Jesus before the Council

Mark 14:53-65.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 03, 2021.

Today, we will pick back up in the Gospel of Mark.  Jesus has been arrested and is brought before the chief priests and their council.  The events of this passage underline the importance of holding fast to Christ even when the institutions of justice in this world are perverted and twisted in order to bring about injustice.

Our Lord promised us that in this world we would have trouble, but that we were not to fear because he had overcome the world.  And, we shall too with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within those who are believing upon the Lord Jesus.

Let’s look at our passage.

Jesus is interrogated during the night

The Law of Moses (more properly, the Law of God given to Israel through Moses) had protections for the accused, which would counter humanity’s penchant for rash lynchings.  Several aspects of the proceedings before Christ’s crucifixion do not pass muster and make the proceedings illegal.  Yet, it is still being done under the color of law.  When those who are responsible to uphold the law are intent on breaking the intent of the law, they have a powerful ability to make an illegal thing legal, as if they were innocent of any wrong and merely providing justice.  This abuse of power is not a rare thing among human governments.  Thus, we see that the most righteous human who ever lived received injustice at the hands of those in this world who were responsible for giving justice.  This is an indictment of all of us.

Mark’s Gospel does leave out some critical details that the Gospel of John helps us to see.  There are actually three meetings between Jesus and religious authorities.  The first is a meeting with Annas who was a previous high priest and also the father-in-law of Caiaphas.  It is unclear who all is at this meeting.  It may have taken place as the greater council was being assembled.  The second meeting is where Jesus is brought from Annas to Caiaphas and the religious council of Israel, the Sanhedrin.  The time is roughly around 4 am, and thus this is an informal interrogation, or trial.  An official trial could not take place in the middle of the night.  Mark’s account does not mention the first meeting and details the second one.  The third meeting is mentioned in Mark 15:1. This happens as soon as it is morning.  It appears to be the official, on the books, meeting of the Sanhedrin where they determine to send Jesus to Pilate with a petition of execution.

The setting of this second meeting is in the compound of the high priest.  It has an inner courtyard surrounded by buildings, and perhaps even a large balcony.  I mention a balcony because Luke’s account will mention that, when Peter denies Jesus the third time, a rooster crows and Jesus turns to look at Peter.  Jesus must be either in the courtyard with the Sanhedrin, or on an elevated balcony with the group of 70 or so men.  It is quite likely that the meeting with Annas also took place somewhere within this compound.

I have mentioned Peter already, but it is the Gospel of John that tells us the details of how he was able to get into the high priest’s courtyard.  John records that another disciple was known by the high priest and his house.  This disciple first went in and then arranged for Peter to be admitted.  Most scholars believe this other disciple is John because John displays a tendency to leave himself anonymous in his Gospel.  Is John with Jesus, or in the courtyard with Peter?  The biblical account does not tell us.  This is where Peter’s infamous denials will take place, but we will save that for next week.

This second meeting with Jesus involves many witnesses who are brought forth for the event.  Obviously, they had been told in advance that they would be needed for such.  Mark tells us that none of their testimony was trustworthy.  However, one charge does surface from among the others that has legal clout.  It is purported that Jesus claimed to destroy the temple and then rebuild it in three days.  This is not exactly what Jesus said in John 2:19. The witnesses are talking about the time when Jesus had cleansed the temple.  Afterwards, Jesus is asked to give a sign to back up his actions.  Jesus tells them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up.”  John then goes on to say that Jesus was talking about his body, and not the temple building.  So, on one hand there is a misunderstanding of what Jesus means by temple.  However, on the other hand, there is a twisting of just who Jesus said would do the destroying.  Notice that Jesus does not say he will destroy the temple.  He posits that they would destroy the temple and that he would do the rebuilding.

Now, to destroy the Temple of God was an unthinkable thing to the Jews, but even the Romans held the destruction of any temple in its lands as a capital offense.  It was treated as an act of terrorism that would threaten Rome’s control over an area.  Ultimately, the religious leaders needed something that they could use in order to convince the Roman Governor Pilate to execute Jesus.  This would do it.

Even then, Mark notes for the second time that their testimony didn’t agree.  Thus, the testimony in general didn’t agree, and then on the one item they were able to treat as legitimate the testimony was still flimsy.  The Law called for at least two witnesses.  The witnesses would clearly have to agree on the salient points for there to be a conviction.  When you testify against the truth, your testimony will be full of errors.  An individual who is not telling the truth has enough trouble keeping a story straight, much less multiple people called at a moment’s notice in the dead of night.

