We Must Decide for Ourselves

Tuesday, July 7th, 2026

4:29 am

Good morning! Today I am in Matthew 26:57-68, Mark 14:53-65, and Luke 63-65. After they took Jesus to Annas' house, they went to Caiaphas' house. Peter followed behind at a distance. When Jesus and went in the house, Peter stayed outside with some guards warming by a fire, he waited to see what would happen. Inside, the leading priest, teachers of religious laws, and the entire high council, looked for witnesses who would lie about Jesus, but they couldn't find anyone. Finally, 2 men stepped up and told them that Jesus said, "I will destroy the Temple of God and rebuild it in 3 days", but even then the men did not get their stories straight. Jesus did not say anything, so the priest asked Jesus, "Are You going to defend yourself?" But He remained silent. Then the leading priests demanded that Jesus tells them if He was the Messiah or not. Jesus told Him, "I Am. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God's right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the leading priest tore his clothes in horror, saying, "Blasphemy! Why do we need other witnesses?" And he asked what the people's verdict was, and they shouted that He was guilty, and that He deserved to die. Then they blindfolded Him, and began to beat Him and spit in His face. And the guards slapped Him, and the people jeered at Him saying, "Prophesy to us! Who hit you in the face?"

The leading priests and Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus but they couldn't find any one that could testify against Him. All the stories they came up with, contradicted each other. But Jesus' statement about being the Son of Man condemned Him because they thought it was blasphemy, and the Jews took blasphemy very serious. The people had to make a decision to believe Jesus' claims or not. We too have to make that decision. Do we believe Him or not? Our answer seals our fate. We either believe or we don't. We all have a choice to make.

Jesus didn't defend Himself, He knew what had to happen, and He faced it calmly and with courage. No matter what you face today, know that Jesus took our punishment of sin on Himself. He already paid that price. So we can face whatever challenges that the enemy throws at us in the same way, calmly and courageously because God is giving us the power to do so, if we choose Him. God is our ultimate defender. If we walk with Him, He will help us no matter what we go through.