Luke 22:63-71 - Who do you think you are?

22:63,64

The guards would imagine themselves to be in a position of power over Jesus, so they mocked and beat Him, also blindfolding Him. They demanded that He prophecy, mocking Him. They beat him and taunted Him as to who had hit Him. It is a very human trait that when we are in what we think is a superior position we seek to take advantage of it, lording our “authority” over others. Instead we should always act with humility and seek to use any authority or superiority to bless others.

2:66-71

The apology for a judicial process now begins. None of the gospel writers gives a complete account of the “trial”, but there were two key elements to it. There were the hearings before the Jewish courts, and there were the hearings before the Roman courts.

Here we read of the trial before the Sanhedrin, an attempt to add some legitimacy to the goings on. Rather than presenting a clear charge against Jesus they invited Jesus to “incriminate” Himself. “If you are the Messiah, tell us”.

Jesus has no interest in defending Himself before the council. Today many atheists and sceptics act as if God has an obligation to “prove” Himself to them, it may come as a shock to some of them to discover that this is not the case! Jesus then declares that “the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God”. So the opinions of mere men on the council pales into insignificance in that light! Many atheists would do equally well to realise how unimportant their opinions really are.

The council clearly thought that this implied that Jesus was the Son of God, and Jesus agrees with them. They also took this as clear blasphemy. So Jesus was condemned for who He was!