It is clear that the high priest recognizes the weakness of the case because he first questions Jesus about the temple allegations.  Jesus does not answer it.  This leads to the high priest asking Jesus straight forwardly if he is the Christ, that is the Messiah.  This would be a second point of contention with Jesus that the Romans would also take as serious.  If Jesus claimed to be the Messiah then Rome would see that as a threat to their political authority. Remember, Messiah would not only be king of Israel, but ultimately of the whole world.

Up to this point, we do not see Jesus defending himself and arguing with those who are giving false testimony.  He is essentially silent before them.  Isaiah 53:7 prophesied that Messiah would be “as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”  The main point is not about never uttering a syllable, but rather about defending himself and trying to get himself out of the charges.  Even a guilty man will brashly rail at truthful charges against him.  How much harder is it to hold your peace when those who accuse you are lying through their teeth?  Jesus is showing us that we are to have as our main defense the testimony and decision of God.  He is completely trusting God, which may seem foolish at the cross, but is clearly wisdom at the resurrection.

When authorities have a flimsy case, they fall back on getting the accused to talk so that their words can be used against them.  We don’t need the 5^th Amendment to teach us that there is wisdom in holding your peace and trusting God.  Yet, now the approach of the high priest has switched from labeling Jesus as a terrorist, and has moved to claiming he is a false Messiah.  Jesus does answer the direct question from the high priest, “Are you the Christ the son of the Blessed One?”

It is clear in the answer of Jesus that he is giving them the truth, and at the same time giving them the political ammunition that they will need to execute him.  First, Jesus answers, “I am…”  He clearly owns the title of Christ, Messiah, but he doesn’t stop there.  Jesus adds to the claim of Messiah an allusion to a figure in Daniel 7:13-14, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven!” 

This passage opens with 4 beastly empires that have their way on the earth until the Ancient of Days holds court.  The judgment of God the father is that three of the beasts will have their dominion taken away and the fourth beast will be slain and given over to the burning flame.  At this point, Daniel sees a being that comes on the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days, who is seated on His throne, in order to receive an everlasting dominion and kingdom over the whole earth.  This being is described as “like a son of man.”  Son of man is a way of describing someone as human.  However, the text says that he is “like” a son of man. 

The history of how this cryptic figure was viewed in the first century is shrouded in the history that happens after it.  The destruction of Jerusalem destroyed many documents and religious groups.  The Sadducees and their interpretations disband and do not survive.  The Pharisees that went with Israel as it was dispersed to the nations became the sole religious leaders.  They passed down their ideas by word of mouth, until their interpretations were written down in the fourth century AD.  Much of the original religious discussion of that time was lost and even purposefully hidden because of its closeness to Christian theology.  Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls have helped to shine some light on the beliefs of those days.  Instead of going into that, we can determine much about what they thought by how they responded to what Jesus said.

Caiaphas takes this statement as complete blasphemy, even ripping his robe as he declares it.  How is what Jesus said blasphemous?  It cannot be a blasphemy to admit to being the Messiah, at least not up front.  The Messiah would one day come and would need to be able to declare he is Messiah.  There is no law in the Torah that forbids claiming to be Messiah.  It could be seen as blasphemy once a person has proven they are not.  So, it is possible that they believe Jesus has more than proved that he is not Messiah.  I think this is a stretch.  I believe the declaration of blasphemy has more to do with the Daniel 7 allusion than the claim to being Messiah.

The Daniel 7 character is “like” a human, and yet rides the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days.  No mortal can ride the clouds of heaven.  It is clear that some groups saw this figure as a heavenly being that looks human. This would be one of the ways to see the statement as blasphemous.  The logic would be that Jesus is clearly a human being, and yet he is claiming to be a heavenly being.  Therefore, he must be a deceiver of the worst sort.

This leaves us with the main witness against Jesus as his own words, which are both truth and anything but blasphemous.  Though this is an informal trial, the group is asked what their decision is.  Jesus is declared guilty of blasphemy and deserving of death.  At first light, they will have an official meeting of the Sanhedrin that will rubber stamp this decision officially, but the real work happened in the dead of night under the hour and power of darkness.

