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Battle Creek Tabernacle SDA Church

Chris Holland

The High Priest, The Sanhedrin, and the Great High Priest

He gave himself the day he wore my crown.

He could have called the angels, But He chose to wear that crown, my crown.

The question facing us today as we approach the communion table is will we give him that crown or we will or will we continue to wear it ourself.

Father in heaven we have gathered here and now as we study your word, we pray that you would guide us into all truth, sanctify us by your truth, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Once again in the story of Jesus we find Jesus in a confrontation with the religious leaders.

This time however, frankly it is a far more difficult situation.

Jesus had been illegally arrested and now he was being tried in an illegal trial.

And in Mark chapter 14, I would invite you to open your Bibles to Mark chapter 14 verses 55 to 59 we see what the intentions of the Sanhedrin were really.

They had a premeditated outcome of this illegal trial.

Verse 55 of Mark chapter 14, Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but found none.

For many bore false witness against him, but their testimonies did not agree.

Then some rose up and bore false witness against him, saying, we heard him say, I will destroy this temple made with hands and within 3 days I will build another made without hands.

But not even then did their testimony agree.

They wanted to eliminate this troublemaker from their life.

This was not a trial as in the American justice system where you are innocent until proven guilty.

They knew he was guilty and they were going to stop at nothing to make sure he was found guilty.

Testimony after testimony was presented but all of it was false.

There was no agreement in the testimony against Jesus.

But I want you to take note in the story what Jesus did during all of it, he kept quiet.

Sometimes, some of us will face certain situations where the call of God is to be quiet.

There are those moments where we desire to vindicate our name, to vindicate our character.

But we must remember, God is our defense.

He is the only 1 that can vindicate his character and vindicate ours as well.

But in order for that to happen, We need to be silent.

And all the testimony that was brought against him was found to be false.

But then finally in what I imagine in my mind was a fit of frustration as all their best laid plans had failed, as all the false testimony was seen for what it really was.

And verse 60 of Mark chapter 14 says this, and the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, do you answer nothing?

What is it these men testify against you?

Again the high priest asked him, saying to him, are you the Christ, the son of the blessed?

I imagine in my own mind the frustration boiling over because the plans had been foiled.

They were not going to be able to kill this troublemaker who was drawing the crowds away from them.

And then when the high priest asked the ultimate question, are you the Christ?

It's interesting, in the life and ministry of Jesus, prior to this, Jesus was always very careful about making the claim to be the Christ.

In fact, when the disciples concluded that Jesus was the Christ, he instructed them to not tell anyone.

You see, for many Jews, including these religious leaders, The Messiah was to be a military figure who would triumphantly lead Israel against the armies of Rome.

He did not reveal his Messiahship to the crowds that he might help them understand what the Bible actually said about the Messiah.

The Bible verses that many of them looked to were those verses of the Old Testament that pointed to Jesus coming as a conquering king at his second coming.

But they did not want, They could not allow for those verses that speak of the Messiah as the suffering servant to be the ones that people look to.

And So Jesus was attempting to teach the crowds that before the Messiah comes as a conquering king, he must first endure the trials of a suffering servant.

Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?

In the record in Matthew and Luke, it says, are you the Christ, the Son of God?

It is interesting that Mark chose this phrase, son of the blessed.

It is in essence saying the same thing, but it is avoiding using the name of God.

Throughout Jesus' ministry, he had typically referred to himself as the Son of Man.

The title Son of Man designated him as the Incarnate 1.

It pointed out the miraculous nature of the creator and the creature being united in 1 person, fully God and fully man.

That's okay to not understand how it works.

The Bible says that Jesus was fully God and fully man.

Just because we do not understand it does not mean that we cannot accept it.

I do not understand why the lights come on.

All I know is I flip the switch and they come on.

I accept by faith when I flip that switch, the lights will come on.

If we approached the nature of Jesus, if we approached the nature of electricity, as we approach the nature of Jesus, if we approach the nature of electricity as we approach the nature of Jesus wanting to understand everything, then many of us would be sitting in the dark coming to the conclusion because I cannot understand how the light turns on, I will therefore not utilize it.

Jesus is fully God and fully man, the son of man.

The title demonstrated how God identified himself with humanity in order that humanity might be made over again into the image that he originally had created them.

It is the old adage Jesus was enough like us to save us but he's enough not like us to save us.

But now the high priest questioned Jesus about his nature as the anointed 1, the Messiah, the Christ, and the Son of God.

Those 2 designations, Christ and Son of God, placed Jesus far beyond the pale of a created being.

He was fully divine and is fully divine, the anointed 1.

And Jesus answered the high priest, because now was the time to answer.

There comes a moment in our lives where we must stand for truth, no matter what the consequence.

And Jesus' simple answer to that high priest was, I am.

Literally, in the Greek, Jesus said, I, I am.

It is the emphatic I am statement which conveys the idea that he is the self-existent 1.

The eternal 1 Jesus identified himself as self existent He was not created he was and is God.

And that answer alone would have convicted him at that trial.

It would have convicted him of the truth.

But then Jesus stated, and you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.

Jesus took the claim to be the self-existent 1, to be God Almighty, and took it 1 additional step that he was and is the future judge of the universe.

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The High Priest, The Sanhedrin, and the Great High Priest

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