66 In the morning the council of the people’s leaders, the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings, gathered together. They brought Jesus in front of their highest court and asked him, 67 “Tell us, are you the Messiah?”
Jesus said to them, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. 68 And if I ask you, you won’t answer. 69 But from now on, the Son of Man will be in the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne.”
70 Then all of them said, “So you’re the Son of God?”
Jesus answered them, “You’re right to say that I am.”
71 Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We’ve heard him say it ourselves.”
Read Luke 22:66-71 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
In many ways, the events that happen during the night Jesus was arrested form an interesting picture of God’s character. When we read about how Jesus was brought before individuals and groups of people in order to make a case for His death, we see that it was almost impossible for them to do – that is, unless Jesus chose to give them something they could use to build their case against Him.
The way the passage ends sums up our big truth. After Jesus’ response, the religious leaders said to each other, “Why do we need any more testimony? We’ve heard him say it ourselves.” (v. 71)
Other gospels draw our attention onto how Jesus remained silent during the trial, and how the witnesses that were being brought in were either sharing non-death worthy charges, or they were not consistent in what they had to say. If Jesus simply chose silence, the leaders could not have built a credible case.
However, this was the point in history that Jesus actually chose to die. Nothing in His response to the leaders was “death-worthy”, but He knew that they would build their case around whatever He said, and that an “unjust” crucifixion would make the way for all humanity to be saved. By crucifying Jesus, who did not deserve death, these religious leaders actually opened the way for Salvation to come to humanity. While they are often portrayed as the bad guys in this event, they are actually the key people God used to show us how much He loves us even when we have rejected Him.
Jesus chose the cross for each of us, and He chose the time in the broad span of history. Nothing was going to accelerate that time from coming, and nothing would delay it from happening either. The cross was 100% Jesus’ choice and His plan to rescue us!
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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