Matins Devotion: March 24, 2026

Mark 14:53–72

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

What does Jesus mean when He speaks these words in response to the high priest during His trial? I think there are ultimately two answers to that question. The first is because Jesus wants to bring the whole sham to an end. The Chief Priests need red meat in order to put Him to death, and they can’t seem to get any of the witnesses to provide it, so Jesus will provide it Himself. This is, in a sense, our Lord’s way of saying, “get on with it. You want to condemn me to death? Fine. I’ll give you the words myself because I want you to know that this is only happening because I’m letting it happen.”

But there’s also a sense in which Jesus is also peeling back the veil concealing His power to show His profound mercy to those who seek His death. With these words, He’s essentially saying “I am indeed the Son of God. I am armed with every ounce of my Father’s authority. And one day, this Savior that you won’t be able to keep in the grave will return to melt the earth with His judgment. So I could pour out that power upon you now. But I don’t want you. I don’t want to condemn you. I want to save you.”

Such is the love of Jesus Christ our Lord. When you despised Him, struck Him, and mocked Him with your sins, the Son of God always had the power to eviscerate you, the power to burn you to ashes with His righteous wrath. But He chose to love you, chose to cherish you, chose to save you by enduring upon the cross every incinerating degree of wrath that you earned. When you, in your sin, tried to take the final breath from Christ’s lungs, the Son of God who had every angel and manifestation of power available to Him chose to let you have that final breath. He gave it up to wash you clean in His blood, gave it up to make you His own brother. And because of this, on the day when He returns, seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven, His earth melting glory will not melt you. It will purify you, glorify you, and deliver you into His arms and into His eternal kingdom.