It was a pivotal question: Are you the Christ?
Jesus' answer would either set him free or seal his death.
But even at this critical moment he turns the question back on the questioners:
He knows the hardness of their hearts. He knows their stubborn unbelief. But their unbelief does not affect the truth: from now on, from this point to which they are ruthlessly moving, this crucifixion, from this point on, when he puts aside his temporary limitations of time and space and human flesh, from this point on he, 'the Son of Man', that glorious, divine, authoritative, eternal being of Daniel's vision, will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.
Yes. He is the Son of God.
With this answer he sealed his death.
But let us turn the question again, so that it confronts us, so that it challenges us, so that it forces us to face its pivotal and ultimate significance:
If Jesus told us who he is - would we listen?
If he asked us who we believed him to be - would we answer?
Our answer - our response - either seals our death, or sets us free.
To those who believe in him, to those who acknowledge and receive him as the Christ, the Son of God, he affirms: you have eternal life; you will never be condemned; you have already crossed over from death to life.
Scriptures: Luke 22:66-71; Daniel 7:13-14; John 1:12; 5:24; 1 John 5:12.