67 “If you are the Christ,” they said, “tell us.” Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me,
Sometimes people get their minds made up and, no matter what you tell them, they don’t listen. That is the situation in which Jesus finds himself. The religious leaders are pushing for his death. They are on the path and nothing Jesus says will dissuade them. They have heard him preach, seen his miracles, cross examined the participants and yet they still don’t believe. That is because they have their mind made up. The picture on their puzzle box doesn’t match the pieces they have, so they are forcing the pieces to match their picture. If they have to discard a few pieces to make it fit, so be it. As long as their picture doesn’t change, who cares if there are giant holes in their puzzle. It would have been so easy just to work with the pieces and assemble them according to the new picture that Jesus was presenting. But that would mean they would have to give up their places of power and authority. Their privileged standing in the community was in jeopardy. Their best places at events would be gone. To put it in a modern context, their season tickets to the ball games, box seats at the opera, air conditioned booth at NASCAR events would all be taken away. When they watched a parade they would have to fight the crowd like everyone else. Their private helicopter would not pick them up and take them to their private jet. The security checkpoints would be waiting for them. They would have to take off their shoes. They were not willing to give up their position in society. Jesus was asking too much because they had so much. That is one of the reason it is difficult for a rich person to get into heaven. Riches bring position in society, and we must be willing to be a servant of others. Jesus knows these leaders are not ready to give up their position, so he does not repeat his statements. They have heard them before and rejected them. He sees no need to repeat Himself when He knows they have their mind already made up. Do you ever have your mind so made up that you refuse to listen to the presentation of the facts?
The Arnold Journey 