I Am

By: Paul DeVries

Scripture Reading: Mark 14:53-65

February 24th, 2008

We are often a people who look for light. As little children we want a little night light to keep us company in the dark of our bedroom. As older wiser individuals we want security lights in our parking lots and stores. The reason we like the light is because it allows us to see the truth about our surroundings. With a night light a child can see that the frightening shadow is just the tree outside her window. With security lights robbers and others with bad intent will stay away from us and our possessions. So, we often seek out the light.

But not always——In fact, there are some times when we aren’t interested in the light at all. For example, if we are ashamed or up to no good or trying to hide our true identity, we want to hide in the darkness. We want no part of light. The question for us today, as we look at a new text from Mark’s Gospel, is do we want to hide in the darkness or stand in the light?

When we last heard of Peter he was in the darkness. Mark tells us that he (along with all the other disciples) had deserted his Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane and fled into the dark night. But now, as Mark opens a new paragraph in his Gospel, there is some potential for light. It appears that Peter has not fled entirely. Instead, he follows Jesus "at a distance."

It is true that Peter only follows Jesus at a distance. But still, Peter follows. In fact, Peter follows Jesus all the way to the courtyard of the place where the religious authorities will question Jesus. Peter even goes up to the light of the fire. Perhaps Peter is ready to boldly stand in the light of his Lord. Perhaps he wants to come out of the darkness of his flight from the Garden and stand in the light of his master. But, if you know full story, you know that this isn’t the case.

Peter isn’t by the fire for light. On the contrary, Peter doesn’t want anyone to know who he is. In fact, as we see a little later in this chapter, Peter isn’t even willing to admit that he knows Jesus. Peter doesn’t want light. He is still hiding in darkness. He wants the warmth of the fire without the light. Peter wants warmth, but he wants no real light.

It strikes me that many of us are like that in our spiritual lives. We follow Jesus, but we like to do so at a distance. We like to have the warmth of fellowship with Jesus, but we don’t want the light of his truth to shine on our brokenness. Do you know people who go to church just for the warmth of fellowship or for the joy of being able to tell others that they are faithful. But then, when the light shines on their brokenness and when they are told that they are sinners who need to repent, they want no more part of the light. Do you know anyone like that? Are you yourself perhaps like that—basking in the warmth of the Christian name and fellowship, but having no true light? Are you in the dark?

Peter isn’t the only one in our text who stands in the warmth of Christ’s presence without embracing the light. The text draws our attention to the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the ruling council of the Jewish people during the days of King Herod and the Roman Empire. It is this religious—political body of biblical scholars, theologians, and elders of God’s people that is supposed to represent the light of God’s truth to all of Israel and indeed the whole world! It is the Sanhedrin’s job to interpret God’s law and judge righteously for the people brought before it. They are to interpret scripture, to explain it fairly to the people, and to distinguish clearly between light and darkness. If ever there was a group that had access to the light, it was this group. But on this night they are no more interested in the light than Peter was. They have gathered as agents of darkness.

Our text makes this dark intent clear from the outset. After all, they meet at night in darkness. This is fitting because they want Jesus dead. So they look for evidence against him in the middle of the darkness of night.

The Sanhedrin is not supposed to look for evidence against anyone. They are supposed to look for the truth. But this is not a real trial and it is not a real quest for light and truth. It is all a sham. They deliberately turn out the light of truth so that they can achieve their own purposes. They turn out the light by bringing false witnesses against Jesus. If one wants to live in darkness there are always plenty of people around who will help you put out the lights. So it is not hard for the Sanhedrin to find those who will do their bidding by lying about Jesus. The problem with false witnesses, of course, is that they are lying and so their stories often contradict. We read in the text that the stories of the false witnesses did not agree. Even when they could agree that Jesus said something about destroying the temple and then rebuilding it again in three days, their testimony did not fully agree.