At this point, Jesus is physically abused, which from the Gospels has happened several times before now.  This reveals the hideous hatred that was among the group towards Jesus.  It was an undeserved hatred, much like David of old.  Some were spitting on him as a show of contempt and humiliation.  A cloth is tied over his face so that he cannot see.  Then, different ones take turns hitting Jesus, and some of the servants slapping him.  A sick game commences with them taunting Jesus to prophecy which of them had hit him.

In all of this, the Lord of Glory restrained himself and took it all.  He did so for you and for me, for them, and he did so trusting in the judgment of his Father.  O, how difficult it would be to trust God when He allows such gross injustice.  Yet, trust he did.  If they treated the King of kings and the Lord of Life in such a way, how much more will this world treat us?  Is it only for Jesus to receive shame and only for us to receive glory?  Is not our participation in the coming glory of Christ dependent upon our participation in the present shame and humiliation of Christ before the world?  May God help us to stand with Jesus in the midst of a world that is still seething with a hatred and a rage for Jesus and any who will follow him in truth.  Yes, difficult days lie ahead, but those who know their God will do exploits in his name, amen!

Jesus before the Council audio

The Abuse of Power

1 Kings 21:1-16.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 28, 2018.

Abuse of power is often in the news these days, whether we think of politics with the FBI probes into Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, or we think about Hollywood and the cascading revelations of sexual harassment within the business.  Such abuse of power can be found in any environment that is ran by people: businesses, churches, sports, schools, and the police.  However, it can also be found in a mob of people who claim to be standing against the abuse of power.  If we as Americans do not repent of wickedness and turn towards the way of Jesus, we will find this country continuing its rapid decline.  It is not enough to join the cries of those pointing out wickedness and abuse of power.  We must also repent of our own wickedness and abuse of power.  Only then can true healing and change happen in this country. 

Regardless of how the country goes, you are responsible for your own decisions.  If you are not abusing power then be a voice of truth in the midst of people lying to cover themselves.  If you are guilty of abusing your power then deliver yourself from the judgment of God because it will come as sure as the day you were born.

Today’s passage highlights the abuse of power in Northern Israel of the 9^th century B.C.  But it could be written about many different cities all across these United States of America.  Let’s hear God’s Word.

Ahab covets his neighbor’s vineyard

In verses 1-4 we see Ahab’s desire for a plot of land that is next to his palace.  Yet, he clearly becomes overly attached to having it, and herein lies the problem.  Let’s look at how he gets there.

Notice that Ahab makes a very reasonable offer to Naboth in order to obtain his vineyard.  He will buy the property for money or swap a better vineyard elsewhere for his.  At this point everything is on the up and up.  Yet, we are told that Naboth declines the offer.  Now, Naboth’s words might seem insolent to us, but we should recognize that property was viewed differently in ancient Israel.  They land was not really sold but actually leased, until the year of Jubilee (which came ever 50 years).  In that year all debts, including land leased to others, would have the debt on it cancelled and return to the original owner.  This was to protect the inheritance that God had given to each tribe and the clans within them.  Typically people did not lease their inheritance unless they were desperate or so rich that they are paying others to tend it.  Naboth will not even entertain the idea.

Now Ahab’s response to the rejection shows us that something is wrong in his heart.  Though his offer is reasonable, his response to rejection is unreasonable.  Just because I make a reasonable offer, it does not follow that the person “owes it to me” to accept.  Naboth does not want another property, or to lose what he has.  He is well within his rights to refuse and, if Ahab’s heart were in the right place, he would understand.  Ahab becomes sullen and depressed.  He goes home and proceeds to lay in bed with his back to the door, refusing to eat.  His desire for a the property has gotten out of bounds and has become coveting.

This leads us to the 10^th commandment found in Exodus 20:17.  When we look at this commandment, several things stick out.  It always has an object that doesn’t belong to you: your neighbor’s house, wife, servants, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to him.  Coveting begins with a desire for something that does not belong to you.  I could be innocent and proper, but there is a boundary past which our desire becomes inordinate or improper.  I should have restrained the desire to stay in the proper boundaries, but instead I have let it go beyond into the area of coveting it.  It is one thing to admire your neighbor’s house, or to recognize that their spouse is very good looking.  But if the desire is unrestrained it can cross the line into improper desire and eventually improper actions. 

