Mark 14:62

Mar_14:62-65

And ye shall see the lion of Man.

The value of Christs oath before Pilate

I propose to inquire what the value of this oath is; what value we ought to attach to it as evidence that Jesus was the Messiah; and I suppose that this is to be determined on the same basis and grounds on which we determine the value of evidence in other cases. How is that?

1. By those extraneous circumstances which are corroborative or otherwise, of that which is testified to.

(1) Jesus was the only being who ever appeared on this earth corresponding to the types of the ritualistic part of the Old Testament.

(2) He was the only being who ever appeared, in whom the prophecies would be fulfilled in their double aspect. A King, a Conqueror, a Deliverer, a Great One; and yet suffering, despised, and rejected of men, etc. The Jews looked only at one aspect of these prophecies; and the half-truth misled them.

(3) Our Lords teaching was infinitely loftier than can be accounted for on any other supposition.

(4) His miracles all pointed to Him as a Saviour; all of them beneficent, and all of them such, in their various characteristics, as to indicate His power over the forces of nature, over the spiritual world, and over the dead. All these things conspire to sustain the testimony which Jesus bore to Himself as the Christ, before the High Priest under oath.

2. The value of an oath may be affected by the circumstances in which it is given.

(1) There was nothing, absolutely nothing, external to Himself, that could have originated in Christ the idea that He was the Messiah.

1. His home, an obscure and distant place,

2. His want of education,

3. His poverty,

4. His want of authority.

How came He, then, with the idea that He was greater than Solomon, that He was Lord of the Sabbath; that He was the Light of the world; that He was the Deliverer that was to come-how came He by it? That a single individual, in these circumstances, should have had that idea, seems to me to indicate that He had a right to it.

(2) Moreover, you will observe, when He took this oath, He stood wholly alone. What courage, then, must have been needed to maintain, in the face of death, that He was the Messiah.

3. The value of an oath, or of testimony given in such circumstances, is determined by the competency of the witness. Was the witness of sound mind, and had he the means of knowing that to which He testified? Need I ask this question regarding Jesus? Was He beside Himself? Was He carried away by fanaticism? Was there anything to awaken such fanaticism in that solitary man standing thus wholly alone, forsaken by His friends, with absolutely nothing to sustain Him in the very face of death but His own consciousness of the great fact that He was the Messiah? Nothing!

4. The moral character of the witness. And here again, need I say anything in regard to the moral character of Jesus? No sin was ever imputed to Him; He claimed to be without sin; in the Lords Prayer He taught others to confess sin, but He never confessed sin Himself. The Bible claims this for Him: Who was, says Peter, without sin-absolutely. And was such a person as that, with such a character as that one who would stand before the highest tribunal of His nation and, when adjured by the living God, perjure Himself? Taking these things together, it seems to me that no oath was ever uttered under circumstances to give it greater validity and greater significance, and that no oath can be thus uttered-never! (Mark Hopkins, D. D.)

Rejection of evidence concerning Christ

How was our Lords testimony received? You will notice, here, the position which the High Priest assumed, and it is a position which very many men assume in regard to the evidence of Christianity. He asked the question, Art thou the Christ? Was he prepared to accept evidence? Let us see. Suppose our Lord had said No? Then He would have been an impostor, and would have been led off self-condemned. But now, when He said, I am, was there the least tendency in the mind of the High Priest to accept the testimony? No; but instead of that, he condemned Him for blasphemy! It was as Christ had said in regard to that generation: We have piped, etc. Whatever He might do, and whatever He might say, there was that determined position of opposition against Him, which precluded any evidence from having an effect. And that is the case with many men today: there is this position of opposition which precludes any fair consideration of evidence; and the oath of Christ to His Messiahship, which stands today such an oath as would convince any man of anything except that, does not weigh with them. (Mark Hopkins, D. D.)

Danger of being attracted by the worlds ways

He who becomes a friend to the worlds ways becomes an enemy to Christs. When you begin to love them, you begin to dislike religion. When you begin to worship money you cease to worship God. When you begin to love the house of pleasure you begin to dislike the house of prayer. When you begin to love bad books you begin to lose your relish for the Bible. When you seek irreligious associates you draw off steadily from intercourse with the people of God. When the greedy lust of the world has eaten out a Christian conscience-when it has deadened the spiritual sense-when it has dry-rotted the whole heart-when it has banished Christ and possessed the souls affection-then the man is ready to desert! Nay, he has deserted! What is any man worth to the Church, or to God, when his heart is the property of Satan? He may linger within the camp and even wear the uniform of a church member. But when the bugle calls to action he is not in the ranks! When a march of reform is ordered or a strife for Gods law is waged, he is missing. (Cuyler.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14:62 I Am: Cp. study note on 6:49-50. The reader has known from the beginning that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God (1:1). This was acknowledged by demons (1:24; 3:11; 5:7), by God (1:11; 9:7), and by the disciples (8:29-30), but this is the first time that Jesus openly and publicly acknowledged that he was the Messiah. • The second part of Jesus’ reply was that he would sit in the place of power at God’s right hand, which foretold his resurrection and ascension (Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1:9-11; see Phil 2:9; Heb 1:3) and his triumphal coming on the clouds of heaven to judge the world. At Jesus’ return, roles will be reversed, and those judging the Son of Man will be judged by him.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 14:62 . Ἐγώ εἰμι . On Christ’s reply to the high priest affirming the Messianic claim, vide notes on Mt.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

62. And Jesus said. I am] Thus adjured, the Lord broke the silence He had hitherto maintained. His answer to such a question must be liable to no misinterpretation. Peter in an ecstatic moment had declared He was the King Messiah, “the Son of the living God” (Mat_16:16), and He had not refused the awful Name. Thousands also of Galilean pilgrims had saluted Him with Hosannas in this character through the streets of Jerusalem. But as yet He had not openly declared Himself. The supreme moment, however, had at length arrived, and He now replied, “I am—the Messiah, the Son of God, the Son of Man—and hereafter ye shall see Me sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Comp. Dan_7:13; Psa_8:4; Psa_110:1.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And as Peter was beneath in the palace,.... Not at the lower and further end of the room, but in the lower part of it; that part in which Jesus and the sanhedrim were, being upon an advanced ground, with steps ascending to it:

there cometh one of the maids of the high priest; the same that kept the door, and let him in. The Ethiopic version renders it, "a daughter of the high priest".

