The religious and political upper crust of first century Jewish society thought that they were finally getting just what they’d been wanting for ages.  Money had changed hands.  A secret arrest had been made.  The man at the top of Jerusalem’s ‘most wanted’ list could not rightly be called public enemy number one, because he wasn’t an enemy of the public—just a threat to the power structure.  But he had been hauled in and now stood bound before them.  After the skullduggery it had taken to put him there, the next step should be child’s play.

The immediate task was to invent some pretext for convicting him of a capital crime. From there, things would get trickier—maneuvering and manipulating the Roman governor into executing him.  It was a risky gambit, but manageable.  The stakes were too high to even think of failure. The prisoner was Jesus Christ.

The opportunity to get him had come about so suddenly, and the need to wrap things up before the crowds became aware was so urgent, that the authorities didn’t really have their act together.   The illegal nighttime trial in kangaroo court was not going well.  From the Gospel of Mark, chapter 14:

“⁵⁵ And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none. ⁵⁶ For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.”  Uh-oh…

“⁵⁷ And there arose certain [perjurers], and bare false witness against him, saying, ⁵⁸ We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.”  At last—salvation!

“⁵⁹ But neither so did their witness agree together.”  Two liars had finally settled on a story, but the details didn’t match up.  Oops…  The authorities were getting nowhere and time was running out.  The situation was bleak and the desperation was palpable.  What to do?  ‘I know—let’s see if we can coax him into doing something stupid, like incriminating himself!’ 

“⁶⁰ And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? ⁶¹ But he held his peace, and answered nothing.”  Drat the luck! Jesus may have been inconvenient, but he was nobody’s fool.

“Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”  [Matthew’s account makes clear that Caiaphas, the High Priest pretending to question Jesus honestly, did not simply repeat the inquiry which Jesus had ignored.  Caiaphas used his position and authority to place Jesus under oath and compel him to testify against himself: “…I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the son of God.” (Matthew 26:63)

Commanded to be forthcoming and to tell the truth, the accused did: “⁶² And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”  Jesus had accommodated his enemies, knowing full well the impact it would have on the court and the consequences for himself.  [Ironic that the success of the fraudulent trial was dependent on Jesus’ integrity.]

Jesus not only admitted who he was, he did it with a flourish.  First, he replied, “I am”—not an accident or a casual reference, but deliberately identifying himself with the Almighty in a way that his hearers could not possibly mistake:

“¹³ And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

¹⁴ And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.¹⁵ And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations”  (Exodus 3:13-15).

Secondly, Jesus applied to himself a specific prophecy penned by the great Hebrew prophet Daniel, six centuries before:

“¹³ I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. ¹⁴ And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).  [The “Ancient of days” is God the Father.  The “Son of man” is Jesus.  This is the first instance of the term in scripture.  Jesus used it often in reference to himself.]

In invoking the prophecy of his own coronation as king, Jesus was saying that the plot against him, the plot to reject his rule, would ultimately fail, and fail spectacularly.  It was not a taunt, but a solemn warning.  What happened next was entirely predictable:

“⁶³ Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?  ⁶⁴ Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of [the false charge of blasphemy and therefore, deserving of] death.”

The high priest and the council were past hearing, past heeding, and by their own choice, past hope.  They were positively giddy at the thought of being rid of this Christ, once and for all.  It would be once, but not for all (time).  Jesus would have the last laugh, beginning with his resurrection from the dead just a few days later.  Ultimately, he would rule over all creation.

Astoundingly, Jesus will share his glorious eternal kingdom with many of the very people for whose sins he suffered and died.  All those who repent of their sins, accept God’s gift of pardon and confess Jesus as Lord will be saved and will inherit and inhabit that kingdom.  The promise is given three times in Daniel chapter 7:

“¹⁸ But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.”

“²² Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.”

“²⁷ And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”

Now that you know the truth, what are you going to do about it?  Do you proudly stand with the Devil and his demons, and with the wicked of this world?  Are you on the side of evil?  Is it your fondest wish to be rid of Jesus Christ, so that you may live out your brief span of days as you please?  Are you for Christ and with Christ or have you substituted someone or something else for Jesus on the throne of your heart?  Do you deny his reality, oppose his person and reject his claims on your life? There’s a word for that: antichrist.  Is this you? Is this who you are?

Or do you want to take the other branch of this fork in the road, humble yourself, admit you’re a sinner, accept the pardon Jesus died to purchase for you with his own blood, place your faith in him and trust in his mercy?  Would you like to possess Christ’s kingdom and live there forever, exploring its wonders and experiencing its joys among his loyal saints? There’s a word for that, too: WELCOME.

HOW TO BE SAVED:

• Admit to God that you are a sinner (that you have not kept His moral law to perfection; in your thoughts, words and actions you have done what His law forbids and have failed to do what His love demands).  This is seeing yourself from God’s point of view and agreeing that He is right about you. Be as specific as you can.
• Believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead.
• Sincerely repent (turn away) from your sins, asking God to forgive you and to use His power to help you resist temptation, no matter how strong the pull of sin may be, at first.
• Acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of your life.  Invite Him to move into your heart and take up residence there, so that He can change you from the inside out.
• Trust His promise to save you and give you a new spiritual birth and a new nature (thoughts, desires, priorities, hopes, dreams and character).

SOME KEY TRUTHS:

• “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23)
• “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10)
• “For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23)
• “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16)
• “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)
• “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”  (I Corinthians 15:3,4)
• “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
• “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him…”  (Revelation 3:20)
• “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  (Romans 10:13)
• “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”  (Romans 10:9)
• “Verily, verily, I say unto you; He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life; and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”  (John 5:24)
• “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name.”  (John 20:31) 
• “These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  (I John 5:13)