Luke 22:70
So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.”
Luke 22:71
“Why do we need any more testimony,” they said, “since we’ve heard it ourselves from His mouth?”
Everything about Jesus’ trial was a travesty of justice. They arrested Him without a cause and with no true witnesses to any crime He might have committed. They arrested and ‘tried’ Him at night. This was strictly forbidden by Jewish Law. They humiliated, blindfolded and beat Him all with no grounds. They abased Him and mentally tortured Him. Then, they led Him to an unofficial judge and riddled Him with questions until they heard what they wanted to hear as a confession. There were no ‘ears to hear’ at this gathering of men. Their hearts were hard and their ears were sealed. Although He had made it clear throughout His ministry that He was the Son Of God and Son Of Man, He did not give them the pleasure of a direct answer in their presence. He knew this whole fiasco of a trial was illegal and that their evil hearts were hard, thus He never even gave them the satisfaction of a direct confession. He knew they did not want true truth and so He refused to give it. He would not throw the pearls of His lifesaving truth before pigs who had no desire for its truthfulness. They had only one mission, to destroy this Man who threatened their position, power and wealth. Some people simply cannot handle the truth. Better said, some people simply will not hear the truth.
‘You say that I am’.
‘We have heard it ourselves from His mouth.’
They heard something close to what they wanted to hear from His mouth and it was enough in their minds to complete this entire sham of a trial. They were ever seeing and never perceiving, ever hearing but never understanding. Thus, they had no capacity for the lifesaving truth that Lord Jesus brought to the willing soul.
Jesus refuses to reveal Himself to the priggish prig who has no capacity for His truth. He’s no dummy. He knows men’s hearts and deals accordingly. Frankly, the prideful prig isn’t even open enough to receive the truth of Jesus Christ. Why would Lord Jesus try to force Himself upon them? He wouldn’t.
There are those who can look Truth in the face day after day and simply grow more calloused and hard hearted because they do not want to know. Jesus deals very deftly with such individuals. He seeks a wiling, tender, open heart and will not be intimidated by the rebellious, hardened, evil heart that refuses to believe. Jesus is no milquetoast. Yes, His yoke is easy and His burden is light and He welcomes all willing seekers; however, He does not cower in the presence of prideful men intent on pursuing evil. He will leave them to their choices and will not throw His Words to the ground.
We must love as Lord Jesus loved. It is our commission and call. In this love, we must also stand firmly in the face of rebellious evil that calls itself good. We cannot cower to evil men and distort the truth for their sake. They won’t listen anyway. Love does not mean milk ‘toastness’. Love means standing for truth as Jesus stood for truth in whatever situation we encounter whatever the consequences.
Give us strength by Your Spirit, Father God, to stand firmly in this everlasting day. May we be known by our love for Your Truth and our love for your children.
Ventanas 