But He kept silent and did not offer any answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and said to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:61-62; all Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible).

When Jesus stood trial the night before His crucifixion, the high priest asked Jesus if He was the Christ—the Messiah—the Son of the Blessed One. Most religious Jews in that day would not say the name of God; they would often use a synonym, like “blessed One,” to avoid mispronouncing God’s name.

Jesus responded by paraphrasing Daniel 7:13, a messianic prophecy

“I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a son of man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him” (Daniel 7:13).

The Jews believed that somebody would eventually fulfill this prophecy. They just were not convinced it could be Jesus. A radical rabbi, raised in a carpenter’s family, would be the Messiah? They could not believe it.

Today, many people have a hard time accepting who Jesus is. A great moral teacher? Sure, they can handle that. A religious leader whose teachings we should follow? Yes, many people accept that.

The Son of God? Some believe that this is a good title for Jesus, but they might incorrectly think that He showed us that we are all children of God.

Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, without Whom nobody can come to the Father (John 14:6)? We like to think we can find God on our own.

Jesus was rejected primarily because He claimed to be somebody that many people had a hard time accepting. Who is He to you?

Who is Jesus to you? Is He your Savior, the Son of God? Or is He something less?

Copyright © 2023 Michael E. Lynch. All rights reserved.