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Ver. 62. {See Trapp on "Mat 24:30"} {See Trapp on "Luk 22:70"} {See Trapp on "Luk 22:71"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

62. And Jesus said, I am — Seldom in the course of his ministry did our Lord announce himself as the Messiah. But here, in the great and trying moment, when questioned by the Jewish nation, in the person of their high priest, solemnly, Are you the MESSIAH? to the Jewish nation he returns the solemn reply, I am.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To this question our Lord returns a plain and candid answer, out of reverence for the Divine Name which, as St. Matthew and St. Luke tell us, had been invoked by the high priest, and also respect for the office of the high priest, by whom he had been put upon his oath. St. Chrysostom says that our Lord answered thus that he might leave without excuse all those who listened to him, who would not hereafter be able to plead in the day of judgment that, when our Lord was solemnly asked in the council whether he was the Son of God, he had either refused to answer, or had answered evasively. This answer of our Lord is full of majesty and sublimity. He is arraigned as a criminal, standing in the midst of the chief priests and scribes, his bitter enemies; and it is as though he said, "You, O Caiaphas, and you the chief priests and elders of the Jews, are now unjustly condemning me as a false prophet and a false Christ; but the day is at hand when I, who am now a prisoner at your judgment seat, shall sit on the throne of glory as the Judge of you and of all mankind. You are now about to condemn me to the death of the cross; but I shall then sit in judgment upon you, and condemn you for this terrible guilt of slaying me, who am the true God and the Judge of the world."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

[62. Ἐγώ ἐιμι, I am) Jesus, when His enemies spake false witness against Him, and when His disciples withdrew themselves from the confession of the truth, Himself made an open profession of the truth.—V. g.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

62. Ἐγώ εἰμι. Jesus admits the right of the high-priest to ask this question and replies at once. For the first time in this Gospel He publicly declares in full and solemn language Who He is. The reference to Dan 7:13 would be understood by those present. Mt. gives the less definite reply Σὺ εἶπας, “That was thy saying,” which might be assent, or denial, or neutral, according to circumstances. Cf. Mar 15:2. Here what follows shows that, if Σὺ εἶπας was the expression used, it was equivalent to Ἐγώ εἰμι.

τὸν υἱὸν … τῆς δυνάμεως. These words are in all three. They tell the Sanhedrin that a day will come when the positions will be reversed and He will be passing sentence on them (Rev 1:7). In τῆς δυνάμεως we have another substitute for the Divine Name. Dalman, Words, pp. 200, 306–308.

μετὰ τῶν νεφελῶν. See on Mar 13:24; Mar 13:26. The clouds are doubtless symbolical. Such symbolism was part of the mental furniture of a Jew, although some Jews may have understood the symbols literally.

Early in the Ministry Christ had begun to give a partial revelation of His Messianic character by calling Himself “the Son of Man”; He had given clearer intimations in private to the Twelve; He had accepted Peter’s confession of His Messiahship; He had refused to rebuke those who had publicly proclaimed Him as the Messianic King at the triumphal entry; and now before the Sanhedrin and before Pilate He acknowledges His full right to the title. To Pilate He explains that He is no earthly king, no rival of the Emperor. No explanation of His Kingship or of His Sonship is given to the hierarchy. They knew the import of His words, as the action of the high-priest shows.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

62.] The ἀπʼ ἄρτι of Matt., and ἀπο τοῦ νῦν of Luke, are here omitted.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

62. Now, the high priest gets an answer. The time has come for Jesus to make his confession before the highest tribunal of the nation. To be silent now would wear the look of abdicating his claim at the critical moment of his life. And he proceeds to add to it even more of august and solemn circumstance than the high priest had maliciously invested it with. κ. ὄψεσθε τ. υἱὸν—And you will see the Son of Man seated on the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven. He cites here again the language of Dan 7:13, applying it to himself. It is as if he had said, you will see fulfilled in me the most august of the Messianic prophecies. καθήμενον ἐκ δεξιῶν τῆς δυνάμεως—occupying, i.e. the throne of God’s vicegerent, the position next to the throne itself. This again is a legitimate part of the Messianic claim, according to Jewish expectation, but it shows, as the language of the High Priest had done, the blasphemy of a false claim. In the mouth of Jesus, it denotes the place that he was to occupy in heaven. Mt. adds, ἀπʼ ἄρτι, from this very time on, and Lk. ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν, from now on; and with this addition, it points evidently to the earthly evidences of this heavenly power. They were to see with their own eyes the advancing kingdom of the Son of Man in the world. With this limitation of time, the language cannot refer to what was to take place at the end of the world, but to what was to take place continually in the world from that time on. It was to become immediately the scene of the Messianic kingdom, in which the Son of Man was to rule over its affairs from his throne in heaven. κ. ἐρχόμενον μετὰ τῶν νεφελῶν. See on 13:26. This denotes more specifically the intervention of the Son of Man, the Messianic King, in the affairs of the world. The whole statement means, in connection with Jesus’ confession of the Messianic claim, that they would see him exercising the Messianic power.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I am. See on Mt 26:64.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.