I suppose that the section of scripture we are looking at today is familiar territory for most of you. I assume everyone here has at least a basic knowledge of the trial of Jesus Christ. It is doubtful that I could add much that would be new to you. And to be honest, that really is not what the purpose of my message should be; to teach some new thing, some new nugget of knowledge that you can add to your spiritual knowledge bank. Sometimes I think that we confuse that approach with expositional preaching. My view of expositional preaching is taking a text of scripture, and deriving spiritual doctrine from it, that we can then apply to our lives. And so I want to try to do that today, even though I realize that it may be difficult due to our familiarity with the subject, and also due to the fact that it is a historical narrative.
So I want to look at the historical context in a moment, and make sure we understand that correctly. But ultimately, I want to apply the spiritual principles that I think are incorporated in the text. However, since we have already read the text, I don’t think it will be unhelpful if we identify what the crux of this passage is teaching before launching into our exposition.
And I would suggest that the crux of this section deals with who Jesus Christ is. To make that less theoretical and more applicable to each one of you here today, the question is who do you say that Jesus Christ is? In the juvenile section of a big bookstore, a small girl, one day, was found busying herself with a box of crayons, and the clerk uneasily asked the child what she was about. She said, "I am drawing a picture of God." "But how do you know what God is like?" the clerk said. "That," said the little girl succinctly, "is why I'm drawing him. I want to find out." She was making up her own mind about what God should be like. And too often when we come to the testimony of Jesus Christ that is the kind of attitude that we have. We do not come seeking to learn, but we come seeking to substantiate some ideas that we have concerning him.
The question of who you say that Jesus is, is of ultimate importance, because the scriptures teach that believing in Christ is the basis for salvation. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him might have everlasting life.” So believing in Jesus constitutes faith, and faith is the means of salvation.
Jesus Himself says that on several other occasions, one of which is John 11:26 “everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” And Paul makes the same assertion in 1Tim. 1:16 “Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” I could give you many more references to the fact that belief or faith is the basis for salvation, but I am sure you all are in agreement with this fact, and so I will not belabor it.
However, the question could be legitimately asked, to what degree must belief be developed to be saving faith? In other words, at what point does one believe unto salvation? And what constitutes saving faith? Is it merely believing in a historical Jesus? The fact He lived on earth 2000 years ago is supported by virtually irrefutable evidence. Even many historians who are for the most part atheists are in agreement that the facts of history indicate that Jesus lived and died on earth. So they believe that He lived, yet they are not Christians by their own admission.
In fact, even non Christian Jewish historians and scholars do not doubt that Jesus lived. The Jews have nothing to gain from accepting that Jesus lived. In fact, the New Testament’s record of their treatment of Jesus is sometimes used against them as a basis for anti-semitism. But rather than try to deny His existence, the Jews simply try to deny that they contrived His death. To quote Haim Cohn, an internationally famous expert in Jewish legal tradition, he said that Annas and Caiphas, the high priests mentioned in our text, “Did all that they possibly and humanly could to save Jesus, whom they dearly loved and cherished as one of their own.” (quoted by Hendricksen, NTC Mark) So most Jewish scholars believe that Jesus lived, they just refute the gospel’s account of their actions concerning Him.
And of course, the other great international religion, Islam, believes that Jesus was a notable prophet of God. They believe that He lived and taught the scriptures. And yet they are not Christians. So the three world religions, Judaism, Islam, and of course Christianity, are all in agreement that Jesus lived and existed as the Bible teaches. Yet by no means can all claim to be saved.
So if we were to draw a diagram which has a horizontal line denoting belief, and at the left end we write the words Absolute agnostic, meaning as much of an agnostic as possible, and on the right end we write absolute saving faith, meaning saved beyond a doubt, at what point towards believing would you place a mark on the line to indicate when a person is saved? Does one have to have full complete faith, full knowledge of all doctrines, full understanding of all theology in order to be granted saving faith? Or is it somewhere further down on the line? Is is perhaps way down at the first dawning of belief? I must confess that I often wrestle with that. The fact is that I cannot say with absolute certainty where exactly you should make a mark on that line. I suppose that only God knows for sure where that mark is. That doesn’t mean that you cannot be sure of your salvation, because I believe you have the inner witness of the Holy Spirit to assure you of that. But I don’t think that you can necessarily determine with certainty others salvation based on their point on that line. Only God can do that because only God can judge the heart.
