This morning we are going to begin by reading a story from the Gospel of Mark.  In Mark 14 Jesus has been arrested.  Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane praying when Judas, leading a crowd of armed soldiers, seized Jesus and took him into Jerusalem to the house of the Jewish High Priest. 

 

^NLT Mark 14:53-60  Jesus was led to the high priest's home where the leading priests, other leaders, and teachers of religious law had gathered. Meanwhile, Peter followed far behind and then slipped inside the gates of the high priest's courtyard. For a while he sat with the guards, warming himself by the fire. Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council were trying to find witnesses who would testify against Jesus, so they could put him to death. But their efforts were in vain. Many false witnesses spoke against him, but they contradicted each other.  Finally, some men stood up to testify against him with this lie: "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this Temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another, made without human hands.'" But even then they didn't get their stories straight! Then the high priest stood up before the others and asked Jesus, "Well, aren't you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?"

 

"What do you have to say for yourself?"  That is the question we are going to consider this morning.  What did Jesus have to say about himself?  Some would have you believe he only said nice things.  Others would have you believe he only said teaching things.  Still others would have you believe He just didn't say much about himself, at all.  What does Jesus have to say about himself?

 

This morning I am going to begin a series within a series.  The theme for this year is, "A Reason for Hope."  We are doing apologetics.  We are learning why we believe what we believe.  Within this over-arching theme we are going to study  some sub-themes.  This morning I want to begin the sub-theme, "Ten Reasons Why I Believe in Jesus".  This morning we are going to consider Reason #5; "What did Jesus have to say for himself?" 

 

Let's continue in Mark 14 and see what Jesus had to say at his trial before the high priest.

 

^NLT Mark 14:61  Jesus made no reply. Then the high priest asked him, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the blessed God?"

 

The high priest cut to the chase.  The high priest was tired of fooling around with a bunch of idiot witnesses who couldn't even get their stories straight.  He turned straight to Jesus and straight up asked him, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the blessed God?"  Do you claim to be the one who is coming to deliver us from the Romans?  Are you the military leader who is supposed to be like Moses and free God's people?  Are you the Son of the blessed… the high priest didn't say God, as the NLT supplies, the high priest was unwilling to say the name of God, YHWH.  The high priest simply said, "Are you son of the blessed?" 

 

Be careful here.  The high priest did not really ask Jesus  if he was deity, like we believe.  He asked him if he was attempting to make himself king of the Jews.  In the OT the king of Israel is often called the son of God.   So, I think the priest asked Jesus are you going to be this mighty military leader who is going to lead a rebellion against the Romans and set yourself up as our King.  That was reason enough to turn him over to the Romans for death.  "Are you the Messiah the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus, who had been silent through all the silliness so far, decided it was time to answer the priest.  His answer is more than controversial, it forces everyone who hears it to pay a nickel and make a choice. 

 

The Christian religion stands or falls with the person of Jesus.  Christianity is different from most religions.  Christianity is not based upon a set of laws or some religious philosophy or any kind of inward contemplation.  Christianity is all about a person; a specific historical individual who made a claim about who he was.  The Christian religion is all about Jesus.  So, what did Jesus have to say for himself?  The high priest asked, "Are you the Messiah the Son of the Blessed?"

 

^NLT Mark 14:62 Jesus said, "I am, and you will see me, the Son of Man, sitting at God's right hand in the place of power and coming back on the clouds of heaven."

 

Here, in one bold statement, Jesus affirms that he is the Messiah; he is the Son of God and he is coming back in power! 

Let's break this statement down.

- First there is the "I AM" " VEgw, eivmi" "I AM THAT I AM."  Sound familiar?  Kind of like the burning bush when Moses asked God for his name.  The high priest wouldn't even use God's name and Jesus claimed it for himself!

-He compounds his crime before the high priest by not only  "VEgw, evgw, "  Jesus 'fesses up to being the Messiah, Yes I am the one who is going to come in power and in deliverance! 

- Then he continues to make bad matters worse by claiming to be the apocalyptic Son of Man from Daniel 7.  Daniel sees into the future and predicts…

 

Daniel 7:13-14 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."

 

Jesus claims to be the one who is the fulfillment of Daniel; the one who comes from the presence of the Ancient of Days and is given power and kingdom!  Jesus claims to be more than just Messiah.  He claims to be God and the one who is coming again, someday, to judge the world!

 

Jesus, what do you have to say for yourself?  I Am.  I Am the Messiah, I am the Son of Man.  I am the one who sits at the right hand of God in my place of Power! 

 

This incredible statement presents us with a dilemma. It forces us to pay our nickel.  Was Jesus lying or not?  Either he is who he said he is or he was lying; a dilemma.

