In this video, Clint Loveall and Michael Gewecke continue their study of the Gospel of Luke, focusing on the trial of Jesus. They delve into the questions asked by the religious leaders and the irony surrounding Jesus’ responses. The discussion explores the courtroom narrative and the predetermined outcome of the trial. Clint and Michael highlight the resolve and strength of Jesus as he faces the accusations and ultimately fulfills God’s will. Join them tomorrow for the next part of the study. Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more insightful Bible studies.
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Transcript
00:00:00:18 – 00:00:31:42
Clint Loveall
Hey, everybody. Thanks for being back with us on a monday as we start a new week in the Gospel of Luke finishing the 22nd chapter today, as we find ourselves in verse 66. Jesus, at this point, he’s been arrested. He has been taken into captivity, He has been mistreated and and in the next three passages, we find him successively in front of literally the caption say before three levels of authority.
00:00:31:42 – 00:00:51:56
Clint Loveall
And so at the at the bottom level here, we see Jesus in front of the council. That’s the story Luke tells us beginning in verse 66, and we’ll read that for you now. When the day came, the assembly of the Elders of the People, both the chief priests and the scribes gathered together and they brought him to their counsel.
00:00:52:01 – 00:01:15:51
Clint Loveall
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.
00:01:15:55 – 00:01:45:21
Clint Loveall
Then they said, What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips. So even though Jesus is now in custody, he presents a problem of sorts for the Jewish religious leaders who want to have him executed. They don’t have the authority to do this on their own. They can. They can I suppose they can capture him.
00:01:45:21 – 00:02:09:32
Clint Loveall
That even is a little sketchy. The punishment is probably going to be overlooked. They get some leeway there. But this idea that that they have to get Jesus on something, they they have to convict him of something. And so they try to lead him into saying something that they can then take on to other authorities. Are you the Messiah?
00:02:09:39 – 00:02:30:52
Clint Loveall
And he said, If I tell you, you won’t believe me. If I question you, you won’t answer me. In other words, this isn’t a discussion. We’ve seen this repeatedly from Jesus. Jesus knows people’s intentions. He knows people’s hearts. He’s aware of what’s happening now on the son of Man will be seated at the right hand of God, of the power of God.
00:02:30:54 – 00:02:55:09
Clint Loveall
So the idea of fulfillment, the idea of completion. And then they ask him directly, Are you then the son of God? And he says, Well, you say, so it’s not. It’s sort of tacit agreement. It’s not outright agreement, but it is enough, at least, as Luke tells the story, that they feel like they can move this case now up the chain.
00:02:55:13 – 00:03:25:30
Michael Gewecke
This is presented both as a if we’re going to be honest, a very false examination. There’s no sense in this that there’s a real heartfelt desire to ascertain who Jesus is. This is a front. And the answer has already been determined. And we get that through the tone. Jesus literally makes the case that there’s not going to be a change.
00:03:25:35 – 00:03:46:13
Michael Gewecke
If I question you, you won’t answer. And if I tell you, you won’t believe. And so what we learn from a text like this is not just the falseness, though, of the scribes and the Pharisees. That’s true. I think what also we learn here is that as they try him, they try him with all of the evidence that they need.
00:03:46:13 – 00:04:17:52
Michael Gewecke
They’re not here to collect more. They’re not here to interrogate Jesus and then mount a case and take his words and then use those against him. So they’ve come into this this trial or this council meeting, and they’ve already determined what Jesus is, that he’s a heretic, that he’s going to need to be punished. And then, therefore, the irony that Luke presents to us in a text like this, I think it shouldn’t be lost on us, is that when they ask, Are you then the Son of God?
00:04:17:52 – 00:04:40:55
Michael Gewecke
Which is a question I believe the commentators point out this only happens this way in Luke. Then Jesus is answer as you say that I am. Well, the inherent irony of that is the people who have already made up their mind about Jesus, that they’re going that he is a heretic, that he’s worthy of punishment. These are the very people with all of the evidence that they would need to see.
00:04:40:55 – 00:04:59:47
Michael Gewecke
He actually is the son of God. I mean, that’s the amazing cloud that hangs over this story. Is that the thing you the evidence used against Jesus is simultaneously the evidence in favor of the truth. And Luke wants us to see that both of those forces are happening simultaneously.
00:04:59:58 – 00:05:37:27
Clint Loveall
Yeah, I think, you know, fair questions are raised about the nature of these stories because they come from people who clearly assign blame to the religious leaders and to to other some other extent, even Pilot Herod, that we’ll see here down the road. But the gospels make it clear that this isn’t a real inquiry. This is not they’re not seeking truth.
00:05:37:31 – 00:06:02:45
Clint Loveall
They’re putting their case together. In their mind, guilt has already been determined and they now have to fill in the framework of that charge to get the outcome that they seek. And this isn’t this isn’t a genuine search for truth. And Jesus essentially says, I’m not I’m not participating in this. This is a charade. This is a sham.
