{"id":719,"date":"2009-03-31T04:01:46","date_gmt":"2009-03-31T04:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2009\/03\/the-third-station-jesus-is-condemned-by-the-sanhedrin.html"},"modified":"2009-03-31T04:01:46","modified_gmt":"2009-03-31T04:01:46","slug":"the-third-station-jesus-is-condemned-by-the-sanhedrin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/03\/the-third-station-jesus-is-condemned-by-the-sanhedrin.html","title":{"rendered":"The Third Station: Jesus is Condemned by the Sanhedrin"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nCopyright \u00a9 Linda Roberts, 2007.
\nFor permission to use this picture and\/or others in this series, please contact Mark D. Roberts<\/a><\/h4>\n

Luke 22:66-71<\/strong>
\n66<\/em> When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together, and they brought him to their council. 67<\/em> They said, \u201cIf you are the Messiah, tell us.\u201d He replied, \u201cIf I tell you, you will not believe; 68<\/em> and if I question you, you will not answer. 69<\/em> But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.\u201d 70<\/em> All of them asked, \u201cAre you, then, the Son of God?\u201d He said to them, \u201cYou say that I am.\u201d 71<\/em> Then they said, \u201cWhat further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!\u201d
\nReflection<\/strong>
\nAccording to Jewish law, it was wrong to try a criminal in the night. So, properly, those who accused Jesus waited until dawn, when the “assembly” or “council” could legally gather (the “council” is, more literally, the “Sanhedrin,” see Note 1<\/a>). The leaders of the council, which was moderated by the high priest, wanted to know if Jesus claimed to be the Messiah. For them, this would be tantamount to a revolutionary claim, exactly the sort of thing that got the Jews into major trouble with Rome. False messiahs led to nothing but heartache and suffering for the Jewish people. Given Jesus’ failure to raise up an army suitable to rid Judea of the Romans, there would have been little reason for the members of the Sanhedrin to believe that he was the true messiah. He didn’t fit the bill, as far as they were concerned.
\nThis may help to explain Jesus’ strange reticence with respect to his messiahship. Nowhere in the Gospels does he ever say, outright, “I am the Messiah.” Only twice does Jesus admit plainly to being the Messiah (Mark 14:62; John 4:25-26), but then he quickly changes the subject.
\nOf course Jesus didn’t deny that he was the Messiah either, something that might have allowed him to be released by the Sanhedrin with only a severe beating. His failure to say that he was not the Messiah, combined with his cryptic, “You say that I am,” was enough to convince the Sanhedrin of Jesus’ guilt.
\nWhat was His crime? What had he done that was worthy of death?
\nFor one thing, only days earlier, Jesus had made a mess of the temple, interrupting its sacrifices and labeling it as a “den of robbers,” a phrase Jesus borrowed from Jeremiah in one of the ancient prophet’s predictions of the temple’s demise. By speaking so negatively of the temple, Jesus was seen by the Jewish officials to be speaking negatively of God Himself. The temple was, after all, the house of God, the place where God had chosen to dwell. Thus by speaking poorly of the temple, Jesus was believed to have been blaspheming God.
\nMoreover, in his trial, Jesus not only wouldn’t reject his Messiahship, but also he claimed that he would be “seated at the right hand of the power of God” as the promised Son of Man (Luke 22:69). This was perceived by the council, beginning with the high priest, as blasphemy and clear evidence of Jesus’ guilt. But making this claim wouldn’t have been a crime if Jesus was telling the truth. In the minds of the members of the Sanhedrin, however, there was no possibility of Jesus actually being the Son of Man who would share in God’s own power and glory. Sure, he could do a few miracles. But usher in the divine kingdom? Hardly. Jesus’ ministry hardly filled out the expectations of the Jewish leaders for the genuine Messiah. So the rabble-rousing, temple-destroying, and all-around troublemaker was now, as far as the Sanhedrin was concerned, an obvious blasphemer (Note 2<\/a>).
\nHave you ever wondered why Jesus wasn’t clearer about who he was and what he had come to do? I certainly have. It seems like it would have been so much easier for all, including those of us who seek to follow Jesus today, if he had only said, “Yes, I am the Messiah, but not in the sense you expect. I have been anointed by God to bring the kingdom, but not in a military-political way. The kingdom is coming through transformed hearts, communities, and cultures. Most of all, the kingdom is coming through my death, as I bear the sin of Israel, and, indeed, the sin of the world. As Messiah, I must also suffer in the role of Isaiah’s Servant.” That simple but profound paragraph would have cleaned things up quite nicely.
\nYet Jesus didn’t say this. It’s something we have to piece together from his words and deeds. And we, like the people of his day, even his disciples, often get things confused. We rightly reject the notion of Jesus as a military-political Messiah. But then we tend to limit his saving work to post-mortem heaven for individual believers, rather than transformation of the whole cosmos, beginning with ourselves and our world today. We don’t make the connection between Jesus as the Messiah and the prayer he himself taught us: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
\nWhen we confess Jesus as Christ or Messiah (Note 3<\/a>), we’re acknowledging him as our personal Savior. But we’re saying more than this. We’re also recognizing that he came to inaugurate the kingdom of God. Though this kingdom won’t fully come until Jesus himself brings it in the future, we get to share in the blessings and responsibilities of the kingdom even now. Our calling as followers of Jesus is to do the works of the kingdom, so that the reign of God might invade this world. At the same time, we look forward to the day when all will be fulfilled. Then, in the classic words of Revelation 11:15, put to such wonderful music in Handel’s Messiah, we’ll celebrate the fact that:<\/p>\n

The kingdom of this world is become,
\nThe kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ,
\nAnd He shall reign forever and ever.
\nHallelujah!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Prayer<\/strong>
\nO Lord, the Jewish officials didn’t understand what it meant for you to be Messiah, and they condemned you as a criminal worthy of death. Your own followers didn’t understand what it meant for you to be Messiah, so they scattered and hid in your hour of crisis. Help me not to be like these! Help me to understand what it means when I confess you to be the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed of God. And may this confession lead me to a life of true discipleship.
\nLet Your kingdom come, Lord, and your will be done, on earth as in heaven. And let this happen in my life, even today!
\nAmen.<\/p>\n

\n

Notes<\/strong><\/h4>\n

<\/a>Note 1: The Greek word for “assembly” in Luke 22:66 is presbyterion<\/em> (which we’d translated literally as “presbytery,” not good news for us Presbyterians; the word for “council” is synedrion<\/em>, which is often translated into English as “Sanhedrin.”)<\/h4>\n

<\/a>Note 2: Not all members of the Sanhedrin agreed that Jesus was guilty and worthy of death. Joseph of Arimathea, for example, “had not agreed to their plan and action” (Luke 23:51). For more on why Jesus had to die, see my blog series: Why Did Jesus Have to Die? The Death of Jesus in Different Perspectives: Roman, Jewish, Jesus, Christian<\/a>.<\/em><\/h4>\n

<\/a>Note 3: “Christ” is an English variation of the Greek word christos<\/em>, which is equivalent to the Hebrew mashiach<\/em>, or “messiah.” They all mean “anointed one.”<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Copyright \u00a9 Linda Roberts, 2007. For permission to use this picture and\/or others in this series, please contact Mark D. Roberts Luke 22:66-71 66 When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together, and they brought him to their council. 67 They said, \u201cIf you are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stations-of-the-cross"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Third Station: Jesus is Condemned by the Sanhedrin - Mark D. 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Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}