If You Are

"If you are the Christ, tell us."

But he said to them,

"If I tell you,

you will by no means believe."

Then they all said,

"Are you then the Son of God"

So He said to them,

"You rightly say that I am."

Luke 22:67-70, NKJV

Everyone asked the question, sooner or later.  "Who are you?"  It wasn't always asked with the same words, or even with the same spirit behind them.  Some asked it sincerely, wanting to know his identity.  Others taunted him with the question because they wanted to use the answer against him.  Some were curious, others were afraid, and even after they got an answer, some didn't really understand.

The gospels record multiple times in which Jesus was challenged with the phrase:  "If you are the Christ..."  What you need to understand is that the Christ, the Messiah, was the most important figure in Hebrew culture and religion, a man of power and glory whose coming had been prophesied and anticipated for four thousand years.  He was the seed of the woman coming to crush the serpent's head, the blessing of Abraham to the whole world, the prophet greater than Moses, the rightful heir to David's throne, the Son of Man, the Balm of Gilead, the Son of Righteousness.  And most of those who threw the words at him, "If you are the Christ..." weren't really expecting him to say yes, because he didn't fit their idea of what Messiah was going to be.

Most were expecting the King of kings and the Lord of lords to come charging out of heaven on a white horse with a crown on his head and a sword in his hand, fulfilling the prophecies of Zechariah that foretell his arrival at the Mount of Olives.  The mountain would split and be moved apart, and a fountain of life-giving water would flow from beneath it, and the Messiah would destroy all the enemies of Israel with the breath of his mouth and the brightness of his coming.  What a glorious day that would be!

And instead they got Jesus.  A humble carpenter from Nazareth.  A teacher who had never been formally trained, yet spoke with great authority.  A man who spent his time with the needy masses rather than in the halls of power.  He didn't preach the overthrow of Herod or Rome.  He didn't put the enemies of Israel to flight.  He didn't rally the Jewish people to a battle standard and lead a revolution against their oppressors.  And the things he did do...

Satan taunted him in the wilderness, "If you are the the Son of God, turn these rocks into bread so you can eat."  I've often wondered if perhaps the stupid devil wasn't really sure, and therefore was seeking proof so he would know which Jew to kill.

The Pharisees demanded of him, "If you are the Christ, show us a sign."  Because the healing of the blind, the lame, the deaf, the mute, and the leper wasn't enough proof.  Jesus' power and authority over demons, disease and death wasn't enough.  Jesus' ability to multiple bread and walk on water and calm the wind and the waves wasn't enough.  "If you are the Christ, show us a sign" meant, "Show us what we want to see in Messiah--the power and the glory--and then we'll believe.

John the Baptist sent him a message asking, "Are the Christ, or should we look for another?"  In spite of the fact that John had been there to hear the voice of God and see the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove, in spite of announcing to the crowds that Jesus was the savior of the world.  But what he was really asking was this, "Hey, if you're really the Christ, why don't you come bail me out of jail before they cut my head off." 

Demons would cry out, "We know who you are, the Christ of God!"  And Jesus commanded them to be silent.

Peter proclaimed, "You are the Christ the Son of the Living God!"  And Jesus said, "You're right, but don't tell anybody."

Many were healed and instructed not to tell anyone who had healed them, but they couldn't stop themselves.

And now here at the end of his earthly life and ministry, Jesus was being asked the question by the priests of his people.  "If you are the Christ, just tell us."  But Jesus knew their hearts.  They didn't ask because they wanted to believe.  They asked so that they could argue with him that he was not, because he didn't come in the manner they were expecting.

Even after they nailed Jesus to the cross, they were still calling out to him--the devil, the accusers, the thief on thief on the cross--"If you are the Christ, save yourself!  Come down off that cross!"

Jesus answers prayer, performs miracles, saves souls, changes lives--and he does those things today.  His words are continually proven faithful and true, his ways are proven right.  And still people look for a sign, some definitive proof.  Jesus himself said to those seeking a sign, "If what you have seen isn't good enough, no sign will be either.  Only the wicked and perverse seek more proof.  But if you want a sign, here's one for you.  Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a whale, so will I be three days and three nights in the grave after you kill me.  But just as Jonah came up, so will I."

And so He did.