This is an exposition of Luke 22:66-71. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, January 7, 2018.
Intro:
It’s inconceivable to me. How could that happen? The Lord of glory spit upon, mocked and ridiculed? The creator, the Sovereign of the universe the prisoner of puny, wicked, petty tyrants? He spent his days doing good. He healed the sick. He bound the wounds of the broken hearted. He gave hope to the hopeless. And this is his reward? This is how it ends? Abandoned by his followers, the prisoner of his enemies. Everything in me wants to scream, “No, it isn’t right!”
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But it was right. Look at him. Look closely at the Lord Jesus. He is not crying out in protest. He is not resisting. In humility and grace he is enduring. Things are not as they seem. On the surface it appears that corrupt religious officials in Jerusalem have won the upper hand. It appears that they have orchestrated a diabolical plan that has, at last, brought an end to this trouble-making rabbi from Galilee. But in reality they are merely players in a much larger drama. A drama that began in eternity past. God’s eternal plan of redemption was about to reach its climax. But just before it does there is another revelation.
Text: Luke 22:66-71
It was quite a week.
Herbert Lockyer refers to it as “the week that changed the world.”
It was a week of revelations.
It began on that Sunday as our Lord entered the city in dramatic fashion.
There was no mistaking his message – “I am the Messiah.”
His wisdom was revealed in his dealings with his accusers, the religious establishment.
His authority was reflected in his pronouncement of judgement on the Temple and the city of Jerusalem, “Not one stone will be left on another.”
His love and grace was revealed in his tenderness toward his disciples.
His obedience – “Father not my will but thy will be done.”
Following the supper in the upper room Jesus and his disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane. There our Lord spent those final moments in prayer before the Father agonizing over what was to come. Then came the arrest, the mocking, and the ridicule.
Our text picks up with what happened early Friday morning.
I want you to picture this scene.
Here we find the high court of the Jews.
The Sanhedrin – the Supreme Court dressed in their finest.
70 of them along with the Chief Priest.
According to Jewish law the procedures of the Sanhedrin were design for mercy.
All charges must be supported by the evidence of 2 witnesses independently examined.
Volumes have been written detailing the legal failures of this so-called “trial.”
This was nothing more than a Kangaroo Court.
They began with a verdict and sought any excuse to justify it.
But there is something I want you to see in all of this.
Thesis: Our Lord’s confrontation with the Sanhedrin undeniably reveals that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
What is the purpose of Luke’s Gospel? To give his friend, Theophilus, an understanding of who Jesus is and what he has accomplished. This revelation is at the heart of that purpose.
So we find the full council gathered in an official capacity dressed in their finest.
In this exchange, Jesus is asked two questions.
Each of the questions is put to him in legal language, in essence putting him under oath.
Now these questions are extremely important.
Your answers to them will reveal your attitude toward the Christian faith.
Question 1 – “Are you the Christ?”
Question 2 – “Are you the Son of God?”
So What?
What is the significance of that – what difference does it make?
Give us something practical, something we can use.
Matthew 16:13-18 - Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? 14 And they said, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. 15 He said to them, But who do you say that I am? 16 Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
This is the confession of the Christian church.
This is the essence, the heart and soul of the Gospel.
Your understanding and response to these important questions determine your eternal destiny.
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