00:06:02:52 – 00:06:33:54
Clint Loveall
I don’t need to do this. I am about to take my place at the right hand of God. And this is a be careful with this language, but this is beneath me. This isn’t truth. I’m about truth. And this is not about truth. And then they say, Well, that’s all we need to hear. Which, of course, you know, again, I think Luke doesn’t tell us that as a compliment to those involved.
00:06:33:54 – 00:06:36:33
Clint Loveall
I think that’s very much an accusation.
00:06:36:37 – 00:06:54:04
Michael Gewecke
So, Clint, I think a interesting detail that maybe is worth just pointing out in a text like this to give us some context that I think there is an interplay here in verse 69. From now on, the son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. And then we have moving on into verse 70.
00:06:54:09 – 00:07:17:58
Michael Gewecke
Are you the son of God? Son of man, Son of God? These are interesting title interplays. And Luke has done a lot with teasing out for us how Jesus is the fulfillment of the Messiah, how he not only proclaims, but actually enacts God’s coming kingdom into the world. Jesus is a teacher with power, is language that we’ve already seen in the text.
00:07:17:58 – 00:07:45:05
Michael Gewecke
And so here it’s striking, son of man. This language can be interpreted as having a messiah connotation. The idea of the coming one, the one who would be God’s chosen one to do God’s will in the world. So in in some ways, Jesus is making a claim to what could be a a lesser up the hierarchical ladder of titles.
00:07:45:05 – 00:08:07:09
Michael Gewecke
But then when the question comes, are you the son of God? I think it goes back to that irony. The religious leaders are looking to hook Jesus on religious heresy, on making a claim to equality with God, to being a relative. God is a theological falsity. From their perspective, that’s where they’re going to get Jesus on the basis of his religious teachings.
00:08:07:13 – 00:08:31:32
Michael Gewecke
The irony, of course, as Luke wants us to know, is Jesus is the Son of God, but that for Him to answer that question, is it unnecessary? He’s already demonstrated that. In fact, he’s demonstrated it so well. It’s the evidence that they’re bringing against him. And it’s interesting that Jesus makes a retort and says, You say that I am.
00:08:31:37 – 00:08:55:50
Michael Gewecke
And so clearly they took that as an affirmation of the statement, as what follows, as we don’t need any more testimony. They understood that Jesus was affirming that to be the truth. But the irony being in that I think once again that Jesus doesn’t attribute those words to himself, but rather says it’s in your own affirmation that we can see that that’s true.
00:08:55:51 – 00:09:19:34
Michael Gewecke
So there’s some tricky debate, and I think rhetoric, things happening here that that do point to some of the ironies of what is known verses what’s not known Jesus’s actual position versus the position that the religious leaders think that he has. But I mean, ultimately, that’s reading deeper into the text at its core as a group of people who have a predetermined decision about what they’re going to do with this dangerous teacher.
00:09:19:39 – 00:09:28:18
Michael Gewecke
And now that they’ve got him to say enough of the right words, they just plan on proceeding and using that against him.
00:09:28:22 – 00:09:52:25
Clint Loveall
I think that Luke does two things here that are interesting. The first is, as you read this story and the one that comes after it, Luke, And it has to be intentional. He uses essentially all of the titles and phrases that you could think of if you’re the Messiah, if this son of man are you the son of God.
00:09:52:30 – 00:10:12:52
Clint Loveall
And then later on in the pilot discussion you have, are you the Messiah? Are you a king? Are you the king of the Jews? So all of these questions, all of these titles that point to Jesus identity and the mystery of his identity, at least in the story, not so much to the reader, of course, but in the story.
00:10:12:57 – 00:10:37:06
Clint Loveall
This is all there. And then the other set of question marks that hang over these stories. Well, what is Jesus role here? He is silent before his accusers. He doesn’t engage. He doesn’t defend himself. Is he under their authority? Is he not under their authority? And, of course, the reader has the back story of all this. We understand all of that.
00:10:37:06 – 00:11:12:40
Clint Loveall
But Luke weaves these themes, these questions together really well in the story that begins today and continues through really up into the crucifixion about halfway through the next chapter. But I think Luke brings these ideas together in in really powerful way. And so if if you work your way through these texts carefully, I think they are designed to present you with all of the questions you would need to answer to come out of this.
00:11:12:45 – 00:11:37:34
Clint Loveall
As a believer, I think that Luke structures this incredibly well, so that not only is he telling a story, he’s writing a catechism. He’s asking the reader What? How do you answer the questions that Jesus in many cases refuses to answer? And I think it’s just exceptionally well done.
00:11:37:39 – 00:12:11:34
Michael Gewecke
Yeah. And I don’t want to steal thunder from future conversations. I hope that you’ll subscribe and stick with us as the study moves forward here. But I want to point out that Jesus is right now going to be asked the extent of the religious questions of the trials to come. He’s going to go to pilot, and at that point, we’re going to see him really accused of political and civic disobedience so that he’s dangerous to the lordship of Rome and Rome’s security making device in the region.
