Luke 22:67-71
Context22:67 and said, “If 1 you are the Christ, 2 tell us.” But he said to them, “If 3 I tell you, you will not 4 believe, 22:68 and if 5 I ask you, you will not 6 answer. 22:69 But from now on 7 the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand 8 of the power 9 of God.” 22:70 So 10 they all said, “Are you the Son of God, 11 then?” He answered 12 them, “You say 13 that I am.” 22:71 Then 14 they said, “Why do we need further testimony? We have heard it ourselves 15 from his own lips!” 16
[22:67] 1 tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text.
[22:67] 2 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
[22:67] 3 tn This is a third class condition in the Greek text. Jesus had this experience already in 20:1-8.
[22:67] 4 tn The negation in the Greek text is the strongest possible (οὐ μή, ou mh).
[22:68] 5 tn This is also a third class condition in the Greek text.
[22:68] 6 tn The negation in the Greek text is the strongest possible (οὐ μή, ou mh).
[22:69] 7 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.
[22:69] 8 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.
[22:69] 9 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.
[22:70] 10 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus’ pronouncement.
[22:70] 11 sn The members of the council understood the force of the claim and asked Jesus about another title, Son of God.
[22:70] 12 tn Grk “He said to them.”
[22:70] 13 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.”
[22:71] 14 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
[22:71] 15 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.