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Luke 22:67-71  “If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.”  Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer.  But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”  They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?”  He replied, “You say that I am.”  Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony?  We have heard it from his own lips.”

Early every Thursday morning, as I walk from the train station to St Michaels Anglican Cathedral to read Greek with a group of retired old-timers, I walk past a man setting up a table in Crown Street, Wollongong, to hand out literature advocating the teachings of the Jehovah’s Witness organisation.

As I read today’s verses I thought of him.  It is obvious from Jesus’ ineraction with ‘the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law’ (v.66) that Jesus knew that the purpose of their questioning was not to gain information, but to build a case for the capital offence of blasphemy.  When their question was “Are you then the Son of God?”, Jesus’ simple answer included the words, ‘Ego eimi’, which is the phrase that the Greek translation of the OT (LXX) uses to translate God’s reply to Moses at the burning bush: “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.  This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘Ego Eimi’ has sent me to you.’”  The Jewish leaders had got the exact answer they wanted:  By using these two words, Jesus could not have made it plainer that he was claiming to be God!  The trouble is, we know it was not blasphemy because it was true – it would only have been blasphemy if it was a claim that was not true.

So I find myself asking myself on Thursday mornings, “Where does this place any group of people today who say that Jesus is not God the Son when he actually is?”  Is not the JW belief not just wrong, but the height of blasphemy – not recognising Jesus in his actual person?”  By not stopping to talk to this man about this, I am not sure if I am being a wimp, or if I am taking my lead from Jesus himself in realising that there was no point in entering into a discussion with the Jewish leaders because, as he said: “If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer.”  They weren’t the slightest bit interested in a discussion, especially as they now had sufficient evidence to put Jesus on the cross.!  (By the way, I think my silence in Crown Street is because I am a wimp rather than wanting to be like Jesus.  But I will continue to pray for the JW man and for a suitable opportunity to get him to look at the clear evidence of Scripture in the hope that the Holy Spirit will open his eyes and heart to the truth before he leads others astray, and condemns himself more!)

– Bruce Christian