00:12:11:49 – 00:12:45:03
Michael Gewecke
Jesus is a he’s a leader threat, not a religious threat. And then he’s going to go to Herod and he’s going to be in Herod’s jurisdiction. But Herod’s not particularly interested in the religious accusation. So here today, this checkpoint along the this now series of investigations is on his claim of of religious divine sonship. It’s about what exactly do you claim to be The the characters that come later are going to try him in other areas.
00:12:45:03 – 00:13:04:24
Michael Gewecke
Because the point of fact is, Clint, this alone isn’t enough to kill Jesus, that this this is this is not going to be received well by pilot. He’s not he’s going to think that you’re crazy if you think that you’re the son of God. But that’s not a threat to the Roman Empire. That’s not going to hit the bar of execution.
00:13:04:35 – 00:13:29:58
Michael Gewecke
So there’s going to need to be more steps along the way. But this is the one that we see Luke making it very clear to us. The first step is Jesus’s own people, the height of that religious expression. They are going to find him a religious heretic. That’s step one. And then we’re going to see how it’s going to ratchet up as it goes along to the people who have increasing levels of power to do harm to Jesus.
00:13:30:03 – 00:14:16:18
Clint Loveall
Yeah, Yeah. Well, I think we can save this for those conversations. But Luke, in some ways gives us the most elaborate or the most complete, the most interesting. Perhaps a set of stories about the occasion of Jesus trials. It moves locations several times, it moves characters, it gets kicked up and down it. What Luke does with this and maybe we have some sense of why that is, but what Luke does with this sort of courtroom narrative or judgment narrative is really interesting, and we’ll do our best to unpack that as we go through it.
00:14:16:22 – 00:14:44:22
Michael Gewecke
I don’t want to go too deeply into this because I think it’ll unpack more naturally as we go along. I just want to point out about the irony of your statement, the courtroom narrative. Let’s just be very clear about what we’re beginning here today in the study of this week is humans trying God that this is a courtroom of the broken, fallen, sinful humanity, taking possession of God’s perfect son.
00:14:44:22 – 00:15:20:29
Michael Gewecke
And now at various levels, trying that son against imperfect standards. And what Luke I think does so well is is Luke in the narrative, shows us that Jesus is both aware of what’s happening. Jesus names that irony. Jesus is also not fussed by it. He’s not particularly put off. He has come to do a job. And that job we saw stretches the roots of it go all the way back to the Last Supper and then into the garden where he prayed that fateful, fateful prayer.
00:15:20:29 – 00:15:44:45
Michael Gewecke
Thy will be done. And now, as God’s will is moving forward, Jesus has resolve and strength and he faces that head on. And that’s going to be all the way through the end of his life. And I think Luke tells it in such a way that we not only see the the drama of the location, the drama of the characters, but we see it in the center of who Jesus is.
00:15:44:45 – 00:16:20:15
Michael Gewecke
And the irony, no matter how much does the things around Jesus change, he doesn’t change. He remains constant throughout. And I think that has something to teach not only the earliest disciples who themselves often found themselves in the courtroom or who found themselves in a position of giving up their lives for their faith. And in those positions, a text like this shows us an exemplar, shows us a one who has gone before us, the one who shows us what it’s like to stand in the face of that difficulty and to be resolved and to trust in God, God’s ability.
00:16:20:25 – 00:16:30:16
Michael Gewecke
And and we’re going to see that fleshed out as we go. But the seeds of it are already growing in a text like this that’s moving so quickly. Now we see that present and it’s worth naming.
00:16:30:21 – 00:16:50:20
Clint Loveall
I mean, the great irony that hangs over the text is they all ask the right questions. Are you the son of God? Are you the Messiah? Are you the king of the Jews? Who are you? What have you done? What does he deserve? Why is he under trial? Those are all the right questions and they get all the wrong answers.
00:16:50:34 – 00:17:07:01
Clint Loveall
And you know, that’s that’s part of the tragedy and part of the, I think, the profound nature of the stories. But they’re asking the right things. But they’re they’re getting the wrong conclusions.
00:17:07:06 – 00:17:29:08
Michael Gewecke
This story only speeds up as we go along. And hope you’ll join us tomorrow for the continuation of our study this week. We will be off on Wednesday. We’ll say more about that tomorrow, but we will be back tomorrow for our study at normal time. Hope you will like this video if you’ve stumbled upon it any time, it helps others find it in their own study and it sort of lifts it up so it’s easier to find.
00:17:29:13 – 00:17:38:47
Michael Gewecke
And then, of course, subscribe if you want to stick around for more studies like this. We do them every week, four times a week at 2:00 Central. We would love to see you tomorrow. Until then, be blessed.
00:17:38:47 – 00:17:39:27
Clint Loveall
Have a great day.