“What Think Ye…”

“… of the Christ?“

In contemporary English, “What do you think about the Christ?“

When Jesus asked the Pharisees this question, it was shortly before His crucifixion. The Pharisees, who were the religious rulers of the day, were throwing everything they had at Him trying to find some weakness, some flaw they could exploit in order to discredit Him. Eventually they made stuff up, but at this point the search was still on for something legitimate.

Placing the quote in full context:

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,” they replied.

He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’ ‘ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

The fundamental error committed by the Pharisees was knowing only part of the definition as to who the promised Messiah would be. They understood he would be the son of David, meaning he would be a direct earthly descendant of Israel’s first great king. This was true. Yet even with this, they either missed altogether or knew without understanding the divine nature of the Messiah.

The Pharisees were looking for an earthly Messiah, one who would lead them in driving the Romans out of the country. They either did not grasp or conveniently ignored the purpose of the Messiah wasn’t temporal, political/military freedom but rather personal freedom. Why? Part of this stemmed from the overriding wish to be freed from the Roman empire. However, a significant aspect was the Pharisees were so enamored with what they unquestioningly believed to be their own righteousness they did not entertain the notion of being in need of personal salvation above what they claimed as part of their lifestyle and practices.

In short, the Pharisees didn’t get it. Oh, they knew it all right. They just didn’t get it. Their priority list of what was important had become so skewered they missed the truth even while mouthing the words containing it. By neglecting the truth, their knowledge was rendered useless.

All because they had no genuine idea who, or rather Who, the Messiah would be.

Apply this to today. How do we answer the question “what think ye of the Christ?” Who do we think Jesus is?

We have become so wrapped up in form and function we have forgotten the foundation. It doesn’t matter whether you’re liberal or conservative. Man or woman. Skin tone. Nationality. Financial status. Young or old. The list goes on. None of these are worth considering when measured against the one question that matters. What think ye of the Christ? On this there is no leeway. He is Who He says is, or He’s a bloody liar. What think ye of the Christ? Everything else is negotiable.

Everything.

More on this tomorrow.