Are You the Christ? - Luke 22:67

Luke the beloved physician wrote how, “the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him. And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote you? And many other things blasphemously spoke they against him. And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying, ...”, and in chapter twenty-two and verse sixty-seven of his book Luke shared how the religious leaders ask Jesus, “are you the Christ?” where we read:

Are you the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, you will not believe:

The verse reads, “Are you the Christ? tell us.” Luke began with the words, “are you the Christ” or “do you, Jesus, exist as the Messiah and anointed One of God”? “tell us” which means “speak, answer and say to us, the Sanhedrin”. Luke shared how the religious leaders in the “Sanhedrin” asked Jesus directly whether He was the “Messiah” of God.

The verse continues, “And he said unto them, If I tell you, you will not believe:” Luke added the words, “and he said unto them” which means “and Jesus uttered, declared and proclaimed to the members of the religious leaders or Sanhedrin”, “If I tell you” which means “whether I, Jesus, speak, say and answer you, religious leaders”, “you will not believe” or “you, religious leaders, shall in no way be persuaded, commit to and put trust in what Jesus says”. Luke shared how Jesus told the “religious leaders” they would not “trust in or be persuaded” even after He answered their question.

When we meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we learn what the religious leaders of the “Sanhedrin” asked Jesus as He stood before them. They demanded that He tell them whether or not He was God's Messiah. Jesus responded by telling them they would not “believe” in Him regardless of how He answered. Jesus knows everything about everyone, and there is nothing hidden from Him. Those who carefully consider the religious leaders' question and Jesus' answer will find Jesus is God's Christ and Messiah, and respond by yielding their lives to Him.

Next time Luke shares how Jesus says, “if I also ask you, you will not answer me”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".