There is a virtue that helps lead us away from coveting, like a kind of antidote, and that virtue is thankfulness.  When we are thankful to God for the things we already have, then our desires to have something we do not are far more restrained.  Too many people fall into the habit of looking down upon what they have because it doesn’t seem to be as much or nice as what another has.  This is a trap that sets us up for losing restraint upon our desires.  May God help us to be more thankful for the things that we do have.  If we can obtain other things, then praise God.  But, if not, then praise Him still because what we do have is a blessing.

Jezebel has a wicked plan to get the vineyard

In verses 5-10 Jezebel enters the scene.  She is clearly a take charge kind of person.  When she sees the depression of Ahab, she is determined to fix the problem.  However, in her mind the problem isn’t Ahab’s covetous, unrestrained heart, but rather, Naboth’s refusal to sell.  Our inability to recognize the true problems in our life will lead to poor decisions.  It is easy to think that all my problems are the fault of others around me, but this kind of thinking will hamper our ability to change.

Notice how Jezebel views position and power.  When Ahab tells her why he is depressed, she retorts,  “Do you not reign over Israel?”  In her view Ahab’s problem is that he has forgotten he is king.  To her, position and power are for the benefit of the person who has them.  But God’s Word reveals a different view.  Position and power are not to be used for the benefit of the person who has them, but rather for those over whom you have authority.

Think about parents and their authority over their children.  Parents can fall into the mistake of thinking that the children should benefit them somehow.  If parents want to please God, they must learn to exercise their authority for the benefit of the children.  That doesn’t mean the kids get to tell parents what to do.  Rather, we look to God to help us understand what is best for our kids.  The same should be true for politics.  It is an abuse of power to exercise your authority for your own benefit, and at the expense of those beneath you.

We see Jezebel promise Ahab that she will get him the vineyard.  How does she plan to do so?  She plans to use the power of the king to have Naboth killed.  She sends letters bearing Ahab’s royal seal to the leaders of Jezreel, the city in which this occurs.  They are to proclaim a fast, which would only be done in extreme circumstances in which something was wrong in the city.  They were to seat Naboth in a prominent place.  Then two men were to publicly accuse him of cursing God and the king.  Lastly, the leaders were to take Naboth out and stone him to death.  This is a classic example of the abuse of power.  We can’t put all the blame on Jezebel because she couldn’t have used Ahab’s seal without his approval, whether presently or in the past.  Jezebel couldn’t care less about this vineyard.  But she is willing to kill an innocent man in order to get her husband out of a bad attitude.  It is sad to see a person’s life chewed up in the grinder because someone of power is having a bad hair day.  But they don’t care.  They have the power and you don’t.  God deliver us from such thinking and such people.

When we look closer at the abuse of power, we will see that the order is unlawful.  The laws of most countries stand against such abuse of power.  However, even if a nation made it lawful to do what Jezebel does, there is still the problem that it would be against God’s law.  An unlawful order should never be obeyed, even if it is made lawful by the crooked courts/king of the land.  All laws of mankind are under the authority of the King of kings and Lord of lords, and they carry only as much weight as they are in accordance with the laws of God.

The second thing is that Jezebel goes out of her way to use the “color of law.”  She does not care about what the law says, but she goes through the trouble of making it look like Naboth is a horrible man in front of the citizens of Jezreel.  Of course the leaders know the truth, but they will not say anything if they know what is good for them.  Ahab is enabled to have a fake cloak of righteousness when he takes Naboth’s vineyard.  People will say that wicked Naboth got what he deserved and that God was rewarding Ahab with the vineyard of the one who cursed him.  That is truly justice, right?  But the opposite is the truth.  Many a wicked leader has used trickery to convince the populace that they are following the law, when they are doing everything but that.  We must be careful of knee-jerk responses to spoon-fed information. 

The leaders of Jezreel carry out the plan

In verses 11-16 we see that the leaders carry out the plan.  They do exactly what Jezebel said to do, and have Naboth publicly executed.  When Jezebel is told that the deed is done, she goes in and announces to Ahab that he can take possession of Naboth’s vineyard because he is now dead.  This kind of wicked, civil asset forfeiture is a house of wickedness that uses the law to take that which belongs to people simply because they don’t have the power to stop it.

Ahab suddenly feels good enough to get out of bed.  Who knows, he might have even stuffed his face before he left the palace.  Perhaps he skipped like a little girl to the candy store.  Regardless, Ahab feels better, but he ought to be sickened to his stomach.  His actions testify against him.  He is a wicked man.

