A No-Win Situation
Would you tell the truth if you knew it would get you in trouble?
Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him; they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, "Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?" They kept heaping many other insults on him. When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together, and they brought him to their council. They said, "If you are the Messiah, tell us." He replied, "If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I question you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God." All of them asked, "Are you, then, the Son of God?" He said to them, "You say that I am." Then they said, "What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!" - Luke 22:63-71
Jesus knew that admitting who he was would be a death sentence.
To claim to be the Messiah, or worse, the son of God was to deny the authority of Caesar, which was enough to get you crucified.
So, those who wanted to silence him, the way they had silenced others, wanted him to admit who he was.
Maybe the expected him to deny it so he could save his life and that would kill the movement of support around him.
Either way, they win and Jesus loses.
So it is a no-win situation, leaving Jesus no choice but to offer nothing to them.
If there is a lesson in all this, it might be that we need to stand our ground regardless of the outcome.
If we find ourselves in a similar situation, being asked to deny Jesus, how will we respond?
Across the globe, Christians are faced with this life or death decision, and many choose to die rather than deny Christ. I hope I never have to be in that situation, because I don't know how I will react.
I would like to think I would be strong and stand up for my faith, but I won't know for sure until the day comes when I have to make that choice.
I know what Jesus did.
Maybe I will have the courage to do the same.
More to come...