Jesus’s Claims
John 18:19–24
The high priest then questioned Jesus. John 18:19

The Jewish trial exposes the true nature of the hearts of men and women. Jesus was not condemned under a primitive, barbaric, or even inadequate judicial system, but under the best. He, the righteous One—the One who on one occasion demanded which of his enemies was able to convict him of sin and left them speechless—was condemned to death by the most merciful and careful system of judicial processes known to our race. If we ask, as we must, “But how could that happen? How could the very Son of God be condemned?” the answer is simply that the problem, then as now, is not so much in the system itself as it is in the hearts of those who interpret and implement the system and its codes. The human heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately sick,” as Jeremiah once wrote (Jer. 17:9). It is this that circumvents the law or (as in this case) actually uses the law to destroy the innocent. Understand that the roots of even the most heinous crimes ever perpetrated in the history of the world are within us and that, being placed in a situation similar to that of others who did these things, we have nothing within to hinder us from doing likewise.

The trial of Jesus also reminds us of his claims and promises. True, Jesus was condemned illegally. But still, the issues themselves were the right issues, and the claims for which he was convicted were real claims. He had made three of them. He had claimed to be God. He had claimed that he would rise from the dead after three days. He had claimed that he would return again in judgment. Are these claims true? The resurrection was true. If it was true, Jesus was also obviously who he claimed to be, for God would not have vindicated his claim to be the unique Son of God if this were blasphemy. Indeed, the final judgment is proved by the resurrection. For as Paul said to the Greeks in Athens, “[God] has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

So the question is not whether the claims of Jesus of Nazareth are true but rather how we ourselves will respond to them and therefore also how we will greet him when he comes. Will we greet him as those who, like the rulers of his day, attempted to banish his presence from their lives? Or will we greet him as those for whom he died and who trust him as the only wise God and our Savior?

Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865

Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.