Mark 15:1-5

Mark 15:1-5  Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision.  They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.  “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.  “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.  The chief priests accused him of many things.  So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer?  See how many things they are accusing you of.”  But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. 

"Yes, it is as you say."  Jesus gave Pilot a very oblique answer: as YOU say.  To believe in Jesus as king of anything is still a matter of faith.  Yes, I am He to you, if you BELIEVE.  Jesus did not elaborate and explain precisely why He is the king of the Jews in the spiritual sense.  He did not point out his healings and miracles.  He did not tell Pilot about raising Lazarus from the dead.  He just said, as you say.  Even today it is the same: I am personally your King and Lord if you believe I am.  This is a matter of faith.  If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  (Romans 10:9)  Notice in the above passage that the chief priests accused him of many things.  The chief priests did not want him to be known as king of the Jews.  They did not want Jesus to replace them as the spiritual leader of the Jews.  They wanted Jesus dead.  

Today, many people want Jesus dead.  They don't want him to have any claim on their existence.  They will accuse Jesus and his followers of many things to discount Christ's authority in their lives.  People desire to go their own way, which is the epitome of sin.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (Isaiah 53:6)  Jesus did not answer his accusers even though He could have.  He allowed their words to stand as a testimony against them--their thoughts and their actions.  Their desire not to recognize Jesus as their king will someday be played back to them when they come before the throne of judgement.  Then they will get their will: they will be excluded from his kingdom.  They will not have to be under his authority, and they will participate in the kingdom of darkness, of eternal damnation.  They chose not to believe in Jesus as their king; instead, they chose to take him to the cross.  They chose to crucify a sinless man, a guiltless man.  That day they sowed to the wind, and someday they will reap a whirlwind.  Death began on that day and death will have its finished work.   

The question remains: who do we say He is?  Is He the Christ, the Son of the living God or is He merely a man?  If He is man, we need not follow him.  To us then, He can be put on the cross in our lives.  But if He is God among us, we need to fall at his feet and place our full faith and trust in him, and live for him alone.  I know almost exclusively, the people who are reading this are people who know him as their Savior and Lord.  In our hearts we have affirmed Jesus' statement: “Yes, it is as you say.”  Praise the Lord for that reality and that privilege.  Therefore, let us lift him up today in our midst, so that others may know him as Savior and Lord.