 

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^NLT Mark 14:63-64  Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, "Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?" And they all condemned him to death.

 

The high priest, facing the same dilemma picked lying.  Jesus could not be who he claimed to be so he must be lying.

 

But why would Jesus lie?  Jesus knew the results of such a lie; they would crucify him.  Why lie, if the lie brought immediate death; immediate, cruel death.  It seems unlikely, to me that he had any sane reason to lie.  The very words themselves are too amazing to be just a lie.  Perhaps there is another choice. 

 

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^NLT Mark 14:65  Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and hit his face with their fists. "Who hit you that time, you prophet?" they jeered. And even the guards were hitting him as they led him away.

 

I'm sure these cruel soldiers didn't think much about the theological dilemma in which they were involved.  But, it seems they choose a different option; perhaps there is a trilemma here.  Maybe Jesus wasn't who he claimed to be or wasn't a liar; perhaps he was crazy.  The soldiers treated him like he was insane.  They jeered him.  They mocked him.  They didn't take him seriously.  Was Jesus insane?  He said he was God, but he was another crazy Jewish prophet? 

 

But does Jesus sound crazy?  He kept his silence through the ridiculous proceedings.   He didn't blabber like an idiot.  The high priest took him seriously.  His statement sounds amazingly credible.  In all that I read about this Jesus, insanity…  would be my last pick.  I think people can tell if there is a screw or two loose.  That doesn't seem to be the case.

 

Perhaps there is another choice.  Perhaps, we are not facing a dilemma; Jesus was a liar or who he said he was, or a trilemma; liar, crazy or who he said he as;  but rather a quadralemma.  There is a fourth choice.

 

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Some would have you belief Jesus didn't really say any of the words Mark said he said.  Some have made the choice that these words of Jesus were made up after his death.  That Mark, Matthew, Luke, John, and Paul all just embellished what really happened.  They created this legend from a simple good guy.  That all these statements really weren't said by Jesus; it is all a fiction created by the church years after Jesus had died.  All this was some sort of elaborate hoax.   A fourth place to put down your nickel.

 

But does that seem likely?  We are really back to a dilemma.  Mark was a liar.  Mark sat down to write about Jesus and just lied through his teeth and then died for those lies.  Does the book of Mark sound like a lie?  Why would he?  If Mark is writing down Peter's words, as I think he was, just before Peter was crucified upside down for his faith in Jesus, why would he lie? 

 

Well, maybe it is the trilemma.  Mark was insane.  This is hard to believe - for the same reasons Mark doesn't seem to be a liar.  The point of his book is that he is telling them to have faith to the point of death.  Mark's words don't seem like non-sense.  They seem amazingly sane; amazingly real; amazingly convicting. 

 

How does one explain that within 20 years of Jesus' death, the early church begins to make these claims that Jesus was God incarnate?  All the early Christians shared the conviction that salvation was the work of Jesus who was Lord of heaven and earth and he was The I AM.  If Jesus never made those claims, if he was simply a good guy, why would they believe this or record this? 

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It seems we have to choose one of the following four options because of Mark 14:62…

 

^NLT Mark 14:62 Jesus said, "I am, and you will see me, the Son of Man, sitting at God's right hand in the place of power and coming back on the clouds of heaven."

 

Where do we place our nickel?

- Jesus was a liar; he knew he wasn't, but he said he was.

- Jesus was a lunatic; he thought he was, but he wasn't.

- Jesus was a legend: the early church within 20 years of his death made this miraculous figure all up.

- Jesus is Lord and who he said he was.

 

It seems to me you have to pay a nickel and make a choice.  The option of simply ignoring the whole thing doesn't sound like a good idea to me.  Where is your nickel?

 

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In our sub-series of "Ten Reasons Why I Believe in Jesus"  this is reason #5.  It is the 5th reason because of how we are remembering them.  Body List…  See if the teens remember what we have been working on.  Show body of Jesus - go through parts - Reason #5 - Liar, Lunatic, Legend or Lord. 

 

After his trial before the high priest, Jesus was sent to Pilate.  Pilate gave into the will of the people and sentenced Jesus to death by crucifixion.  As Jesus died a Roman officer faced the same dilemma we do… who is Jesus?

 

Mark 15:29-39 And the people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. "Ha! Look at you now!" they yelled at him. "You can destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, can you?  Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!" The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. "He saved others," they scoffed, "but he can't save himself!  Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!" Even the two criminals who were being crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.  At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o'clock.  Then, at that time Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a stick so he could drink. "Leave him alone. Let's see whether Elijah will come and take him down!" he said.  Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, "Truly, this was the Son of God!"

 

Los Alamos Church of Christ

February 7, 2010