However, I was able to come up with an illustration of what I think common belief vs saving faith might look like that hopefully may help you understand it. When I was a kid, I used to like to fish in some of the ponds near my home in NC. And we were not very sophisticated fishermen, so we used a little Zebco spinning reel set up with a bobber and lead weight, which suspended a worm on a little hook. And I loved watching that bobber bounce up and down in the water, signifying that a brim or bass was toying with my bait. If the bobber ever disappeared, then I knew to pull back on the rod and hopefully catch a fish.
But as those of you who are fishermen know, the fact that the bobber is moving up and down doesn’t always mean that the fish swallowed the hook. Lots of times, most of the time, in fact, the fish would come up and look at the bait, smell the bait, nibble at the bait, pull on the bait, but in the end it might spit it out and swim off. Sometimes it would come back and go through the whole process again. And you might never hook a fish, but you could get a lot of “bites”, as we used to call them.
It kind of reminds me of the verse found in Heb. 6:4-6 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.” Now a lot of theologians have a field day offering various interpretations of this verse, but I think it’s talking about people who have come to the faith, looked it over, smelled it, nibbled on it, but ultimately, they don’t swallow it, they end up spitting it out. They have been given enough light to believe, they have been given enough conviction of the Holy Spirit to repent, they have been given enough evidence of the transforming power of salvation, yet they end up spitting it out.
Now I think there are a lot of so called Christians like that out there. And I say “so called Christians” because they show by their lives that they are not really saved. Because if you truly accept who Jesus is and what He has done, if you truly believe in all that He is, if you truly have saving faith, it will result in a change of heart, a change of nature, a change in direction and a changed life. The Bible makes that clear. When one is truly saved, they are converted, changed, and they have a new life.
Now that was a long introduction, but perhaps we established the thesis of this section, and now we need to look at the historical context for a few minutes and then we will make application to us here today. It helps to understand that there were actually two trials going on. There was the ecumenical trial, which was the religious trial, and then the civic trial. The high priests and the governing religious body of the Jews known as the Sanhedrin arrested Jesus, with the help of the temple police and also Roman soldiers. The Jews could try a person for a religious crime, but they could not legally punish him. They had to get the approval of the Roman governor to execute punishment, especially corporal punishment.
So they arrest Jesus sometime around midnight and they take him to a hearing with the father in law of the high priest named Annas. Mark doesn’t include this fact, but John does. Then there is the trial before the Sanhedrin, which is the religious governing body made up of 70 persons, not all of whom were probably there since it was held before dawn. Those were illegal trials, by the way. It was illegal to try someone before dawn. So there was another trial after daybreak with the high priest Caiaphas. Then there were three stages in the civil trial, first before Pilate, then before Herod, and back to Pilate again.
In the ecumenical trial, they focus on getting the verdict of blasphemy. At the civil trial, they try to accuse Him of insurrection and treason against Caesar. But our passage only focuses on the ecumenical trial today. We are told at the outset that Peter follows at a distance and ends up in the courtyard of the high priest’s house, sitting with the officers by the fire.
Now I am not a legal expert, even less a legal expert on Judaic law. So I am not going to try to impress you by talking about things I don’t understand. However, I will say that most experts in such things concur that this trial was a travesty of justice. It was an illegal trial, the witnesses were made up of the judges, who were also the prosecuting attorneys, it was during the Feast, which was forbidden, and no conviction was allowed at night, but yet they proceed to do so.
Furthermore, they attempt to get Jesus to incriminate Himself. In vs 60 they try to get Him to tell them what the charges were that were being made against Him. Again and again their testimonies do not match up. They also misquote Jesus in vs58. They say, “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” Actually, the words of Jesus according to John 2:19 were, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body.”
Their hope was to accuse Him of defaming the temple. After all, they were incensed that He had just cleaned out the temple of the money changers and vendors. That was their own business enterprise that He had disrupted.
Then the high priest asked “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” But He kept silent and did not answer.” Jesus knows that they are not interested in truth, but in proving their falsehoods. So He does not answer them. By the way, that is a pretty good principle that we need to employ sometimes. Jesus said elsewhere, “Do not cast your pearls before swine.” Now that isn’t the insult that you might think it is. Jesus isn’t advocating calling someone a pig. What He is teaching is that it is profitless to speak truth to someone who is not interested in the truth. Just as it would be pointless to dress up a pig in pearls, it is pointless to present truth to those interested in lies or arguments. We could defang a few attackers sometimes if we would just refuse to engage. Just don’t get into a tit for tat. Especially over doctrinal issues.
