Matthew 26:61-63

Matthew 26:61-63

… they said, “This one was saying, ‘I am powerful enough to destroy the temple of God and through three days to build.’”  And after standing up, the chief priest said to Him, “Do you answer nothing about that which these ones witness against you?”  And Jesus was silent.  And the chief priest said to Him, “I demand an oath of you according to the God who lives in order that you should speak if you are the Christ the Son of God.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The chief priest and the elders simply don’t understand Jesus’ claim.  They hear the witness against Jesus regarding the temple and they assume Jesus means the actual temple built out of stone.  They don’t understand that Jesus means something different.  But before we mock them, allow me to make sure we are humble.  Jesus’ disciples didn’t get it either.  If I were living in those days and not have the benefit of knowing the whole story, I readily confess that I wouldn’t have understood, either.  It is easy to mock these people for not understanding Jesus, but the reality is that I surely would have been just as clueless as they were.  Ultimately, what separates us from the religious elite of Jesus’ day is not our understanding.  We are no smarter than they are.  In fact, I’m willing to bet they were smarter than I was.  What separates us is humbleness.  Jesus’ disciples were willing to ask Jesus to explain what He meant before jumping to a conclusion.  The religious elite of Jesus’ day were all about jumping to a conclusion about what Jesus meant.  That’s the difference.  We need to be a people who are humble and listen, not a people who hear words and impress our own meaning into the words of others.

How good are you at listening?  Do you give people a chance to explain what they mean or do you assume you know what they mean and look for an opportunity to assert your own words into a conversation?

Second Thought:

Jesus was silent.  These words only make sense after we value the first thought for today.  In almost every circumstance up until this point in the story, Jesus explained Himself.  But now Jesus is silent.  He isn’t silent because He doesn’t want to speak truth into the religious elite.  He is silent because He knows that it won’t matter.  They aren’t willing to listen.  If they aren’t willing to listen, then why speak?

How often do you speak futile words?  What is the motivation for speaking when the other person isn’t willing to listen?  Why are our motives to speak when others aren’t willing to listen often rooted in human sinfulness and not godliness?

Third Thought:

The last verse contains an incredibly arrogant statement.  The chief priest adjures Christ.  In the Greek, the word exorkidzo (ἐξορκίζω) means “to command someone to be under an oath.”   There are two issues with this.  First of all, the chief priest is commanding God to take an oath.  As if God needs to take an oath!  As if we can demand anything of God!  However, the chief priest should have also known better.  Jews in court were bound by the very 10 Commandments to not give false testimony – especially in court.  By demanding an oath of Jesus, the chief priest is asserting his bias.  The chief priest believes that Jesus is willing to lie and deceive; this is why people demand oaths of one another.  If you trust someone or if you genuinely believe them to be reliable, you do not demand an oath of them.  In asserting that Jesus take an oath, the chief priest is also asserting that this is not a fair trial and that he is already biased against Jesus’ testimony.

Against whom are you biased?  Is your bias legitimate or are you in error?  Do oaths have a place in community?  If so, where?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 26:64-68