I am and you shall see...
Mark 14:61,62
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 The Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven’”
Mark 15:2
And Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and *said, “You yourself say it.”
“You’ve given everything away!” (Vinzzini, “The Princess Bride,” 1987).
The first half of Mark’s narrative pointed to Jesus’ authority over evil spirits, sickness, the wind and waves. He taught with authority. He stood up in defiance to the traditions and Pharisaic ways. But He was very careful about any claim to being Messiah. Instead, He referred to Himself as “Son of Man,” a phrase in its simplest form that was a common way to refer to being human.
In the second half of Mark’s gospel, Jesus reveals His fate: “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31, also 9:31, 10:33,34). When Jesus first said it, Peter rebuked Him. This was not the Messiah’s path. He was to win, and not lose. Jesus rebuked Peter in return (Mark 8:32,33).
It was in Jesus’ these two trials – likely a span of a couple of hours - that the truth finally came out. He made clear who was and what was to come of Him.
The Chief Priests point-blank asked Him if He was the Messiah and He told them He was, adding the prophecy of Daniel to His use of the title “Son of Man” (Daniel 7:13,14). With the priests, Jesus also crossed the line in using the phrase “I am,” which in His Aramaic tongue sounded dangerously (and intentionally) close to Yahweh's name, the Aramaic and Hebrew verb “to be” (Exodus 3:14). It was enough for the Chief Priest to dramatically rend His garments and break the Torah Law himself, (the High Priest should never tear his clothes, Leviticus 21:10).
Before Pilate, Jesus deftly admitted to His kingship without giving the Governor any specific statement to catch Him: “You have said so” or “You yourself say it.” John’s account includes the reassurance to Pilate that Jesus' Kingdom was not a direct threat to the Roman Leader: “My kingdom is not of this world.” Pilate concludes his interrogation, “I find no guilt in Him” (John 18:36-40).
Jesus had “Given everything away:” Messiah, coming King, Lord.
He knew who He was.
As we see Jesus’ boldness in declaring who He was to those in power, we should consider what our own response would be.
Perhaps we could start with something simple.
Jesum sequimur.
We follow Jesus.
May our lives reflect that truth (Romans: 12:2).
Have a blessed, intentional fourth Sunday in Lent.