The point that needs to be understood though, is that from the very beginning they have already made up their minds about Jesus. Never was the trial an attempt to uncover the truth, but simply an attempt to justify their desire to kill Him. They had already decided that they would not accept Him as the Messiah, they hated Him without a cause, and they wanted to kill Him. All the evidence in the world wasn’t going to change their minds. And so in that respect, the religious leaders are an example of those who do not believe in Jesus Christ. They rejected who He really was because they saw Him as a threat to their position of authority in the nation. That’s why apologetics is not necessarily a means of salvation. Most unbelievers are so not because of a lack of facts, but because the facts don’t align with their desires.
So Caiaphas is irritated over the fact that Jesus does not answer these charges, but in fact Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53:7, which says, “He opened not His mouth.” So in reality, their trial is really turning out to be a farce, until Caiaphas finally asks Him the key question. This question was really the point of the whole trial and they finally come straight out with it; “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” How many times had they asked Him this during His ministry. “Tell us plainly, if you are the Christ.” (John 10:24)
According to Matthew’s account, the high priest emphasized the question with an oath, as if to say, “By the living God, are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” Now up to this point, Jesus had not publicly come out with that declaration in no uncertain terms. Others had declared this to be true, such as the disciples, and Jesus had confirmed that such a declaration came from God. He had also defended those who called “Hosanna to the Son of David,” which was another title for the Messiah. He had called Himself the “stone which the builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone” which was a key prophecy of the Messiah. And He had told the woman in Samaria that He was the Messiah. But in Jerusalem especially He had not made such an outright declaration of HIs Messiah-ship before to the religious leaders.
But now that HIs hour had come, now that events had transpired to bring Him to the cross as determined by the plan of God, it was the appropriate time to make that declaration. In fact, it was the opportunity that He was waiting for. Other questions in the trials of the Jews and Romans were not of concern to Him. Their minds were already made up. But this question was one that He was ready to declare openly and plainly - that He was the Messiah, and all that title represented.
And notice something in their question before we move to Jesus’s answer. We can see by their question that they considered the Messiah and the Son of God to be analogous. Therefore according to Jewish theology, they considered that the Messiah had to be the Son of God, therefore being equal with God. Modern liberal theologians who try to make a distinction between being the Messiah or the Son of God do so at the expense of Jewish theology, which was the governing principle in this trial as well as in Christ’s declaration.
So notice Jesus’s answer. In fact, He goes further than just answering their question. He declares another prophecy concerning Himself and the nature of His Kingdom. Vs.62, And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”
Now what Jesus says is important, but especially in regards to our thesis, especially in regards to what constitutes saving faith in Christ, this declaration of Jesus is crucial for defining our faith. So let’s break it down. First, in answering simply “I Am”, Jesus is speaking volumes. He not only claims to be the Messiah, the Anointed One, but He also makes claim to the personal name of God that was given to Moses out of the burning bush, “I am that I am.” Under the authority and power of that name, Moses performed great signs and wonders and led the children of Israel out of captivity, through the trials in the wilderness, and on to the Promised Land.
In like manner, when Jesus answered “I am”, He fulfilled the prefigurement of the burning bush and the pillar of fire that would lead the Jews out of bondage in Egypt to the Promised Land. And shortly after Jesus says, I am, the signs and wonders of His death and resurrection take place and the greatest of all the exoduses begins, because the Lord Jesus accomplishes the act of redemption on the cross of Calvary by which men who are in spiritual bondage to sin are led out into the freedom of eternal life.
Secondly, in the next part of His answer, Jesus quotes from two different scriptures. One part of His answer refers to Psalm 110, verse 1. "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Jesus has said you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power. He is claiming the ultimate throne of His kingdom. It is a spiritual kingdom of God through which the Messiah rules the world, in the hearts of His people. It is the throne which is above every throne, above all rule and authority, and certainly above the rule and authority of these corrupt, evil religious rulers. It is the throne to which those who believe in Him must bow.
And He is making the claim that not only is he the Messiah, but no matter what they may do to Him, they are going to see that He is going to come out of the trials and persecutions and death and crucifixion. He is going to come out triumphant, and he is going to sit on the right hand of the majesty on high. In other words, he is going to be vindicated and triumphant in the events that follow, even through the cross. And when He comes with the clouds, refers not only to His second coming, but coming in judgment upon the world.
