Jesus and the Charge of Blasphemy

Mark 14:64 “You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?” “Guilty!” they all cried. “He deserves to die!”

There are today many liberal theologians who profess to be Christians, but who argue that Jesus was merely a great man, and that He never claimed deity for Himself. But the Sanhedrin and its high priest had no such doubts, for they had heard it from His own lips.

When the high priest asked him directly: “Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus (who had been silent up to that point in His own defense) answered him plainly. “I am,” He said: “and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven”

Mark 14:60-62Then the high priest stood up before the others and asked Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” But Jesus was silent and made no reply. Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I AM. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.(see Dan 7:13)

Exod 3:14. God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.[a] Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.”

The council immediately voted to condemn Him to death, since blasphemy was considered a capital crime. Two members of the body, Joseph and Nicodemus, had evidently already left, probably because of dismay at what the council was doing

Luke 23:51) but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.,

John 7:50-51Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up. “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” he asked ….but the rest of that august body all agreed.

There is no question that Jesus had already claimed in various indirect ways to be uniquely the Son of God, but this assertion, made in front of all the elders and scribes, was unequivocal and completely clear, giving them the excuse they needed.

They did not believe His claim, of course, but they certainly knew He had made it, and that it constituted blatant blasphemy–a mere man claiming to be the omnipotent, eternal God. So they condemned Him to die.

But it was only blasphemy if it was untrue. He would demonstrate just three days later, once and for all, that His claim was absolute truth. Only the Creator of life could triumph over death, and He has been

Romans 1:4“and he was shown to be[a] the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.[] He is Jesus Christ our Lord. “

His tomb is empty and He has ascended back to the throne of God,

Revelation 1:18“I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave. ”