This brings up something that can be seen in this passage.  Ahab and Jezebel are both wicked, but Ahab is a weak wicked person and Jezebel is a strong wicked person.  Even in his wickedness Ahab seems to have some boundaries.  But Jezebel is a person who has a very perverted sense of right and wrong that centers on her and what she wants.  However, such people would get little done if it weren’t for the third class of wicked people in this passage.

The leaders of the city become the enablers of Jezebel’s wicked plan.  They are willing and compliant to her wicked plan.  By doing so, the leaders of Jezreel sell out one of their own that they were supposed to protect for the good graces of Ahab and Jezebel.  Their position and power are for the purpose of benefiting the people of Jezreel, but here they are throwing Naboth like a lamb to the wolf. 

Naboth is the true victim in this story, but the public is convinced that Ahab is the victim.  In this life the true victims are rarely noticed.  And, if they are, it is often to be used as public leverage to obtain wicked and selfish ends.  We must not be willing and compliant with those who would do wickedly through us.  We must learn to stand up and hold our ground.  The whole reason for a city mayor is to have people of power to protect the citizens, whether from each other or from outside attack.

Ultimately the Christian’s hope is not in justice from the government of man, but rather justice from the government of God.  God help us to be an ever brighter light of what is true and just.  May He help us not to aid the wicked but rather stand up and bring their evil deeds to light.

Abuse of Power audio

Wicked Judgment

Luke 22:63-71.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 20, 2016.

Today is Palm Sunday, the Sunday only days before Jesus is crucified.  Palm Sunday is all about the question, “What will you do with Jesus?”  Will you receive him as your king and the Lord’s anointed, or will you reject him and put him to death?  Mankind as a whole is looking for some kind of superman who will have the wisdom and power to fix the problems of mankind.  This same desire morphs into the desire to build some kind of artificial intelligence that can take all the data of the world and somehow tells us how to fix all our problems.  In Jesus God has offered mankind the perfect king who has all wisdom and power.  He is the only one authorized by God to rule over all of mankind and creation.  All other attempts to put the whole world under one man or group of men are essentially rebellions against God’s man.  The judgment of Jesus was and will be righteous.  However, the passage that we are looking at today demonstrates the opposite of this.  The wicked judgments that lead to the crucifixion of Jesus are themselves proof of man’s inability to accomplish this pipe dream of building its own superman.  This is the all too common story of men abusing their power and the crowds of people who love to have it that way.

Jesus Is Mistreated

The treatment of those who are arrested has been historically one of “guilty until proven innocent.”  Many people have been beaten and abused long before any guilt had been established.  The presumption of innocence has been recognized as a noble principle that civilized societies will seek to uphold.  History has taught us that such noble aspirations are often tossed aside.  Thus we see the all too familiar story playing out with Jesus.  He has been questioned, but there has not been a trial.  Yet, we see those who held him beating him.  This rough treatment is allowed to happen because the leaders who are present believe Jesus deserves death.  They have a particular end in mind for him regardless of any legality.  When you put Matthew, Mark and Luke’s testimony side by side, you see that this has been a kind of “midnight trial” at the High Priest’s home.  The trial at dawn before the Sanhedrin becomes a kind of for form only trial.  They had rehearsed the points that had already been hammered out in the night.  Thus Jesus is arrested and put on the cross in a matter of hours.  Such rush to judgment and haste to execute is spoken against all throughout the Bible by God.

We also see that they enjoyed the mistreatment so much that they mocked him.  Most likely all manner of uncivil and course things were being said.  However, we are given an example.  Jesus was known as a healer and a teacher, but also as a prophet.  Thus they blindfold Jesus and take turns hitting him.  They then ask Jesus to figure out who hit him.  If he is a prophet surely he should be able to prophesy who hit him.  Such a wicked game is made only more so by the fact that Jesus was able to know exactly who hit him.  Yet, that was irrelevant to our Lord.  This is the attitude of our Lord.  While the whole world is ripping his flesh like ravenous wolves, he is silent doing the will of God and making their salvation possible.

It also says that they spoke blasphemously about him.  Thus they reproach him, rail against him, and say things about him that are blatantly untrue.  Basically they make him out to be a deceiver and a liar who has come to destroy the nation.   This is particularly sad because Jesus had come to save us from such a being, the devil.

