God’s Word for You

Mark 14:60-62 He will come again to judge

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Sunday, February 25, 2024

60 Then the high priest stood before them and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is this that they are testifying against you?” 61 But he was silent and did not respond. Once again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

The high priest asked three questions. Each one comes closer to the point. Caiaphas began by treating Jesus like anyone with charges. “Have you no answer?” Perhaps Caiaphas hoped that Jesus would beg for mercy, admit his guilt, and beg for his life. When the man whose hands were tied said nothing, Caiaphas pressed him with another question. “What is this that they are testifying against you?”

The second question sounded more to the point, and would have been far less vague, except that everything about this trial was vague. Jesus could have asked, “What charges? Am I condemned because these men say they heard me say I could build a temple in three days? Is that a capital offense? Is anything I’ve ever said worthy of gathering the great Council of the Seventy-Two (two of which, I notice, are not present), the Sanhedrin, to try me in a legal case?” But those are not the words the Lord spoke. He said nothing at all. “There is a time to be silent and a time to speak,” Solomon said.  And Jeremiah had cried out: “Listen to me, LORD. Listen to what my opponents are saying. Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me” (Jeremiah 18:19-20).

A third time Caiaphas spoke. “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” This is the only time in the Bible that the title “the Blessed One” is used. It’s a good example of the tradition of the Jews never to use the name of God in any way. It was their attempt to appear to keep the Second Commandment, which is “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:7). But God doesn’t want us to avoid using his name, but to avoid using it for the wrong reason. How could the high priest of Israel, Caiaphas, avoid using God’s name in a legal trial like this one, unless of course he knew in his heart that this was not a legal trial at all?

“Are you the Christ?” Herod had wondered (Luke 23:9). The people of Galilee had wondered, too (Matthew 16:13-14). The people of Samaria had also wondered (John 4:26). Now Caiaphas shows that he was wondering, or at least he was wondering if that was the claim Jesus was making. Was he hoping Jesus would suddenly proclaim himself, perform miracles like Moses did before Pharaoh, and prove from his genealogy that he was the rightful Messiah?

Jesus was waiting for people to learn about him based on his preaching and teaching, and to recognize him from the promise of the Scriptures. “They have Moses and the Prophets,” he had said (Luke 16:29). Even if he did a miracle; even if he raised someone from the dead right before the Sanhedrin, the answer would be the same: “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead” (Luke 16:31).

But since Caiaphas had used the words, “Are you the Christ,” it was the moment to answer. Suddenly, Jesus spoke. I think that I’ve had at least one person ask me every year of my ministry why Jesus didn’t just come out and say, “Yes. I am the Christ!” The answer is simply that he wanted Caiaphas to believe him. He didn’t want to shove his divinity into their hearts, he wanted them to trust him. So he acknowledged the words of the high priest. He was saying, “Listen, all of you, to the words of your high priest. He has said, “I, Jesus, am the Christ, the Savior,” and now I want all of you to say it, too! Believe in me, put your faith in me, for the forgiveness of your sins.”

But he also knew that they wouldn’t. Their hearts were hard, like Pharaoh’s heart was hard before Moses, and they would not do anything except condemn him and kill him.

Perhaps they would kill him quickly, with almost no pain, the way the sacrifices were killed suddenly and humanely by the priests before the altar of God? But no, they would find a way to kill him slowly, with pain, with agony. Using a blade would kill him in just a few seconds with almost no pain at all. Using a rope would kill him with pain, but in under a minute. Stoning him would take five or ten minutes, and would be very painful. But to hand him over to the Romans! His agony might last for hours! It would be worse than anything else that could possibly be done!

Jesus added to his confession of being the Christ. He added that these men, all of them who condemned him, would see him again when he came for the Last Judgment. The Scriptures are filled with prophecies and references to the final judgment. Already at the judgment of Cain the words spoken by God are about Judgment Day, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” This isn’t about his offering of grain, but his eternal soul (Genesis 4:7). Genesis 18:25 and Deuteronomy 32:34-36 are other examples in Moses. Job speaks about the one who will rise up to judge (Job 31:14), about the judgment in general (Job 19:29) and other references to the Last Day. There are many prophecies in the Psalms about the Judgment: “The Lord has established his throne for judgment” (Psalm 9:7). The prophets are filled with such passages: Isaiah 2:10-11, 4:4, 13:9-13, and so on; Jeremiah 23:19-20, 25:31, 30:23-24; Ezekiel 34:17. One might almost ask, what in Daniel is not about the final judgment? But especially we will remember Daniel 2:44-45, 7:9-14, 11:45, 12:14. In the Minor Prophets, Joel and Zechariah have many passages, but most of the other books do, too. All of these were known to the Sanhedrin. All of these were copied meticulously by the scribes.

Our Lutheran Confessions do not forget about this article of faith. “The devil and all his powers must be subject to Christ and lie beneath his feet until finally, at the last day, he will completely divide and separate us from the wicked world, the devil, and sin” (Large Catechism II:31). And in the Augsburg Confession, there is a simple summary of everything Jesus said in his teaching in the temple during Holy Week: “Our churches teach that our Lord Jesus Christ will return on the Last Day for judgment and will raise up all the dead, to give eternal life and everlasting joy to believers and the elect but to condemn ungodly men and the devil to hell and eternal punishment. Rejected, therefore, are those who teach that the devil and condemned men will not suffer eternal pain and torment. Rejected, too, are certain… opinions which are even now making an appearance and which teach that, before the resurrection of the dead, saints and godly men will possess a worldly kingdom and annihilate all the godless.” (Augsburg Confession XVII:1-5, quoted in full).

In order to proclaim the truth before the Sanhedrin, Jesus had to preach the law with this warning about Judgment Day. Whether it fell on receptive ears or hard hearts, it had to be said. Even now, facing agony and death, our Savior is a guide and example to ministers of the gospel and also to parents of human children. Who does not face the sins of others? How easy it is to look away and pretend not to notice, or to deny sin at all! But ignoring sin is not the role of parents, nor is it the role of pastors. Holy Father, bless our people! Almighty Judge, give us strength to proclaim your truth.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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