Do you see what is happening in our text? The Sanhedrin, the Elders of God’s covenant people, the teachers of God’s covenant book, were not interested in light or truth. Instead, they were hiding in the middle of the night, in darkness, because they were a broken body. When the words of Jesus Christ—the Word made flesh—the light of the world—did not suit them or their purposes, they wanted darkness instead. When Jesus spoke words that didn’t agree with their thoughts, they turned out the lights. When Jesus spoke words against Herod’s temple and the false, hypocritical practices of that temple, they turned out the lights. When he exposed the theological and political leaders of the day for the hypocrites they were, they turned out the lights.

Once again I ask, do we ever turn out the lights on the unpopular truths of Jesus today? Some of you will remember that more than a year ago there was a big stir in the media when someone claimed to have found tombs or "bone boxes" in Jerusalem containing the bones of Jesus and members of his family. Many reputable archeologists, both Christian and non—Christian, quickly pointed out how common the names of Jesus and Mary and Joseph were during that time and how unlikely it was that the bones actually belonged to Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, television specials were made, press conferences were called and headlines were made by the suggestion that Jesus’ dead bones had been found. Of course, we shouldn’t be surprised that the bodily resurrection of Jesus is rejected by secular media. But there were also at least some representatives of the church who were ready to turn out the lights.

As I listened to a radio commercial for one of the programs exploiting the so—called bones of Jesus, I heard a man identified as a Christian priest say, "If they found the bones of Jesus in a tomb that would not hurt my faith at all. My faith does not depend on the physical resurrection of Jesus," he said. "I expect that his bones are in a tomb somewhere." A Christian priest said those words!

Now, if you know enough about the state of the Christian church in the Western world today, you are not exactly shocked by such comments. In too many of our churches and amongst too many of our leaders—elders, pastors, deacons, and professors—the light of truth has been turned off. In spite of Paul’s light of truth in I Corinthians 15:14 where he says, "If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith," there are still those in the church who reject this cornerstone doctrine of our faith. When Jesus says, "I am the way, truth and life. No one comes to the Father except through me," we try to find another way or we claim that many ways to God are effective. In short, we turn out the light on truth which doesn’t sound right or possible to our own ears. Yes, we too today, know the darkness of the Sanhedrin’s rejection of light.

Finally, we come to the High Priest in our passage. He sits in the ultimate position of authority and light for the Hebrew people. He has risen to this position because he stands firmly in the right priestly line. He stands for the truth. Now it is true that the position has become heavily political in that day, but still he is the chief human representative of Almighty God, the God of light.

In our text, to his credit, the High Priest recognizes the false witnesses for the liars they are. So he goes right to the source of true light, Jesus Christ himself. He stands in front of Jesus and says, "Are you not going to answer?" But Jesus remains silent. Perhaps Jesus is thinking of the ancient Proverb, "Do not answer a fool according to his folly." Jesus remains silent.

Jesus’ silence forces the High Priest to get to the heart of the matter. He asks Jesus the all important, eternally significant, question of light and truth, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" All of Israel, all of God’s covenant people have been waiting for the person who can answer this question affirmatively. The High Priest, the Sanhedrin, the Elders and teachers of the Law have all been waiting for Christ. So the High Priest’s question is the ultimate one. "Are you the Christ?"

Praise God, Jesus does not stay silent this time. He answers the question directly, "I am," Jesus says. Light has finally come and revealed himself plainly for all to see, but the High Priest rips his clothes. In a dramatic show of lamentation he tears his clothes and accuses Jesus of blasphemy. It turns out that the High Priest is not interested in true light. When the Savior of the world, the light of the world, stands in front of the leaders and rulers of all of Israel and boldly shines as the true light, the one they have all been waiting for, they all condemn the light. The lights go out. It is dark.

As if to accentuate the depths of the darkness, Jesus, the light of the world, is blindfolded. The lights have gone out. They spit on him, beat him. Like a bunch of three year olds they make fun of the blindfolded light by ask him to prophesy while blindfolded. But the tragedy here is that they are not three year olds playing a childhood game. They are the covenant leaders of God’s people. They have the Word, the Law and the Prophets. If those rejecting Jesus were outside the covenant family——those outside the light of God’s revelation——perhaps we could understand or excuse their ignorance. But this is not the case. The first two calls for the death of Jesus are not made by outsiders, they are made by insiders. Those who first reject the light of Jesus Christ, turning out the light of the world, are those on the inside. Once again we find that the suffering and death of Jesus is an inside job. Insiders turn out the light.

