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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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Luke 22:67
Comments
The question is put to him again: ‘Are you the Christ?’ The Lord Jesus has already answered this question during the previous stage of the trial during the night. Having no other evidence against him they are compelled to get him to supply the evidence himself. But all they will get is the truthful claim that he is indeed the promised Messiah. That statement will have to be twisted to make it something objectionable to the Rome with the suggestion that it is a political claim. The way they later express it to Pilate is to say, ‘We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King’ (Luke 23:2). So here are the Jewish leaders ready to sell their Messiah as if he was a threat to their Roman overlords, simply because of their hatred for him and his message.Although this is the most important question that they could ask, it cannot be taken seriously. Christ does not answer questions which are only used in an attempt to trap him and it is dismissed with contempt. How could these council members receive anything that came from the mouth of their avowed enemy as the truth which needed to be treated with the greatest respect? They hated him, and were out to catch him out at every word he spoke. It was quite impossible that they could suddenly turn around and begin to learn from them. But of course they were trying to trap him, and both he and they knew that.‘And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go.’ Hendriksen quotes Luke 20:3-7 to show that they had already done exactly that. When they tried to trap him on the question of his authority, the Lord had asked them about the baptism of John, and they had seen the dilemma they faced and given a deceitful reason why they could not answer the question. They claimed not to be able to do so, whereas in fact they were unwilling to do so. If the Lord had asked them further questions in an effort to teach them, they would refuse to cooperate with him. They were determined to hold him, to charge him, and to see him put to death. There was no honesty in a single word they spoke.
Application
Those who approach the Lord to enquire about the truth must come with pure motives to the one who reads every heart. No wonder that many receive no answer from the Lord when he knows that they have no intention of acting upon his answers. God hears those who ask him sincerely, but he sends away those who mock him. If we want God to teach us, we must treat every word that comes from his mouth as precious, but many enquire only to indulge their curiosity with no intention of obeying the Lord. The Lord will not waste his truth or cast his pearls before swine; he will only give his precious word to those who reverence it and are ready to receive it as truth.
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