Text -- Luke 22:68-71 (NET)

22:68 and if I ask you, you will not answer. 22:69 But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 22:70 So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” He answered them, “You say that I am.” 22:71 Then they said, “Why do we need further testimony? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Luk 22:68

¹ tn This is also a third class condition in the Greek text.

² tn The negation in the Greek text is the strongest possible (οὐ μή, ou mh).

NET Notes: Luk 22:69

¹ sn From now on. Jesus’ authority was taken up from this moment on. Ironically he is now the ultimate judge, who is himself being judged.

² sn Seated at the right hand is an allusion to Ps 110:1 (“Sit at my right hand…”) and is a claim that Jesus shares authority with God in heaven. Those present may have thought they were his judges, but, in fact, the reverse was true.

³ sn The expression the right hand of the power of God is a circumlocution for referring to God. Such indirect references to God were common in 1st century Judaism out of reverence for the divine name.

NET Notes: Luk 22:70

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus’ pronouncement.

² sn The members of the council understood the force of the claim and asked Jesus about another title, Son of God.

³ tn Grk “He said to them.”

⁴ sn Jesus’ reply, “You say that I am,” was not a denial, but a way of giving a qualified positive response: “You have said it, but I do not quite mean what you think.”

NET Notes: Luk 22:71

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

² sn We have heard it ourselves. The Sanhedrin regarded the answer as convicting Jesus. They saw it as blasphemous to claim such intimacy and shared authority with God, a claim so serious and convicting that no further testimony was needed.

³ tn Grk “from his own mouth” (an idiom).