I am sure that many of you listening today do not think of yourselves as insiders. And yet I would imagine that many of you know Jesus. You have been exposed in some way to God’s light in your life. You may have had a grandmother who sat you on her knee and told you the stories of Jesus. It is likely that you had a pastor who preached the light of truth to you. It is possible that you had a Gideon’s Bible placed in your hand and you read it. Perhaps you had a Sunday school teacher who used an ancient instrument of instruction called a flannel graph board to show you the stories of the Bible. Maybe it was by listening to this Back to God Hour program years ago, that you first came to the light. If we did not have the Bible on our Ipods, Blackberrys, and computers, if the Bible was not the best selling book of all time, perhaps then we would have an excuse to be in the darkness. But for all of us listening today, the light of the world comes brightly and clearly before us and says, "I am." The light has come to us. There is no excuse for continued darkness.

But unfortunately, as John writes in the first chapter of his Gospel, "(Jesus) came to his own, but his own received him not." Sadly, these words of John are true for us today just as they were for people of Jesus’ day. As a brother and as a pastor my heart regularly breaks for loved ones, for members of my congregation, and for family members of my congregation, who turn out the light of Christ in their lives. I am passionate about the tragedy because I have seen and felt the tragedy personally. The tragedy is this: Those who have sat under the teaching of Scripture, who have seen the revealed light of Christ, reject him and turn out the light in their lives. There is no greater pain in a Christian parent’s life than the pain of a child who has rejected Christ. There is no greater pain for a brother than the pain of another brother who rejects the light. There is no greater pain for a pastor than the pain of members his own congregation who simply turn out the light of Christ’s revelation. I have seen the tears, and I have shed the tears. The light of the world has come, but his own received him not.

So we find ourselves in darkness. Where is the Gospel then? Where is the gospel in the midst of this dreary text of Lenten darkness? Where is the light in this text where Jesus is beaten, spat upon, and blindfolded? Where is the light in the text? Well the light is right in front of us! The light is the revelation of God in Christ Jesus as he boldly proclaims, "I am!"

While it is true that we may be content to stay in darkness, it is equally and more powerfully true that Jesus stands before us today, just as assuredly as he stood before the High Priest long ago, and proclaims, "I am the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One." Our text is telling us that if we want light to return to our world, we need to see the light of the world who stands before us today.

People of God have you received Jesus Christ? Are you living in the Light? Or are you like Peter, merely warming yourself in relative darkness off in a corner. Do you live in the light, or do you like the Sanhedrin set all your biblical knowledge and truth aside bearing false witness against God’s true words of light through Jesus Christ? Do you live at the core of your life with Jesus before you believing his words, or do you like the High Priest deny the light that is right in front of you?

Here is your challenge for today. If you find yourself like Peter, merely warming yourself in dim light, come into the full light of Christ today. If you find yourself like the Sanhedrin filled with Biblical knowledge and truth and yet refusing to hear and believe the truth of the light, stop your false witnessing and come to the full light of Christ. If you find yourself like the High Priest having Jesus Christ right in front of you testifying that he is the Christ, then come to that light of truth and believe. Hear the great "I Am" today and believe.

About the Author

Paul DeVries

Rev. Paul DeVries, most commonly referred to as “Pastor Paul”, is the Sr. Pastor of Brookside Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is married to Diane (nee Vanden Akker) and the father of four children. He graduated from Calvin Theological Seminary in 1989 and served for 12 years as the pastor of Unity Christian Reformed Church in Prospect Park, New Jersey. As a pastor his first love and greatest joy comes in the honor of bringing God’‘s Word to his congregation on a weekly basis through his preaching. He enjoys reading, camping with his family, watching his children’‘s sporting events, and working on home improvement projects - inside and outside his home.

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