Daily Devotions
Luke
Luke 22:63-65; Matthew 26:57-67 "INVOKING THE NAME OF GOD"
Day 308 – Luke 22
Text: Luke 22:63-65; Matthew 26:57-67
INVOKING THE NAME OF GOD
The High Priest must have wracked his brains to figure out how he could force Jesus to speak. He had tried a number of ways, but they had all failed.
1. He had tried to get false witnesses to speak against Jesus. They had accused Him of a number of things, including distorting what He actually said concerning the destruction of the Temple and raising it in three days. However, that did not faze Jesus and He did not respond.
2. He had allowed his men to physically abuse Jesus. That surely would have forced Jesus to reply, but again that failed. Jesus continued to keep silent. He had learned His lessons well. His heart was steadfast. He was undaunted. He would trust His Father even if He were ill-treated.
3. There seemed to be only one other way to make Jesus speak up. The High Priest invoked the Holy Name of God. Surely, Jesus would have to reply then!
“And the High Priest answered and said to Him,
‘I put you under oath by the living God;
Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”
Matthew 26:63
The high priest had figured right. He would ask Jesus a question that MUST have a response! To remain silent when the Name of God has been invoked, and when the identity of the Christ could be obscured by silence, would not do. Quietly, Jesus replied.
THE ROLE OF THE HIGH PRIEST IN THE LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOD
Caiaphas was the high priest of Israel and what a high priest he turned out to be! He contravened just about every known law concerning the ministry of the high priest written in the Scriptures.
The Book of Leviticus was especially written to guide the Levites and the Priests in their function as servants of God. The book of Numbers and Deuteronomy also made mention of the function of the Priests in the nation of Israel.
Leviticus 8 described a special consecration service performed by Moses, where the Tabernacle, the Altar, Aaron and his sons were consecrated as priests of God. We read,
“Also Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed
the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them.
He sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times,
Anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the laver and its base,
To consecrate them.
And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and
Anointed him, to consecrate him.
Then Moses took some of the anointing oil
And some of the blood which was on the altar,
And sprinkled it on Aaron, his garments,
On his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him…”
Leviticus 8:10-12, 30
The office of the priests was so sacred that the consecration service took seven days to fulfil (Leviticus 8:33). The high priestly office was so sacred that when Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu carelessly offered worship, they were slain by God. The principle of holiness was emphasized indelibly on the hearts of all that day.
“By those who come near Me,
I must be regarded as holy.
And before all the people
I must be glorified.”
Leviticus 10:3
Caiaphas was anything but holy. He abused his rights. He allowed Jesus to be physically abused. He now invoked the Name of God in the midst of gross legal misconduct, and sought to force Jesus to implicate Himself. Was Jesus indeed the Christ? Was He then the Son of God?
THE DEEP ESCHATOLOGICAL REPLY OF JESUS
The answer to the question of Caiaphas could have been easily answered if he was really serious about it. He could have ordered a search concerning the life of Christ, His teachings, His miracles etc. He could have studied all the data against the Scriptures that prophesied the Coming of the Messiah.
Jesus knew that it was useless to prolong the evening’s charade of the Jewish legal system. Did Caiaphas want to know who He really was? Then He would give him a reply taken from the Scriptures.
“Jesus said to him, ‘It is as you said,
Nevertheless, I say to you,
hereafter you will see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of the Power,
and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ “
Matthew 26:64
Let us take time to delineate what Jesus said and meant when He replied as He did.
1. “It is as you said…”
Jesus did not deny what the high priest said. His reply was literally, “You have said it.” However, Jesus did not want to elaborate further. To speak on the subject of the Messiah, and His identify as The Son of God, when He was being physically abused and illegally interrogated was unthinkable!
2. “You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power…”
Jesus did not want to use the words of the high priest at all. Instead, He chose His favourite designation of Himself. He used the eschatological title, “Son of Man” to refer to Himself.
The “right hand of power” was a phrase used in Psalm 110. Let’s take a look at this Messianic Psalm.
“The LORD said to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’ “
Psalm 110:1
In this psalm of David, he recognized two “lords”. The first reference was clear. The NKJV text identifies this Person as “The LORD” the Covenant God of Israel.
The second reference could not refer to David himself. Neither could it refer to any of the other kings of Israel. The only possible reference would be the Messianic-Davidic King of Israel. Jesus applied this text to Himself.
Jesus went on to quote from Daniel. Let us take a look at what Daniel wrote,
“I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, one like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven…”
Daniel 7:13
If the high priest knew his Scriptures, then he would have known what Jesus implied. He was the Messiah. He was David’s greater Son. He was also the eschatological Son of Man.
THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS ANGER OF THE HIGH PRIEST
What an actor the high priest could have been! As he heard the words of Jesus, he tore his clothes as a sign of anger and grief that he had heard blasphemous words!
“Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying.
‘He has spoken blasphemy! What further need
do we have of witnesses?
Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!
What do you think?’ “
Matthew 26:65-66
According to an ancient Levitical law, the high priest was not to tear his clothes (Leviticus 10:6). Yet, here was Caiaphas, the high priest suddenly so righteous that he was deeply grieved by the so-called blasphemy of Jesus!
He had not proven that the words of Jesus were blasphemous! He had merely concluded that Jesus spoke blasphemy. But this had been his goal all the time. He wanted to make Jesus implicate Himself by declaring that He was the Messiah!
To the question of Caiaphas, the expected reply from his cronies, the members of the Sanhedrin council came without hesitation.
“He is deserving of death.”
Matthew 26:66
As far as Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin Council were concerned, they had Jesus where they wanted Him. They could now charge and convict Him for blasphemy!