Facts

7 min read

60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”

62 “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

—Mark 14:60-62

Jesus wasn’t interested in wasting time arguing through all the false accusations being made against Him. He wasn’t there to defend Himself against lies but to go to the cross and save us from our lies. And besides, all the false accusations were devised to trap Jesus into confessing that He is the Messiah, anyway.

The irony of this whole encounter is so rich, and we might even be entertained by it if it didn’t speak to the very heart of humanity’s sinful nature. Which is to say that we ourselves may be guilty of what the Jewish authorities were trying to do more than we ever realize.

Our sinful nature desires to turn lies into truth and the Truth into a lie.

Because I am fasting social media and streaming entertainment for lent, I have a little more time on my hands than I normally would. So I started to read a book about the historical Jesus by Craig Blomberg. Historical Jesus research attempts to piece together the life of Jesus with evidence “that probably can be authenticated through ordinary historical research, without presupposing Christian faith” (Blomberg, 2023).

In other words, a profile of Jesus’s life is developed by cross-checking the biblical evidence with other historical evidence.

Anyway, as Blomberg was reviewing past research on the historical Jesus, he made a point about how the most brilliant, best educated Christian scholars of the past were instrumental in countless numbers of people turning away from the Christian faith.

How tragic, and how ironic.

Because these past scholars were not evil people. Most were devout Christians in their own right. And objectively speaking, they were all incredibly brilliant—some of the smartest human beings that God has ever created in a mother’s womb.

In fact, all that many of them were trying to do was to revive Christianity! Christianity was being seriously threatened (especially in universities) due to the rise of science. The rise of science was creating doubt in the hearts of many about the truth of the Bible, the truth of God, the truth of Christ.

And so these brilliant, well-respected Christian researchers published many, many studies using scientific (historical) methods to say, “You see! Here is the real Jesus that is the basis of our Christian faith. We follow this Jesus!”

But ironically, the good-faith efforts of these brilliant, Christian, historical Jesus scholars led to even more uncertainty and doubt. Ultimately, their studies promoted more doubt because they did not present the plain and simple portrait of the Jesus of Scripture—the Messiah, the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Great “I AM”—Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, resurrected, and returning.

They were basically turning lies (what their good-faith historical research uncovered) into truth and the Truth into a lie.

The simple, plain, and uncontaminated truth of who Jesus is the Truth that sustains this entire universe. And that Truth has deep, deep implications for our lives. If we try to walk away from those implications of who Jesus truly is, we also are in danger of turning lies into truth and the Truth into a lie.

Father, May Your Spirit richly dwell within me, so that the Christ, the true Christ of Your revelation may dwell in my heart through faith. In Jesus’s name. Amen.