PT-2 "The Illegal and Unjust Confrontation to Induce Self-Incrimination" (Matt. 26:62-64)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/27/2024 9:55 AM

 

My WorshipTime:       Focus: PT-2 “The Illegal and Unjust Confrontation to Induce Self-Incrimination”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 26:62-64

 

            Message of the verses:  “62 Then the High Priest rose to his feet and addressed Jesus.”Have you no answer? What about the evidence of these men against you?" 63 But Jesus was silent. Then the High Priest said to him, "I command you by the living God, to tell us on your oath if you are Christ, the Son of God." 64 Jesus said to him, "You have said so. Yes, and I tell you that in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of Heaven” (Philips). 

 

            I begin with a quotation from John MacArthur:  “Appealing to the most sacred oath a Jew could utter, Caiaphas demanded that Jesus either affirm or deny His messiahship and deity.  He was saying, in effect, ‘Answer my question truthfully, on the basis that You are standing before the living God, who knows all things.’”

 

            Now the truth is that none of the Council, with the exception of Joseph of Arimathea, if he was still present, believed in Jesus’ deity, they were strongly hoping He would openly make that claim for Himself in order that they could then charge Him with blasphemy.  In the Mosaic Law it provided that “the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death” (Lev. 24:16)

 

            Now a claim of deity would be blasphemous only if it were false, which it would be for any human being ever born—except Jesus.  The truth is that Jesus never flaunted or made public issue of His messiahship and deity.  However He had given numerous attestations to both beginning early in His ministry.  Here are some examples:  In the synagogue at His hometown of Nazareth, He read a well-known passage from the book of Isaiah and after reading He declared, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:18-21).  Now His first specific claim to messiahship was made to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.  I find it interesting that this first time was to a woman, but I believe this is refreshing as it shows that Jesus had great respect to women.  Now in response to her statement that “Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ,” Jesus said, “I who speak to you are He” (John 4:25-26).  Jesus had readily accepted the messianic epithets shouted to Him as He was entering Jerusalem on the previous Monday (Matt. 21:9).  He continually referred to God as His heavenly Father, which the Jewish leaders rightly interpreted as a claim of deity as seen in John 5:17-18, and also He had declared to the unbelieving Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, (and I love this one) “before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8:58), taking that ancient appellation of God as seen in Exodus 3:14 for Himself.  “God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’" (Ex. 3:14). 

 

“The Tetragrammaton (/ˌtɛtrəˈɡræmətɒn/ TET-rə-GRAM-ə-ton; from Ancient Greek τετραγράμματον '[consisting of] four letters'), or the Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym יהוה‎ (transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible.”

 

            Jesus finally gave the affirmation that the Sanhedrin had been waiting for.  You have said it yourself; is what Jesus replied.  In Mark’s account it makes the acknowledgment of messiahship and deity even more explicit as Mark quotes Jesus’ saying directly, “I am” (Mark 14:62).

 

            Jesus then referred to Psalm 101 and also Daniel 7:13 as Jesus added, “Nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”  “Not only am I the Messiah and the Son of God,” Jesus was saying, “but one day you will see Me glorified with My Father in heaven and returning to earth as your judge” (cf. Matt. 25:31-46).

 

            MacArthur concludes “Son of Man was a commonly acknowledge title of the Messiah, the one Jesus most often used of Himself, and Power was a figurative designation of God.  Because the ungodly members of the Sanhedrin had refused to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they had sealed their doom to face Him at the end time as their Judge and Executioner.  The accused would then become the accuser, and the judges would become the judged.”

 

            This truth is still here today and has been throughout both the Old and New Testament times.  In the Old Testament times when a person confessed their need for salvation it was actually put on account to when the Messiah would actually die for their sins.  I believe that at that time those who were in what is called “Abraham’s bosom” would then go to heaven because Jesus had paid for their sins as He died on the cross.  Now in the New Testament times we look back at the cross and then when a person is ready to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior they will confess that they are a sinner, and then ask Jesus Christ to come into their lives and save them.  Now if a person does not do this then their fate will be the same as these Jewish leaders that we have been talking about for several days.  Don’t make their mistake.

 

6/27/2024 10:33 AM