minds are made up to be shut away from the possibility of the truth.  He remains holy, He remains who He is, and the power of His word is never given directly to those whom He says will by no means believe, and who will by no means answer Him or let Him go.  He declares truly that they have made up their minds to convict and to kill Him, and there is nothing He will say or do to change that -- and He will not change it by force or coercion.  At all times, He remains the Christ, firm in His identity, and firm in the ways in which Christ must relate to each of us as human beings.  If we come to Him, it is through love of the truth, and love in response to God's love.  Even with these men who hate Him, this is the identity to which He remains true, which is protected even by His indirect speech.  We don't know that someday repentance may be possible for them, nor do we know what became of them.  But we know that Jesus is true to Himself and to God the Father, He's true to His mission and to those who will follow.  He remains as He is through all things, and we must do likewise.  To learn from His dignity and faith, His commitment to truth, and to the love of God which He also expresses is everything.