Seeds for 02/26/2024 - Matthew 26:63b-68
Scripture: The high priest said to Him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
“He is worthy of death,” they answered.
Then they spit in His face and struck Him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”
Observation: Jesus wasn’t crucified for being nice and telling others to be nice. He was crucified for a divine reason and for human reasons. The divine reason was our salvation—atonement for human sin and reconciliation of persons with God. That was God’s sovereign purpose within the events that would play out on earth. The human reasons had to do with the Roman Empire killing people to prevent uprisings and the Jewish leadership opposing what they considered to be false Messiahs, even to the point of execution.
Jesus is disciplined in His response, replying that the high priest has used the title “Messiah.” He will not be pressed into telling them what they want to hear, the way they want to hear it. Instead, He is evoking the connection. He speaks in a combination of biblical quotes and references from Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13. Reference to these messianic passages and their imagery amounted to Jesus claiming to be the Messiah.
The high priest gives away the startling significance of these scripture references when he exclaims, “He has spoken blasphemy!”
The critical issue is whether or not the conclusion he draws is true. If Jesus is not the Messiah, the Son of God, then the high priest is exactly correct in his assertion that Jesus is being blasphemous. But if the high priest is wrong—if Jesus is who He presents Himself to be, then that is a whole different matter entirely.
Blasphemer or Messiah? Those are the options that Jesus’ words and actions left us with. Despite attempts to soften the choice and allow for people to make of Jesus what they desire, Matthew’s Gospel (along with the other Gospels and the New Testament) makes it clear that these two titles are what we must decide between. If He is a blasphemer, we may dismiss Him. But if He is the true Messiah, then all the promises, hopes, and demands of discipleship are real and are ours.
Application:
If you have to decide between blasphemer and Messiah for the true identity of Jesus, what do you decide? How does that decision impact other decisions for your life?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, help me see with clarity the choice about who you truly are and organize my life accordingly. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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