Skip to content ↓

The Cross He Bore – Taking the Oath

Articles Collection cover image

This is day six of our thirteen days trek through The Cross He Bore by Frederick Leahy. Today’s text is from Matthew 26:63,64: “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.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said so.’”

In this chapter Leahy continues to look at the farce of a trial Jesus was subjected to by the Sanhedrin. He looks at the oath Jesus took when, by the living God, he attested that he was the Christ, the Son of God. In the midst of all these religious leaders Christ declared that he was, indeed, the Messiah.

Here is a quote taken from the very beginning of the chapter.


This was the last meeting of the supreme Jewish ecclesiastical court, the Sanhedrin, warranted by God, in the sense that it could legitimately meet in his name and expect his blessing. In the counsels of heaven, once the “curtain of the sanctuary” was “torn in two, from top to bottom,” the Sanhedrin was dismissed. In future it would be redundant. It would be left stranded in the blind alley of its willful rejection of the truth. Historically, it was swept away with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

This last, divinely accredited session of the Sanhedrin–a council which inherited the teaching and noble traditions of a great nation–met as the clock of prophecy indicated the approach of noon and the question to be decided was the question of the ages, the question put by the Saviour himself, “Who do you say that I am?” But the Sanhedrin did not hear the ticking of that clock and had no awareness of the tension and gravity of the hour. The Christ who had refused to share the secret of his riddle with the wicked, maintaining a firm silence before Caiaphas, when put on oath would solemnly swear that he was the Messiah, the Son of the living God.


  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 15)

    A La Carte: Sharing our struggles / The danger of inaction / “You don’t love your daughter” / A godly sense of humor / Three excuses for not reading your Bible / A closer look at Noah’s ark / and more.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 14)

    A La Carte: Distorted doctrine destroys lives / Making sense of bad things / Be the Jonathan / A bridegroom of blood / Administrative sludge / Musical elements / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Prayer

    Spread Too Thin

    With so much to do, we can easily begin to wonder whether prayer is an appropriate use of scarce time. Wouldn’t it be better to give my attention to something that would let me cross something off my to-do list?

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (July 12)

    A La Carte: Where art thou Rob Bell? / The case against in vitro fertilization / Praying and weeping for those suffering in Texas / Greet each other with a holy hug / The example of Jimmy Swaggart / and more.

  • Thriving Marriage

    Thriving Marriage

    I have often wondered about the best time to write a book about marriage. When a couple is young, there is so much about marriage they have not yet experienced. They can still impart wisdom and teach lessons, of course, but there is so much of marriage that remains unknown to them. Yet when a…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (July 11)

    A La Carte: Falling out of repentance / Tattoos as confession / The Epstein List and secret sins / Teaching generosity / Lessons from a former youth pastor / Bedbugs in the bowels of the city.