March 15, 2021
The Son of the Blessed
In Moses’s second speech, he continues to give the Israelites final instructions from the Lord that expand on the ten commandments. In this section, he gives some specific laws that help Israel keep the seventh commandment: “You shall not commit adultery.” (Deuteronomy 5:18)
The details in these laws served to protect the vulnerable and to protect the holiness of the Lord. Women were protected from false accusations (Deuteronomy 22:13-19) and rape (Deuteronomy 22:25-29). The holiness of the Lord was protected with punishments to prevent Israel from adopting the sexual immorality of the nations.
This holiness is also in mind with laws about who may enter the “assembly of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:1). The Lord prevented those who had refused Israel in their time of need from entering His presence. All these laws preserve the holiness of Israel before the Lord.
“Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ And Jesus said, ‘I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.’” - Mark 14:61-62
Following his betrayal by Judas, Jesus is led before the Jewish Sanhedrin to stand trial for blasphemy. The Sanhedrin was a council of prominent Pharisees and Sadducees who served as a court to decide important religious matters. Jesus is on trial for claiming to be the Son of God, a crime punishable by death.
Because Jesus’ accusers’ stories did not agree, they did not have enough evidence to put him to death (Deuteronomy 17:6). Frustrated by this, the high priest takes the role of prosecutor and asks Jesus if he is the Messiah, the Son of God?
Jesus’ response stuns the council by quoting three well-known Old Testament passages to claim his divinity. “I am” would bring to mind the Lord revealing himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14. “Seated at the right hand” references Psalm 110:1, a popular messianic prophecy. And “the clouds of heaven” quotes Daniel 7:13-14, where the Son of Man receives an eternal kingdom.
Jesus clearly claims to be the divine Son of God, and for this, He is handed sentenced to die at the hand of the Romans.
Make It Personal
- The Lord cast judgment on the Ammonites and Moabites for refusing to give Israel bread and water in their time of need. He placed this sin on the same level as the many sexual sins described before and after it. How can you look to serve and protect those who are vulnerable in your life?
- When we understand the context of the Old Testament passages quoted by Jesus, we see that he clearly claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God. But the question of Mark’s Gospel is, “Who do you say that Jesus is?”