ANNAS: "I Can't Believe that Jesus Is Lord!"

 

There is simply no way that I can bring myself to believe that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, was truly who he claimed to be. I heard my son-in-law, Caiaphas, say to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." And this man said, "Yes, it is as you say" [Matthew 26:62-64]

It is astounding that this man would claim to be the Christ. I have heard that some people believe when Jesus was born angels actually appeared to shepherds and said, "A Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." [Luke 2:11]

Do you believe that? Jesus certainly believed he was the promised Christ. When He preached his first sermon in Nazareth, he clearly claimed to be the anointed one; that is, The Christ, the chosen one - the Messiah [Luke 4:18,21] No wonder they tried to throw him over a cliff! If I had been there I would have done the same thing!

Our people have been waiting for the Messiah for hundreds of years. We know that our redemption is dependent on Messiah. One day he will come to save us. The Messiah will be our deliverer. He will rescue us from the evil that holds us in bondage.

Until that time though, we must focus our attention upon the temple. For it is there, in the temple, that we perform the sacrifices that are necessary to maintain our relationship with God.

The temple's institutions and rituals are deeply rooted in the history of our culture. It is the temple that defines us as a unique nation on all the earth.

But this Rabbi from Galilee claimed to be greater than the temple. [Matthew 12:6] He wreaked havoc at our temple services [Matthew 21:12-13] He even claimed that if the temple were torn down he could rebuild it in three days [John 2:19; Matthew 26:61] Only the Messiah could be more important than the temple and the sacrifices. This Jesus wanted to turn the attention the love and the faith of the people away from the temple and onto himself. He wanted to redirect the entire focus of their worship. He wanted the people to look to him as their hope of eternal salvation. I simply could not allow that!

What kind of Messiah did he claim to be? He made that very clear when he applied the divine name of "I AM" to himself. He claimed to be God! This Rabbi from Nazareth used for himself the very same name God used when he revealed himself to Moses from the burning bush [Genesis 3:14] At his trial we asked him, "Are you then the Son of God?" He replied, "You are right in saying I AM" [Luke 22:70]

Now we know that the Messiah will be like no other. No one on earth will be more powerful. HE will crush his enemies under his feet. HE will be the greatest of all prophets. HE will establish Zion, the throne of David, as an everlasting kingdom.

Some of our Rabbis have pointed out that the Messiah may even be some kind of pre-existent, angelic, heavenly being. But, it is beyond human comprehension, that the Messiah would actually be the Lord himself - the same Lord who delivered our people from Egyptian bondage.

Is it possible that our Savior God would take on human flesh and walk among us as one of our very own Rabbis? If that would happen it would surely be a historic event of eternal significance. It would alter completely our idea of our God and who we are as his people.

If God himself came to earth as our Messiah it would demonstrate a divine love so great that it would be incomprehensible to any human. Could God do that - of course He could. But would God do that - does He love us that much? I just can't bring myself to believe that he does.

Jesus made it very clear through his life and through his teachings that he believed he was God in the flesh, come to earth as the promised Messiah. He believed that he was the one on whom our hopes of salvation depend. He forgave sins and he taught that without him we are lost and condemned. We are a righteous people.

WE simply could not tolerate him making such remarkable claims. Nor could we risk the possibility of another disastrous political revolt. That's why we had him arrested.

We tried him and found him guilty of blasphemy -ridiculing God. But f we were wrong we have made a terrible, terrible mistake and we are the blasphemers. If what Jesus said is true then we not only ridiculed the Almighty; but he allowed us to have him condemned and executed! It is possible that we have crucified the Lord of glory? I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

Concluding thoughts: Annas had good intentions. If we give him the benefit of the doubt. He only wanted what, he truly thought, was the best for his people -his family's leadership. Under the leadership of his family Annas sought to maintain the nation's traditional religious notions and avoid a disastrous military conflict with Rome. No doubt he thought these goals were good, right, and God pleasing.

But human logic that is not enlightened by God often lends itself to the wrong cause. Even supposed devotion to God can become a source of evil, as in the case of Annas, who condemned to death the very Messiah their true prophets had instructed them to expect.

To do the God pleasing thing takes more than good intentions - one must be lead by God himself through his Holy Word. How many people today have good intentions? They want to do the right thing, but they are misguided and mistaken because, like Annas who rejected the Word of God in the flesh, they reject the Word of God in the Bible.

Yet God often brings good out of the evil deeds of human beings. With the misguided decision of Annas we see how the unjust crucifixion of Jesus became the world's greatest good, its hope of eternal salvation.

In the First Epistle of John we read the glorious hope- fulfilled "The blood of Jesus, God's Son purifies us from all sin."

Thought Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate and all who condemned Jesus did great evil by their words and actions, God overruled their deeds to bring salvation to all who repent and believe. By the grace of God, we, with Christians of all time, believe that Jesus is indeed the divine Messiah. How sad that Annas couldn't believe it also. By grace through faith we believe that Jesus is our Lord and Savior.

Illustration from a woodcut by Baron Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld, 1794-1872, a distinguished German artist known especially for his book, The Book of Books in Pictures. copyright © WELS used by permission for personal and congregational use.