The Son of Man

42 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

43 And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” 45 And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 46 And they laid hands on him and seized him. 47 But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 48 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” 50 And they all left him and fled.

51 And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

53 And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. 54 And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. 56 For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. 57 And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” 59 Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. 60 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” 61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.

Who do you want God to be? God became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), but he clearly was not who the Pharisees wanted him to be. They had a predetermined idea of who and what a Messiah should be, and Jesus was not that Messiah. He did not fit their paradigm of Messiah, so they condemned him to die.

It’s not enough that human beings believe they are the determiners of their own identities. They have also decided to tell God who and what he is. Irreligious people self-identify as a man, woman, gay, straight, bi, boss, worker, king, queen, servant, or protoplasmic garbage. The only real rule in a mankind-centric system is that they make the rules. The point of the game is that as long as mankind makes the rules they can keep God at arm’s length.

Religious people are no better. They keep some God-ish sounding rules resulting in a god-of-their-own-making which is beholden to them. Either way, man is the measure of all things and even the judge of God. The irreligious say there is no God, and the religious say there is a God but reserve the right to define him.

What about you? You’re not alone if you’ve ever wondered why God is the way he is. The danger lies not in wondering, but if in all your wondering you decide that God as he reveals himself to be in the bible is different from who God should be. Take a moment and consider Jesus as he is – the Son of Man.