Jesus Is Officially Condemned

Starting in verse 66 we see that the scene changes.  Having spent the night calling witnesses and seeking legal cause to execute Jesus, the leaders are ready to go public.  This public trial is where they will jump through the hoops so that they can say they did everything right.  The council here is the Great Sanhedrin, which was composed of 70 elders and presided over by the High Priest.  They were typically priests, scribes, and Pharisees.  As dawn breaks they move their grilling of Jesus to the official place for trials.  It is likely that there are some members of the Sanhedrin that were not at the High Priest’s home earlier (Nicodemus would be one such likely member).  However, a majority of the body are already in on the arrest and judgment of Jesus.  There is no question how this council will rule.

This trial seems to go pretty quick.  Thus they quickly put the question to him.  “If you are the Christ then tell us.”  Jesus points out that they are not interested in the truth of whether or not he is the messiah.  Jesus had dealt with these leaders over the last 3 years and had been grilled by them over and over again, especially over the last 5-6 hours.  They will not believe regardless of any proofs Jesus has given and could give at that moment.  Jesus also points out that if he were to question them they would simply not answer and refuse to let him go.  We see an example of this several days before in Luke 20:5-7.  They challenged Jesus on where he got the authority to teach in the temple compound.  Jesus told them that he would answer their question if they would answer one of his.  After they agreed, he asked them, “John’s baptism, was it from heaven or men.”  The leaders had reasoned out that if they answered heaven then Jesus would challenge why they didn’t believe him and be baptized by him.  Yet, if they answered from men, the people would stone them because the people believed John was a prophet.  Thus they answered, “We don’t know where it is from.”  Jesus had often shut down the attacks of these leaders and shown how flimsy their line of reason was in public.  He could clearly do so again.  He could remind them how unable they were to judge whether John was a true prophet and yet now they presume to know for sure that Jesus could not be the Messiah.  But none of this would help.

Thus Jesus repeats the two offending statements in front of the official governing body.  The first offending statement is a reference he makes to Daniel 7:13-14.  Now Luke records a brief statement made during the day trial.  However, Matthew and Mark record a longer statement made during the middle of the night trial at the home of the High Priest.  Jesus says, “You will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”  Compare this to the Daniel passage in which Daniel is shown the successive world empires.  They want to have the kingdom of the world, but it will be taken from them and given to a particular person.  Daniel 7:13-14, “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven!  He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.  Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.  Here we see two beings, the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man who would come on the clouds of heaven and receive an eternal kingdom.  The understanding of this passage is that the Ancient of Days is God the Father.  The mystery “Son of Man” is described with terms that give him divinity.  First he rides the clouds, which in the Old Testament is only spoken of by God.  Also, he receives an everlasting kingdom.  It is understood that the Jews did not have a concept of the trinity.  However, it is not often recognized that they had an understanding of Two Powers in heaven.  They believed that there was an invisible Yahweh and then a visible Yahweh.  This is often seen in the passages that refer to the Angel of the Lord.  When Jesus references this passage, he knows that they see the being as a divine character that is the visible representation of the invisible Yahweh.  Later this view would be declared heretical because it was too helpful to the teaching of Christians.  This was not something they would accept.  Jesus could not be this divine character from Daniel 7.  Thus they question him further, “Are you the Son of God.”  This phrase simply means divine just as Son of Man means human.

The second offending statement that Jesus makes is in response to their question.  Jesus admits that he is divine.  “You rightly say that I am.”  Our world is in great turmoil today.  The sea of mankind is being tossed to and fro by many winds.  Satan is preparing himself for his final assault upon mankind and the claim of kingship by Jesus.  There is no room for being on the fence or hiding in the shadows.  War is being unleashed in the heavens.  Which side are you on?  Do not take the side of violent men who abuse power in such a way as to execute an innocent man.  Do not participate in the violence of leaders, nor in the violence of fellow citizens who love to participate in social violence of any kind.  Jesus demonstrates to us the heart of God.  Though He has all power and authority, still He does not abuse that authority.  Yes, there is a judgment day coming to the earth, but it will be the righteous judgment of one who laid his life down for us all and not the wicked judgment of those who will kill anyone in order to keep their power and authority.  Choose this day whom you will serve.

Wicked Judgment audio