Quick Note – Matthew 26:63-66 – Who Is Jesus?

Matthew 26:63-66 – 63 But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.”

There is a saying that goes, “You cannot believe that Jesus is good and not believe that He is God.  He must either be 1) good and God, 2) a lunatic, or 3) an evil person.”  You may ask why it is so black and white, but if you think about it carefully, the answer is apparent.  A person who claims to be God and is not, cannot be good.  He must either be delusional and believe something that is not true, making Him crazy.  Or He must be evil, intentionally looking to deceive others and make them worship Him.  So if you believe He is good, you must believe He is God. 

The Pharisees and chief priests in our passage chose to believe that He was crazy and evil.  In these verses, they asked Jesus if He was the Son of God.  And when Jesus said, “From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven,” the Pharisees knew He was reaffirming that He was.  Because they refused to believe that He was who He claimed to be – God, they tore their robes and appropriately condemned Him to death for blasphemy, because according to the law, this sin was worthy of death.  However, these jealous religious leaders were wrong! – Jesus is God.  And because of their wrong decision, they are looked upon as wicked men. 

However, we should ask ourselves whether we are worse than them.  Are we wavering between two opinions.  Are we trying to make Jesus good but not God?  Are we trying to say that He is a wonderful teacher but refuse to give our lives to Him?  If we are vacillating, then we are worse than the Pharisees.  At least, they were willing to commit to their decision to refuse God.  At least, they did what they thought was right based on their beliefs – however wrong.  Yes, they condemned Christ to death because of their jealousy, but they did act according to the law based on their false belief that Jesus isn’t the Christ. 

We must choose who Jesus is.  Is He truly the Son of God and Savior of the world, rightfully deserving your humility and your life?  Or is He an evil man, falsely claiming to be God?  Choose this day who Christ is to you.  Jesus is the Son of God.  He is the Son of Man.  He is the Savior of the world and your heart.  He died for you and rose again.  He is God.  But will you choose to make Him yours?