Simple Belief

Scripture – Luke 22:63-69: 63The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. 64They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” 65And they said many other insulting things to him. 66At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. 67“If you are the Christ,” they said, “tell us.” Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, 68and if I asked you, you would not answer. 69But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”

Reflection: Why did they beat Jesus? Why did they take such pleasure in treating Him like that? Were they just hired guards who resented their minimum wage job? I really don’t understand the cruel nature that’s part of our human condition.

Once Jesus is brought before the ruling council for His examination, the confrontation begins coming to a head. Jesus knows who He is. Nothing He or they can say will change that. They seem a little afraid of who He is. But they don’t have the nerve to simply kill Him themselves. They’ve got to find some technical way to convict Him.

I don’t know why people have such a hard time with Jesus today. There are a lot of convoluted ways people try to explain Him away. A long time ago I realized it’s a lot simpler to believe Him – to trust that He is who He says He is. He certainly doesn’t have to prove Himself to me.

An Invitation: A small group will be meeting this coming Sunday morning from 9:45 – 10:30am to share what we’ve learned and seen in this week’s readings. We meet in the Pastor’s office at Bethel Baptist Church, 13330 Trenton Road in Southgate. Everyone’s welcome to join us.