Worthy of Death: The Verdict of Eternity

By Danny Saavedra

“But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, ‘I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.’ ‘You have said so,’ Jesus replied. ‘But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?’ ‘He is worthy of death,’ they answered. Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, ‘Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?’”—Matthew 26:63–68 (NIV)

As noted yesterday, Jesus’ trial was going nowhere because the bogus, contradictory evidence against Him wasn’t enough to convict Him. So, Caiaphas, the high priest, “stood up” (Matthew 26:62 NIV), which F.F. Bruce called, “the action of an irritated, baffled man.” Charles Spurgeon pointed out, “It was a tacit confession that Christ had been proved innocent up till then. . . . The trial had been a dead failure up to that point, and he knew it and was red with rage. Now he attempts to bully the prisoner that he may extract some declaration from him which may save all further trouble of witnesses, and end the matter.”

And so, Caiaphas goes in for the kill by putting Jesus under oath to answer if He is the Messiah because from here he can either convict Jesus for what he would call blasphemy or have Jesus state on record that He wasn’t what the people were hoping for, which would have likely killed the movement and following of Jesus.

Jesus responds by revealing His full identity as Messiah, not only Messiah but God in the flesh! He said, “I am,” invoking the very name of God given to Moses. Then Jesus further cemented His declaration of divinity, saying, “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 14:62 NIV).

So, not only is He claiming to be the Messiah, not only is He claiming to be God Himself, but with this second half of His testimony, He’s saying, “Today you stand in judgment of Me (which they’re only able to do because He’s allowing it for the fulfillment of all that’s necessary to complete the work of salvation for the world), but when the times comes I’ll be the ultimate judge.”

At this, Caiaphas got exactly what he wanted, the Sanhedrin then convicted Jesus of blasphemy, and witnesses say these deeply ironic and significant words: “He is worthy of death.”

Oh, my friends . . . The emotion I feel as I write this is overwhelming. We’re the ones worthy of death! I’m worthy of death. The irony I see in their words is that every moment of their lives, just like every moment of my life apart from Jesus, was an act of blasphemy against God. How so? Blasphemy is a state of willful, determined opposition to God; it’s denying Jesus’ Lordship and rightful place in your heart and life; it’s rejection of the gospel. These words of false judgment against Jesus were words of true judgment against us and the very reason Jesus gave His life . . . because we’re worthy of death, deserving of the wrath of God.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”—Ephesians 2:4–8 (NIV)

May this truth wash over you today.

Pause: How is this trial of Jesus really a trial of the men who accused Him? How does this trial mirror the account we’ll have to give before Jesus?

Practice: Everyone will stand before the Judge to give an account. Knowing this, consider how your life is helping others come to know the good news of the gospel that removes their sins and makes them innocent before God.

Pray: Jesus, thank You for enduring this on my behalf so I could receive Your gift of salvation and be found in You. Thank You I can surrender my life to You and, in that, find my life and be saved! Help me share this good news with others so they may be found and saved as well. By Your Spirit, give me the words to speak and the compassion and courage to reach out to them with the truth. In Your wonderful, beautiful, merciful name, I pray. Amen.