Caiaphas's Question

Mark 14:60-64

God‘s law says that people must never say bad things against God (Deuteronomy 5:11). People had died because they had done this (Leviticus 24:10-23).

Caiaphas and the other leaders wanted to say that Jesus had done this wrong thing. Then they would say that Jesus should die. But they had a problem. Nobody had ever heard Jesus say anything against God. There were some people who spoke against Jesus. Those people were saying things that were not true. But they did not agree with each other.

In the end, Caiaphas asked Jesus to reply to those people. But Jesus would not say anything.

Then Caiaphas asked Jesus whether he was the Christ. The word "Christ" means the future king that God would send to save his people. Usually, the teachers called the Christ: "the son of David." Jesus had taught that those words did not really show the importance of the Christ (Mark 12:35-37). But here, Caiaphas wanted everyone to remember the importance of the Christ. So Caiaphas called the Christ: "the son of God." But Caiaphas did not use the word "God." Instead, he used a word that means God. Caiaphas wanted everyone to know that he would only use God‘s name in a proper way.

Jesus replied with a clear answer. He said that he was the Christ. And he told Caiaphas clearly about the Christ. Jesus, the Christ, would receive the most important place in heaven. God would give authority and power to Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ will return to be the future king.

Caiaphas understood Jesus‘ words. That is why Caiaphas tore his own clothes. People did that if they heard very bad words. They wanted everyone to know how sad or angry they were.

Caiaphas said that Jesus‘ words were false. And if they were false, they were very bad words. They would be words that Jesus had spoken against God. So all the leaders agreed that Jesus should die.

We believe that Jesus‘ words were true. He is the Christ. He already rules the lives of those people who believe him. And he will return to rule everyone.

The leaders should not have done these things. But we believe that these things had to happen. It was the only way for God to save his people. God forgives us because Jesus died for us. We cannot save ourselves. We can only ask God to come into our lives. He saves us because of Jesus.