“If I tell you, you will not believe.”

Just thought we needed a picture of this cutie who
finished first grade yesterday!

Scripture:

Luke 22:66   When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together, and they brought him to their council. ⁶⁷ They said, “If you are the Messiah, tell us.” He replied, “If I tell you, you will not believe; ⁶⁸ and if I question you, you will not answer. ⁶⁹ But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” ⁷⁰ All of them asked, “Are you, then, the Son of God?” 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!”

Observation:

It was dawn and Jesus stood trial before the Sanhedrin. Different words were used here to describe who Jesus was, the first being Messiah. They asked him point blank whether he was the Messiah and his response challenged them at the point of their unbelief. If he would have told them who he really was, he knew that they would not believe him. For three years he had demonstrated who he was through his life and teaching, and yet, they refused to believe. Nothing he could say would have changed their minds. 

Jesus went on to refer to himself as the “Son of Man.” The nature of Christ, his humanity and his divinity is expressed in this sentence. As God incarnate, Jesus is “Son of Man,” but as God, he is at the “right hadn’t of the power of God.” He is both God and man, and this is more than the religious officials were able to comprehend. As they were connecting the dots, they may have heard that he had told others that he was the “Son of God” — and so this became their question. Instead of answering, he replied by echoing their own words, “You say that I am.” 

At this point, rather than believing that he was the Messiah, they believed that he had committed blasphemy, and they were ready to be rid of him. 

Application:

In this brief passage Jesus is revealed as the Messiah, the Son of Man, and the Son of God. Each of these words has specific implications for our lives. 

1. As Messiah, Jesus is the one who was anointed to save God’s people. The problem for the Jews was that they were looking for a political leader. An anointed Messiah who preached peace and salvation through victory over sin and death was not what they wanted. This kind of a Messiah may not be what we are looking for either. In today’s challenging social and political climate, we can easily fall into the trap of wanting a leader to save us from what is happening in the world. However, what’s happening in the world today is just a small moment in time compared to all of eternity. God has the bigger picture in mind and the Father sent us exactly the kind of Messiah that we need. But the comment of Christ remains the same, “If I tell you, you will not believe” — but Jesus may not be the Messiah we really want. 
2. As Son of Man, Jesus unites himself with our humanity. By becoming Son of Man, Jesus makes our adoption into the family of God possible. This also changes the perspective on who may be God’s people. This concept could have been especially threatening to the Jews, because as Son of Man, the promises of God could not extend to all of humanity. You and I can be saved and adopted into God’s family, because Jesus chose to become what we are. This creates a pathway so that we may become like him. If we truly believed this, we just might live differently. 
3. Son of God is the final statement, and the one which had troubled the Jewish leaders the most. If Jesus was the Son of God, then he was also declaring that he was divine, just like God. What they failed to believe was that it was possible for this person to be God’s son — to be God. It is this divinity in Christ that provides the power to break the hold of sin and darkness on humanity. If we believe that Jesus truly is the Son of God, then we would recognize the power that is available to us as God’s children. 

If we do not believe that all three of these describe Jesus, then I would venture to guess that we don’t have a very vibrant spiritual life. We are invited to participate in an intimate relationship with God where we are privileged to know Jesus and his nature more and more. It is in knowing and believing in who Jesus really is that we find new life. 

As we seek for answers in a troubling world, may we look to Jesus, the One who fulfills the ultimate needs in our life. 

Prayer:

Lord, I look to you today. Help me to see you for who you really are, and believe. Amen.