Untitled - St.Francis Magazine

St Francis Magazine Vol 8, No 2 | April 2012 26: 63 But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” 67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?” 27: 39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.” These two discourses demonstrate that these terms functioned as synonyms. Thus, the term “Son of God” did not denote deity to those mocking Jesus. Even the subsequent confession of the Roman centurion and his soldiers in 27:54 is not likely meant to denote Jesus’ divinity: “When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, ‘Truly this was [a] son of God!’” What does this confession indicate? It appears that the people’s mockery of Jesus being the “Son of God,” Jesus’ gracious responses, and the earthquake may have sparked within the soldiers their beliefs about the sons of the gods. 61 This 61 France acknowledges that “[d]ivine or semidivine properties could be credited to prominent men, and the Roman emperors were officially entitled 204