If someone asked you if you know Jesus, what would you say? How would you describe him? What do you know about him? Luke wrote his gospel so that we would know Jesus and so it’s entirely appropriate for us to stop and ask each other that question. Do you know Jesus? What do you know about him? What do you question the most about him?
Look at Luke 22:63 – 71…
63 Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. 64 They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” 65 And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him. 66 When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council, and they said, 67 “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, 68 and if I ask you, you will not answer. 69 But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 70 So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And 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.”
When Luke wrote this portion of his gospel, I believe he wanted his listeners to know for sure who Jesus is. He wanted them to have the opportunity to know Jesus as the one who suffered for them, the one who came to save them, the one who will return again in power to judge the living and the dead and I think he wanted them to know Jesus as the one and only God who has existed for all of eternity past, present and future.
Do you know this Jesus? Do you know Jesus as the God who has existed for all of eternity? Do you know Jesus as the supreme judge who is more powerful and more just than any other judge in all of existence? Do you know Jesus as the only Savior who is worthy of your trust and your obedience? Do you know Jesus as the only God who is acquainted intimately with your suffering because he too suffered horrendously? Those are the questions that flow out of this text because this text is all about knowing Jesus the one and only eternal God who is full of power & authority, who came to save sinners as the suffering Savior. Do you know this Jesus?
#1: Do You Know Jesus The Suffering Captive? (63 – 65)
Jesus is acquainted intimately with your suffering because he too suffered horrendously. Luke tells us that after Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane “the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him and they blindfolded him and kept asking him, ‘Prophecy! Who is it that struck you?’ and they said many other things against him, blaspheming him.” Jesus is intimately acquainted with suffering because he suffered horrendously. He was held in captivity unlawfully, he was beaten, he was mocked, he was blindfolded and he was blasphemed.
Can you imagine the suffering that Jesus endured before he was nailed to the cross? Imagine the emotional fear from being locked in chains by people who should have been your friends. Imagine the physical pain of being beaten by people who should have been a safe family. Imagine the psychological & emotional wounding from being verbally abused by people speaking words of shame & mockery against you instead of speaking words of love & encouragement. Imagine the disorientation of being unable to see because you’ve been blindfolded. Imagine all this and more, happening to Jesus the suffering captive.
In the midst of your suffering…
Do you wonder why you’ve suffered the way you have? Do you feel like you’re all alone in your suffering? What do you turn to or set your heart upon to ease your suffering? Do you turn to a drug, or a relationship, or a new possession, or a new conquest, or the next sexual escapade, or the pursuit of money, or an opportunity to spend money you don’t have or a new romance? Jesus didn’t pursue any of those things because his goal was the cross where he suffered horrendously for you & I. Do you know this Jesus? Do you know Jesus, the one and only eternal God who is full of power & authority, who came to save sinners as the suffering Savior? Do you know this Jesus?
#2: Do You Know Jesus The Christ, The Messiah, The Savior? (66 – 68)
Jesus is the only Savior who is worthy of your trust and your obedience because he came to give his life as a ransom to save you from the penalty, the power & the presence of sin so that even though you’ve lived as his enemy, you could have the opportunity to become part of his family. Luke tells us that, “When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council, and they said, ‘If you are the Christ, tell us.’ But he said to them, ‘If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer.’” This story is stunning because Jesus who is the Christ (which means Messiah or Savior) is being forced to go through a series of formal legal trials and hearings that will eventually lead to him being unlawfully convicted of false charges and then led to his own execution by a horrific torture tool.
Think about this for a minute. Jesus’ enemies had propped him up in their little kangaroo court where they put God the Son on trial with his creation acting like the Sherriff, the Judge, the Jury and the prosecuting attorney. And the best strategy that Jesus’ enemies could come up with, was to get Jesus to incriminate himself in front of them by asking him if he is in fact the Christ; the Messiah; the Savior. And Jesus’ response is sheer genius because it unveils the hypocrisy and the unbelief and the hostility of the religious crowd that held him captive.
Jesus’ answer to the question of his enemies is basically an indictment of their underlying motives. When Jesus says, “If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer.” He’s basically saying, “Hey I’ve already told you all along that I am the Christ. The Messiah. The Savior. The real issue here is that you won’t accept or believe that answer as a valid answer and if I ask you who you believe I am… you refuse to answer the question.” Think about it for a minute… Jesus’ preaching & teaching & miracles weren’t done in a box. His life was an open book for everyone to examine and he wasn’t shy about referring to himself as the Christ, the Messiah or the Savior who was about to give his life as the payment for the sins of all who would trust in him.
The real problem here is not Jesus. The problem here is the people who should have known him didn’t know him at all and though they claimed to know God they rejected Jesus as their Savior. The very people who needed a Savior and should have recognized him immediately actually rejected him. Human beings that were created in the image of God, that were called to represent God to the world, who were broken by sin, who were in deep need of a Savior actually put their Savior on trial for claiming to be their Savior. They didn’t know Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior so they sat over him in public court like judge, jury and executioner. Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior was willing to give his life as a ransom to save sinners from the penalty, the power and the presence of sin.
