If You Tell The Truth You Will Die?

Luke 22:70-71 - And they all said, "Are You the Son of God, then?" And He said to them, "Yes, I am." Then they said, "What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth."  NASU 
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• Jesus' Situation 

He is asked specifically "Are You the Son of God?" and He says, "Yes, I am." 
  
WOW! 
  
Do you understand what just happened when Jesus said He was the Son of God? 
  
When asked directly if He were the Son of God, He says, "Yes." He knows full well this means He will die. The Israelites will interpret this as blasphemy. Jesus was making Himself equal with God when He states He is the Son of God. 
  
Anyone guilty of blasphemy was to be stoned to death, but the Romans didn't use stoning as a means of death. They used crucifixion and since they were under Roman rule Jesus was crucified instead of stoned, which fulfilled another prophecy (see Psalm 22:16). 
  
Levit. 24:15-16 - If anyone curses his God, then he will bear his sin. Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.  NASU 
  
The Israelite priests thought if you made yourself equal to God then this was "blasphemy" and when Jesus answers their question that He is the Son of God He is making Himself equal with God. 
  
 Therefore, in the Israelite priests' minds, He was worthy of death. 

• What Would We Do? 

Can you imagine if you were in a very hostile environment and the leader of the group is standing there with a machete or a gun and he asks you this question: "Are you a Christian?" 
  
You know if you say "yes" he is going to kill you. 
  
So, what do you do? 
  
We all have to answer this question for ourselves. 
  
Let me share this verse with you from the book of Revelation 14:13- And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them." 
  
If you are a Christian and you die in the Lord it is a good thing. For the Lord says we are "Blessed". 
  
Revel. 20:6 - Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power,… 
  
Let me share with you my understanding of this verse: 
  
The sinner who becomes a believer in Jesus Christ makes a choice to die ( 1st death) to sin. Once this decision has been made they are baptized (immersed) which is the believer's 1st resurrection up out of the watery grave.   
  
Therefore, the 2nd death which would be the believer's physical death will not have any power over them. 
  
Here is how the apostle Paul explains it: 
  
Romans 6:2-5 -  How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,… 
  
If you tell the truth that you are a Christian you just might have to die for it. 
  
The truth will set you free. 
  
Think About This: 
  
It is better to die in Christ than to die outside of Christ. 

Stay Pumped, 
  
Gary A. Serago 
  
Minister of God's Word