THE TRUTH

Standing before the Sanhedrin,
Jesus knew the Jewish supreme court was convened for one purpose,
to find cause to put Him to death.
They sought testimony from witnesses
and found that their testimonies did not agree.
(Jewish law held that if the testimony of witnesses did not agree, the charges were invalid.
...”but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty.” Numbers 35:30b)
Jesus was silent. He had no cause to speak.
He was listening and waiting for His Father's direction.
And that time came, when the High Priest asked:
“Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”
“I am,” replied Jesus.
“And you will see the Son of Man
sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One
and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
(Mark 14:62)
Jesus spoke truth and, thus, supplied the testimony they sought,
that which they would use to think Him deserving of death.
Blasphemy was the charge.
They had already determined in their hearts
that He was not the Messiah
so Jesus' claim that He was, indeed, the Messiah
provided them with “proof” of blasphemy.

Yes, Jesus spoke truth.
But ruth did not bring His release.
It “incriminated” Him before the Sanhedrin
and he was judged deserving of death.
Jesus knew the high priests, elders, and teachers of the law
did not acknowledge His identity as the Son of God
though angels had proclaimed it,
and others accepted it.
Jesus knew they were seeing what they wanted to see,
but He told them that they would someday see
and know the truth of who He is -
when He comes to claim those who are His!

To ponder:
When truth goes against what others choose to believe,
it can sometimes lead to “death encounters.”
The truth that Jesus spoke earned Him a sentence of death,
but it would give us the opportunity to embrace
the release from our sin-bought captivity
that His death provided.

Twila Charles Leichty – L27

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The chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said,
“He saved others; Himself He cannot save.”
Mark 15:31

Jesus was on a search and rescue mission during His ministry on earth.
He wanted to save as many people as He could from the destructive force of sin.
He did what He could.
He touched those with leprosy, those shoved out of the larger community,
confined to live only among others with their same condition and healed them,
allowing them to return and live among family and friends once more.
He brought sight to blinded eyes,
and people saw what had previously been unknown to them.
He opened the ears of the deaf
so that they could discern the truth that he taught.
He made the lame to walk again and breathed into the dead the breath of life.

He did not come to save Himself.
He came to save any and all who recognized their need for a Savior.

He walked and talked with people, making Himself accessible to mankind.
He was God's Word, incarnate, Truth.
He challenged the thinking and practices of man,
showing the limits of human reasoning and revealing heart motives.
He answered questions, both those that were verbalized
and those that had not yet found words.
Those who sincerely wanted to be found and rescued,
who recognized that He could do for them
what they could not do for themselves,
accessed His saving power!

To ponder:
Sometimes God doesn't do something we think He should do.
Concluding that God cannot do something because He does not do it
is but evidence that we don't see or know the whole story!

Twila Charles Leichty - L28