One of the things about the Passion narratives in the Gospels that people have often puzzled over is the enigmatic way Jesus answers those who question him. In the Passion Gospel we’ve just heard, for example, on three separate occasions, Jesus answers a direct question in the same cryptic way. At supper when Jesus tells the disciples that one of them will betray him and Judas asks if he is the one, Jesus answers,
“You have said so.”
Later, when the high priest demands that Jesus tell the Council whether he is “the Christ, the Son of God”, again Jesus answers,
“You have said so.”
And finally, when Pilate asks Jesus whether he is the “King of the Jews”,
yet again Jesus answers,
“You have said so.”
And people have often puzzled over why Jesus answered in this way rather than giving direct, unambiguous answers to such direct questions. So why did Jesus do this?
It’s often thought that Jesus’ answers to these questions where a rhetorical device; that he answered in the way he did to make a point, to throw the emphasis back on the questioner, perhaps to make them question themselves about why they were asking these particular questions and what they already thought the answer might be. It’s also been widely suggested that, as enigmatic as they are, Jesus’ answers were affirmative, in essence, he was saying ‘Yes’. But that’s a bit too simplistic because the different responses of those who questioned Jesus, to his answer, don’t really support that. So what is Jesus really saying when he answers, “You have said so.” to Judas, the high priest Caiaphas, and Pontius Pilate?
If we want to understand Jesus’ answers, or at least get better understanding of them, we have to look at the Passion narratives, and the Scriptures as a whole, more widely. So let’s start with Judas.
We know from this morning’s Passion Gospel that when Judas asked Jesus of he was the one who was going to betray him, he’d already agreed to ‘deliver’ him to the chief priests.
So in this case, Jesus’ answer can easily been seen as a simple ‘Yes’ because Judas had already said it to the chief priest. Judas might not have fully realised that what he’d done was a betrayal because we read later that when Jesus was condemned, Judas realised that he had,
“…sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
We can never be certain of Judas’ motives in betraying Jesus. In his Gospel, John tells us that ‘Satan entered into him’ while they were eating and when Jesus told him to do what he was going to do, Judas went out ‘immediately’ to carry out the act. So perhaps we can understand Jesus’ answer to Judas as,
‘Yes, it is you. You may not realise it, but you have already said that you will betray me.’
And so we can perhaps also see Jesus’ answer as an invitation to Judas to think again about what he was about to do.
And we can see some similarities to this in Jesus’ answer to the high priest. Caiaphas asked Jesus if he was the Christ and Jesus said that he, the high priest, had said so. And while he may not have realised it, he had indeed said so.
In John’s Gospel, the plot to kill Jesus starts to take shape after the raising of Lazarus. And Caiaphas tells the Council,
“You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”
Caiaphas may have been responding to the Council’s fears about what the Romans might do in response to Jesus’ growing popularity and following, but in doing so, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the sake of the nation. And this is just what Isaiah prophesied of the Christ, that he would suffer and die for the sins of the people. But Jesus qualifies his answer to Caiaphas and says,
“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.”
And now it’s Caiphas whose knowledge and understanding are called into question.
The title ‘Son of Man’ comes from the prophecies of Daniel:
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
We know that Jesus’ own preferred title for himself was the Son of Man, so what he seems to be saying to Caiaphas is,
‘Yes, I am the Christ, you have said so yourself in linking me with the ‘Suffering Servant’ prophecies of Isaiah. But you still have no understanding of who I really am. I am the Son of Man who has come from the Father with authority on earth to forgive sins and to raise the dead. I sit at the right hand of the Father and will come in glory to reign for ever over all people.’
And so we can understand Jesus’ answer as a challenge to Caiphas, and the Council, to think about who and what they understand ‘the Christ’ to be. To try to understand who it is that is standing before them, that he is far more than they imagine him to be and to think about what they are doing. And we can see an echo of this in Jesus’ words from the Cross;
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Finally Jesus stands before Pilate who asks him if he is the ‘King of the Jews.’ We can perhaps get a better understanding of Jesus’ answer here if we read it alongside the version we find in St John’s Gospel.
So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
We know from St Luke’s Gospel that the Council had told Pilate that Jesus was claiming to be “Christ, a king” so it was others who had said that to him. Now, Pilate would have had no hesitation in putting to death anyone who claimed to be the King of the Jews because that was a direct challenge, and potential threat to Roman rule. But what follows is a discussion about what kind of King Jesus, the Christ, claims to be. And the answer is that it’s a kind of King that doesn’t necessarily challenge or threaten Roman rule. We know that because all the Gospels say that Pilate saw no fault in Jesus, certainly nothing that warranted a death sentence, and would like to have released him. So Jesus’ answer to Pilate seems to be something along the lines of,
‘You have said so; that I’m a King, but what do you mean by that? What is your understanding of kingship?
It’s a challenge to think in a very different way about what it means to be a king.
When we look at Jesus’ answer to those who questioned him in the light of the Gospels and the Scriptures as a whole, we see that enigmatic answer as something much more because we see it as a challenge to Judas, to Caiaphas and to Pilate to look at themselves and to try to understand things in a different and deeper way. And we can apply that to ourselves too. Like Judas, we can betray Jesus, even though me might not realise that’s what were doing at the time. So we’re asked to think about what we’re doing and stop before we do something we might regret later. Like Caiaphas, we say that Jesus is Christ and Son of God, but Jesus challenges us to think about what that really means and to consider that, no matter how much we think we know, we don’t, and can’t, fully understand the fullness of what that means. And like Pilate we can say that Jesus is a King, but Jesus challenges us to think about just what we mean by that, about what kind of King Jesus is, and about what it means to be subject to his rule.
Amen.
Propers for Palm Sunday, 29th March 2026
Entrance Antiphon
Hosanna to the Son of David;
blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.
Hosanna in the highest.
The Collect
Almighty ever-living God,
who as an example of humility for the human race to follow
caused our Saviour to take flesh and submit to the Cross,
graciously grant that we may heed his lesson of patient suffering
and so merit a share in his Resurrection.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Readings
Liturgy of the Palms
Matthew 21:1-11
Liturgy of the Word
Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24
Philippians 2:6-11
Matthew26:14-27:66
Prayer after Communion
Nourished with these sacred gifts,
we humbly beseech you, O Lord,
that, just as through the death of your Son
you have brought us to hope for what we believe,
so by his Resurrection
you may lead us to where you call.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 