Trials throughout history have often been less about the truth and the rule of law and more about serving an agenda. Oftentimes a political agenda.

This happened with Jesus.

They had him arrested and brought late at night into a trial. A spontaneous trial. That meant the whole Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, were brought in to try Jesus.

They had a problem though. They wanted Jesus dead. But they couldn’t find any crime he committed.

Several false witnesses came in but their stories didn’t match. It was important that they have a cae against Jesus. If they just killed him or didn’t have some kind of case, the Romans would come down upon them in violence and cause more problems.

They tried hard to find a way to convict Jesus. They wanted him dead. Out of the way.

Jesus was silent.

That is one thing a person learns when under abuse. Communication is not going to change things. It just gives ammunition to the accuser.

Finally the high priest asked Jesus bluntly on the very thing they wanted to accuse him of and that was who he claimed to be.

The high priest asked, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” (v. 61)

Finally it was an honest question. And not false accusations.

So Jesus answered.

He answered in a way that made clear his identity.

”I am” said Jesus.

That was the first crime. Jesus was claiming to be the “I AM” of the Scriptures, the eternal God (Exodus 3:13-14).

Then he said it again, but in a different way.

”And you will see the Son of Man coming at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (v. 62).

This was a direct from Daniel 7:13-14. This was a prophecy of the coming Son of Man, the Redeemer, who would be worshiped, the nations would bow down to and his kingdom was eternal. Jesus is saying he is the Son of Man that was prophesied.

That was it. He said it. He was saying he was God. Twice.

With that, the Sanhedrin condemned Jesus to death for blasphemy. In their eyes the trial was a success. They fulfilled their mission. Jesus would now have to die.

One thinks in this moment of the Bereans. When they heard Jesus was the fulfillment of the Scriptures and that he was God in flesh who died for them, they didn’t accept right away or reject it. They eagerly ran to the Scriptures to see if it was true. And when they did, they bowed their knee to him.

But when the religious leaders heard Jesus’ clear statement, they just wanted his death. Forget looking into the Scriptures. Just get him out of our way. They were jealous.

They thought Jesus’ death would end it all. But that’s not how God works.

When what we know seems to have died, and hope is gone, and human possibility has failed, God still has more to the story.