The other text Jesus refers to is found in Dan.7:13, "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man.” In referring to Himself as the Son of Man in this context, Jesus is alluding to the prophecy of Daniel, especially as he says in vs14,"And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.
You know, many times as I counsel Christians today that are going through hard times or trials or difficulties, and when things seem their darkest, I cannot always offer the hope that things will get better in this life. But I can offer the assurance that there will come a day, when the sorrows of this life will be past, when we will be seated on thrones with the Lord in glory,
and we shall rule and reign with him, and we shall enjoy his presence throughout eternity. These great trials which seem so overwhelming to us at the moment and seem unending as we pass through them are just brief moments in the plan and program of God.
Now, I would suggest that Jesus’s answer to the high priest is the definitive answer to what constitutes saving faith. Believing in Jesus Christ then by His own standard is recognizing that He is God, the great I Am, He is the Son of God, which according to the testimony of the Jews meant that He was equal with God in all respects, and that He is the Son of Man, meaning that He became flesh and dwelt among us, that He might become our substitute, so that He might die on our behalf that we might be made the children of God, to become His kingdom, that we might life for Him and serve Him and rule with Him in His eternal kingdom, which shall never pass away. All of that constitutes saving faith, what it means to believe in Jesus.
Well, the Jews rejected that outright. They refused to believe. In fact, Caiaphas makes a great show out of rending his garment, which was done in a prescribed way to show grief. But in actuality he wasn’t experiencing grief, he was filled with fiendish glee that Jesus had made this confession, because he could now condemn Him of blasphemy.
Mark 14:63 Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, "What further need do we have of witnesses?"You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?" And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.
Their judgement towards Christ, in spite of all the evidence that He had provided during His three years of ministry that He was the Messiah, was to reject it, claim blasphemy and condemn Him to death. They hated Him without a cause. I believe that they actually knew that He was the Messiah, and yet in spite of the evidence, wanted to kill Him because He did not fit into their plans and He threatened their power and position. I believe they knowingly put to death the Son of God. But that may be speculation on my part. However, I believe ample evidence was there, and more than enough prophecy concerning the Messiah had been fulfilled that they had to have known about. But they rejected it.
Well, rejection of salvation always leads to hatred, and hatred to persecution, and persecution leads to murder. These supposedly righteous religious priests and leaders take this as an opportunity to spit on Him, to punch Him, to strike Him. They even blindfolded Him and then hit Him, while asking “who hit you?” They truly revealed the evil nature of their hearts. You know, people can put on all kinds of pious fronts for a while, but when an evil person gets a chance to strike without repercussions someone who is weaker or unable to retaliate, then their true nature is revealed. It certainly proves the depravity of man in his natural condition.
Well, we must close. But let me try to apply this to us today if possible. Let’s imagine that you are the judge and jury at the trial of Jesus Christ. You are the one that must decide who you will say that Jesus is. Who will you say that He is? It is not enough to recognize that He was a good teacher. Or that He was a miracle worker and prophet who lived 2000 years ago. By the words of Jesus own mouth, He declared Himself to be the same God that appeared to Moses in the burning bush 2000 years before. He is either crazy, or a liar, or He is the great “I Am”, the eternal God.
By His own admission, He claims to be the Son of God. He answered that question of Caiaphas in the affirmative. That claim makes Him the equal with God. He is the author of salvation. He is the Sent One, the Anointed One, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, who redeems to Himself a people from every tribe and nation. He is the Lord God Almighty, seated at the right hand of the Father on the throne of God above all power and rule and authority. And by that claim, He claims sovereignty over our lives. If we believe in Him then we are His people who serve Him. And He is coming again in power and glory for His chosen people. That is the definition of faith in Jesus Christ, or believing in Jesus Christ, as defined by Jesus.
How do you judge Him by that statement? Do you believe in Him? The Jews didn’t believe Him and they thought they could condemn Him. But in actuality they condemned themselves. John 3:18 says "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
If you believe in Him, in all that He claimed to be, then that faith is the means of justification. “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” I pray that no one tasting of the truth today hardens their hearts, and spits out the truth of God, and goes away from this place unsaved. Jesus came to earth to save sinners, and He has paid the price for your sin, that whosoever believes in Him might be saved. Let’s pray.
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