In
the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Three times in St. Matthew's
account of the Passion, Jesus utters the words, “You have
said so.” Tonight you have
heard one, and tomorrow night you will hear the other two. All three
are replies to something said by one of His opponents, to turn the
tables on them with their own words.
In tonight's lesson, Jesus predicts
the things about to come, saying, “Truly, I say to you,
one of you will betray Me.”
The disciples all in turn express dismay at this revelation, and each
responds, “Is it I, Lord?”
Finally, the focus comes to Judas, who had already contracted with
the priests and scribes for such a thing. To save face, he also says,
“Is it I, Rabbi?”
And Jesus said, “You have said so.”
That is to say, Judas, you are guilty in your own conscience, and you
know it. I will not comdemn you, for your own actions do that. You
speak rightly.
The next time Jesus speaks the
words is before Caiaphas, the high priest. Attempting to trap Jesus
in blasphemy, Caiaphas commands Jesus, “I adjure you by
the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
There the high priest speaks the truth of who Jesus is, and he binds
himself under oath before God. Upon this confession, Jesus answers,
“You have said so.”
That is, Yes, I am the Christ, the Son of God, the Lord of Hosts, and
all the other things your Scriptures declare Me to be, and you
yourself have confessed it to be so.
