Jesus the Messiah, Son of God, and King of the Jews

⁶⁰ Then the high priest stood up before the others (Jewish scribes, religious elders, Sadducees, and Pharisees) and asked Jesus, “Well, are You not going to answer these charges? What do You have to say for Yourself?” ⁶¹ But Jesus was silent and made no reply. Then the high priest asked Him, “Are You the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” ⁶² Jesus said, “I AM. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.” ⁶³ Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Why do we need other witnesses? ⁶⁴ You have all heard His blasphemy. What is your verdict?” “Guilty!” they all cried. “He deserves to die!” ⁶⁵ Then some of them began to spit at Him, and they blindfolded Him and beat Him with their fists. “Prophesy to us,” they jeered. And the guards slapped Him as they took Him away. . . . ¹ Very early in the morning the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law—the entire high council—met to discuss their next step. They bound Jesus, led Him away, and took Him to Pilate, the Roman governor. ² Pilate asked Jesus, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “You have said it.” ³ Then the leading priests kept accusing Him of many crimes, ⁴ and Pilate asked Him, “Are You not going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?” ⁵ But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate’s surprise. Mark 14:60-65, Mark 15:1-5 (NLT)

After Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas Iscariot came to the Garden with a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs to arrest Jesus, and Judas identified Jesus with a kiss (Mark 14:42-43; see also Matthew 26:47-49; Luke 22:47-48; John 18:2-3). Jesus’ arrest occurred Thursday night. After His arrest, Jesus went through two trials – Jewish trial and Roman trial. Jesus’ Jewish trial occurred before the Sanhedrin and then Jesus’ Roman trial occurred before Pontius Pilate. During His trials, the Jewish and Roman authorities asked Jesus two important questions: “Are You the Messiah (Christ), Son of God?” and “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus affirmatively answered “Yes” and openly declared His divine identity as the Messiah (Christ), Son of the living God, and King of the Jews (Mark 14:61-62; Mark 15:2; see also Matthew 2:2; Matthew 26:63-64; Matthew 27:11; Mark 15: 12, 39; Luke 22:67-70; Luke 23:2-3; John 4:25-26; John 18:33-39).

In the Jewish trial, Jesus was first taken before the Jewish high council – the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin consisted of Jewish scribes, religious elders, Sadducees, and Pharisees. Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin was a mockery and dishonest. The testimony of the witnesses against Jesus was unreliable. In order to convict Jesus, the Jewish establishment tried to get Jesus to convict Himself by openly declaring that He was the Christ (Messiah). Jesus affirmed to the Sanhedrin that He was indeed the Messiah and the Son of God (Mark 14:61-62). The Sanhedrin considered Jesus’ self-declaration as the Messiah and the Son of God blasphemy under Jewish law, and He was condemned to death (Mark 14:64). However, the Sanhedrin had limited power from the Roman government. Thus to condemn Jesus to death, the Sanhedrin had to take Jesus before the Roman authorities to carry out the death sentence. Even more, the Jewish religious establishment was afraid of the people because Jesus was very popular amongst the common people (e.g. see Matthew 4:23-25; Matthew 14:1; Mark 3:7-8; Luke 4:14; Luke 6:17-19). Thus, the Jewish religious establishment needed to blame Jesus’ death on the Rome.

At Mark 15, the Jewish religious establishment took Jesus before Pontus Pilate of Roman and requested Jesus’ death sentence. However, Pontus Pilate knew Jesus had done nothing, and His execution was unjust, not guilty, and no harm to Rome. However, the Sanhedrin threatened to expose Pontus Pilate to Caesar. In the end, Pontus Pilate yielded to the Sanhedrin’s request and sentenced Jesus to death by crucifixion (Mark 15:12-15; see also Matthew 27:19-25; Luke 23:4, 13-25; John 18:38; John 19:4-16).

³³ At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. ³⁴ Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me?” ³⁵ Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought He was calling for the prophet Elijah. ³⁶ One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to Him on a reed stick so He could drink. “Wait!” He said. “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take Him down!” ³⁷ Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed His last. ³⁸ And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. ³⁹ When the Roman officer who stood facing Him saw how He had died, He exclaimed, “This Man truly was the Son of God!” Mark 15:33-39 (NLT)

Following Jesus’ death and the events surrounding His death, a Roman officer recognized Jesus’ divine nature at the foot of Calvary’s Cross and said, “This Man truly was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39; see also Mark 1:1, Mark 11; Mark 3:11; Mark 5:7; Mark 9:7; Mark 14:61-62; Matthew 16:16; Matthew 17:5; Matthew 27:54; Luke 23:47). This Roman officer had witnessed many crucifixions, and he knew Jesus’ death was different from the others. First, there was an earthquake (Matthew 27:51, 54). Then at noon on Friday, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock (Mark 15:33; see also Matthew 27:45; Luke 23:44). Finally, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom (Mark 15:38; see also Matthew 27:51; Luke 23:45). The veil had separated humanity from the living God, but now, through Jesus’ death, Jesus opened for the whole world a “new and living way” to God (Hebrews 10:12-22; also see John 14:6).

The religious establishment may have congratulated themselves on killing Jesus – except for what happened on Easter Sunday – THE RESURRECTION! Jesus’ death and resurrection affirmed that He was indeed the Messiah and the Son of the living God (Romans 1:4; see also Acts 14-40; Acts 4:33).

References

The New Student Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992).

The Holy Bible NIV 2011 (Grand Rapids, MI: Biblica, 2011).

Loyd, Melton, Ph.D., Professor of New Testament (Due West, SC: Erskine Theological Seminary, 2015).