We have pointed out that while the Lord Jesus was being falsely accused, He was silent. But when He was questioned concerning His Person, whether He was the Christ, the Son of the Blessed, He answered, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (14:62). Although He was asked whether He was the Son of the Blessed, that is, the Son of God, the Lord referred to Himself as the Son of Man. The Lord is the Son of Man, not only on earth before His crucifixion, but also in the heavens on the right hand of God after His resurrection (Acts 7:56), and even at His coming back on the clouds. To accomplish God’s purpose the Lord had to be a man. Without man, God’s purpose could not be carried out on earth.
In 14:62 the Lord Jesus seemed to be saying to the Jewish leaders, “You ask Me whether I am the Christ, the Son of the Blessed. I say, Yes, I am. I am also the Son of Man, and you will see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of Power. You speak of the Blessed, but I speak of Power.”
Both “Blessed” in verse 61 and “Power” in verse 62 refer to the almighty God. The Lord’s use of the word “Power” indicates that the Jewish leaders were not the government, but that He is the government. The Lord went on to indicate to them that He would come back as the Son of Man. The Lord also seemed to be saying, “You revere God as the Blessed. But I tell you, He is the Power to govern all things. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
When Pilate was examining the Lord Jesus, he did not care whether or not He was the Son of God. Instead, Pilate questioned Him, saying, “Are you the King of the Jews?” (15:2). To this question the Lord answered, “You are saying it.” This means that the Lord admitted to Pilate that He was the King of the Jews. Therefore, He was both the Son of God and the King of the Jews. Because of this, He was sentenced to death. This means that He was crucified as the Son of God and as the King of the Jews.
In chapter fourteen, while the Lord Jesus was passing through the judgment at the hands of men, Peter failed. In his failure he passed through the experience of the Lord’s death. All the close followers of the Lord were also brought into His death.
We should not think that the Lord Jesus was finished with Peter because of his failure. No, Peter’s failure was his crucifixion, and this crucifixion was the entrance into the Lord’s death.
Peter needed to be crucified, to be brought into the death of Christ, because he was so natural. Being bold, he always took the lead. Certainly it is necessary for such a person to be crossed out, and Peter was in fact crossed out. Although he did not realize it at the time, he entered into the Lord’s death. No doubt, later, after the Lord’s resurrection and ascension, Peter came to realize that he had entered into the Lord’s crucifixion.
For years I did not understand why the record concerning the judgment of the Lord Jesus is merged with the account of Peter’s experience. I thought that this was merely intended to be an exposure of Peter. Now I see that not only was Peter being exposed, but He was passing through the process of death with the Lord Jesus. Because Peter is our representative, this means that we all entered into the Lord’s death with Him.
The Lord Jesus went through death in a triumphant way, but Peter went through death in the way of failure. This failure exposed Peter’s natural being and caused it to be dealt with.
The Lord Jesus was not the only one who passed through the process of death. All of us, represented by Peter, have passed through this process with the Lord Jesus. Do you not think that you are a Peter? We all are Peters needing to be exposed, judged, and crucified.