Jesus Declares His Full Deity! Mark 14:60-72

Text: “…Again the high priest asked Him, and said unto Him, Art Thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? (Capital B) 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.”

Mark 14:61-62.

 “And Moses said unto God, Behold (look closely, and fully understand), when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His Name? What shall I say unto them?  And God said unto Moses I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”

Exodus 3:13-14.

God morning, Fully-believing Christian!  Not for you some half-way-house belief in the Lord God, or some parttime belief in the veracity of God’s revealed will.  No!  You and I are called to be 100% Bible-believing Christians, fully-believing Christians, or we are not true Christians at all! Fact. 

Those that quibble and hesitate, and falter in belief that Jesus Christ IS, was, and Eternally has been, and Eternally shall be – God of Very God, the Creator of this entire world, and mankind in Adam – are NOT genuine Christians at all.  FACT! 

We have God’s own inspired Word on this vital matter: “He that believeth (continual verb: believes and continues to believe; trusts, and continues to trust) on Him (Jesus Christ) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18) Now, this is as clear as a bell, right?

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him (God the Father) that sent Me (God the Son), hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24)

The Lord Jesus Christ is, was, and always shall be God of Very God. Believe it, dear friend, for there is no Salvation for those that do not believe this vital fact of Salvation. Believing that Jesus Christ was a very good man; or God’s example of what we should be as Christians – is just NOT ENOUGH to be Eternally saved.  But it is enough to be Eternally lost!  Jesus Christ IS the Lord God.  If you are to miss some fact of faith – don’t let it be this one!

The Apostle Paul writes (at all times in the full inspirational authority of God the Holy Ghost) “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself (by the incarnation – God in bodily form) of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient (to God the Father’s will) unto death, even the death of the Cross. Wherefore (a conclusion) God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every name: that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  (Philippians 2:5-11) Amen! Hallelujah!

J.C. Ryle Comments:

Let us observe, lastly, in these verses, what distinct testimony our Lord bore to His own Messiahship, and second advent in glory. The high priest asks Him the solemn question, “Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” He receives at once the emphatic reply, “I am: and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

“These words of our Lord ought always to be had in remembrance. The Jews could never say after these words, that they were not clearly told that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ of God. Before the great council of their priests and elders, He declared, “I am the Christ.” The Jews could never say after these words, that He was so lowly and poor a person, that He was not worthy to be believed. He warned them plainly that His glory and greatness was all yet to come. They were only deferred and postponed till His second advent. They would yet see Him in royal power and majesty, “sitting on the right hand of power,” coming in the clouds of heaven, a Judge, a Conqueror, and a King. If Israel was unbelieving, it was not because Israel was not told what to believe.

“Let us leave the passage with a deep sense of the reality and certainty of our Lord Jesus Christ’s second coming. Once more at the very end of His ministry, and in the face of His deadly enemies, we find Him asserting the mighty truth that He will come again to judge the world. Let it be one of the leading truths in our own personal Christianity. Let us live in the daily recollection, that our Saviour is one day coming back to this world. Let the Christ in whom we believe, be not only the Christ who died for us and rose again, the Christ who lives for us and intercedes, but the Christ who will one day return in glory, to gather together and reward His people, and to punish fearfully all His enemies.” (J.C. Ryle’s Exposition of Mark’s Gospel)

The high priests and religious rulers of Jerusalem reacted to Christ’s declaration of His full deity by accusing Him of ‘blasphemy’!  Then they proceeded to ‘…condemned Him to be guilty of death…spit on Him…cover His face…buffet Him (punch Him hard), torment Him; and “the servants did strike Him with their hands.” 

Hell will be so much more torturous to those that have treated the Christ of God, and His Christian followers, with such brutal contempt.

Peter was faithful enough to follow Christ into the heart of the conflict – but then began to ‘warm himself at the fire of the world’.  Are Christians like you and I doing the same today?  Are we obvious Christians when in the company of other believers, then warming ourselves at the fires of the world when we are not?  Sobering thought, beloved in Christ.

Thought: Keep fully believing that Jesus is the Christ – God of Very God – He is risen! Hallelujah!