Joel M Bradshaw

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62And 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.” 63And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64You have heard his blasphemy.–Mark 14, part 2

The High Priest essentially asked Jesus, “Are you the fulfillment of Psalm 2?”

2The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed…7I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession….11Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.–Psalm 2

Jesus answered with two statements. His first words are not as emphatic as in the Greek. His “I am” is the Greek ego eimi which means “I, I am”. It’s as if he was declaring a linkage to the great I Am of the burning bush moment. It could have come across as “I, the I AM”.

14God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”–Exodus 3

The name Yahweh is linked to the verb hayah which means “to cause to be”. God told Moses that he is the one that causes being. Jesus many times in the Gospels proclaimed the I Am linkage and did so here as well.

But he didn’t stop with Exodus 3. Jesus then brought up Daniel 7.

13“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.–Daniel 7

So the High Priest asked Jesus if he was the exalted Messiah, Son of God. Jesus responded that he is the I AM, the exalted Son of Man who received worship alongside the Ancient of Days. This was considered blasphemy to them, because it was Jesus claiming to be God.

Jesus didn’t plead the fifth. He in fact testified more. He is more than the Messiah. He is God in the flesh. They asked Psalm 2 and he responded with Exodus 3 and Daniel 7.–JMB