In the midst of your battle with sin…
Are you making peace with your sin rather than war against it? Are you walking out your salvation in fear & trembling or are you comfortable in your sin? Are you the ruler & judge of the courtroom of your heart or is Christ ruling your heart? Jesus is the Christ; the Messiah; the Savior who came to set you free from the penalty, the power and the presence of your sin. Do you know this Jesus? Do you know Jesus, the one and only eternal God who is full of power & authority, who came to save sinners as the suffering Savior? Do you know this Jesus?
#3: Do You Know Jesus The Son of Man? (69)
Jesus is the only completely perfect, all-powerful, totally just ruler and judge of the universe. This is the image that gets pulled out of the picture album when the title “Son of Man” gets used. Daniel used this title to describe Jesus when he said, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of Heaven there came one like the son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed”. (Dan. 7:13-14) This picture of the Son of Man from Daniel is a picture of absolute perfection and eternally just authority and Jesus isn’t afraid to refer to himself by this name and in fact he’s already done it over a dozen times throughout the gospels.
Jesus boldly asserts his power, authority and deity when he says, “from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” To claim the seat at the right hand of God with the title “Son of Man” is to claim total, perfect, powerful and authoritative Godship. Jesus is claiming to be God in the flesh because no one sits at the right hand of God except God himself. God doesn’t need a lieutenant general or a second in command.
When the world seems to be spinning out of control…
What do you do? Where do you turn? What’s your knee jerk reaction? When you get that horrible news? When things don’t go the way you intended? When tragedy strikes? When you are powerless to change your circumstances? Let this truth wash over you in these moments… In this passage… Jesus was in full control. He alone has total, perfect power and authority. All of the language of the prophets and now of Jesus himself speaking about himself points to this truth that, Jesus is the Son of Man, the one and only eternal God who is full of power & authority, who came to save sinners as the suffering Savior. Do you know this Jesus?
#4: Do You Know Jesus The Son of God… (70 – 71)
Jesus is the Son of God who has existed for all of eternity, which means that he is in fact God in the flesh. Anyone who claims to be God is guilty of blasphemy unless they are in fact God himself. Jesus has already called himself “God” by claiming the title “Son of Man” so making the leap to “Son of God” is just the continuation of the same statement with more force and clarity. And it’s exactly the claim that Jesus’ enemies had been fishing for all along because they had their hearts set on murdering Jesus from the get-go.
I can just imagine the silence in the courtroom after Jesus’ last claim to be the “Son of Man”. It would have been a mic-drop moment. It would have been a strategic moment that only needed one simple further question of cross-examination to seal Jesus’ fate among the guilty and result in a death sentence. The courtroom would have been silent because Jesus had just claimed to be the “Son of Man”. The next question would seal the deal and Luke tells us that, “they all said, ‘Are you the Son of God, then?’ And he said to them, ‘You say that I am.’ Then they said, ‘what further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.’” Court adjourned. Verdict read. Guilty as charged.
But was he guilty? Was Jesus really guilty? Was he really guilty of claiming to be God when he really wasn’t God? Was he guilty of blasphemy? Or did his enemies only hear what they wanted to hear so they could render the verdict and move on with their evil plan?
When Jesus’ accusers asked him if he was the Son of God he answered by saying “You say that I am”. At first glance this may seem like a funny response but from a linguistic point of view Jesus is simply accepting the accusation. In other words, Jesus’ accusers say “So you’re the Son of God then, right?” and Jesus answers, “Yes I agree, what you are saying about me is true.” The words that Jesus’ enemies used to describe what Jesus was saying about himself were true but they refused to be affected by that truth. “What further testimony did they need? They had heard it straight from Jesus’ lips.” He claimed to be God. He claimed to be the Son of Man, the one and only eternal God who is full of power & authority, who came to save sinners as the suffering Savior. Do you know this Jesus? You’ve heard his testimony; straight from his lips… do you believe it?
Some final observations…
Jesus was the suffering captive; he is the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of Man, and the Son of God. Do you know this Jesus? Have you suffered deeply painful things? Are you oblivious to your sin, ignorant of your sin, blind to your sin, hiding your sin, excusing your sin or living in despair because of your sin? Does everything feel hopelessly out of control? Are you struggling to believe that Jesus is who he says he is? I have good news for you!! There is comfort in the suffering of Jesus. You can find renewal, & hope, & joy in Christ who is your Messiah and Savior. You can find rest in the truth that Jesus who is the Son of Man is in complete control of everything. The Spirit wants to open your heart and mind to the truth that Jesus is the Son of Man, the one and only eternal God who is full of power & authority, who came to save sinners as the suffering Savior. Do you know this Jesus?