(67) Art thou the Christ?--St. Luke passes over the earlier stages of the trial, the false-witnesses that did not agree, the charge of threatening to destroy the Temple, and the silence of Jesus until solemnly adjured.

If I tell you, ye will not believe.--The answer is reported only by St. Luke. It is interpreted by what we find in St. John. Our Lord had told them (John 8:58; John 10:30), and they had not believed.

Verse 67. - Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe. In his answer Jesus evidently refers to something which had preceded this interrogation on the part of the Sanhedrim He referred, no doubt, to that night examination before Caiaphas and certain chosen members of the council - the meeting passed over by St. Luke, but recounted by SS. Matthew and Mark. In this earlier trial, which we (see above) term the second, a similar question had been put to Jesus, but, as Lange and Stier point out, now the political significance of the charge, the claim to Messianic royalty, is brought into prominence. They were desirous to formulate an accusation which they could bring before the Roman tribunal of Pilate. The words, "Son of God," which the fury of jealous anger had wrung from Caiaphas (Matthew 26:63), is here left out of sight, and is only brought forward again by the fierce Jewish wrath excited by the Lord's quiet words telling of his "session at the right hand" (vers. 69, 70). If I tell you, ye will not be-liege. If you, who have seen my life, have heard my words, and seen my works, believe not, to what end is it to say it again now?

22:63-71 Those that condemned Jesus for a blasphemer, were the vilest blasphemers. He referred them to his second coming, for the full proof of his being the Christ, to their confusion, since they would not admit the proof of it to their conviction. He owns himself to be the Son of God, though he knew he should suffer for it. Upon this they ground his condemnation. Their eyes being blinded, they rush on. Let us meditate on this amazing transaction, and consider Him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.Saying, art thou the Christ,.... The Messiah, promised and prophesied of by Moses, and all the prophets, and long expected by us: "tell us". The Ethiopic version adds, openly; tell us frankly, freely, plainly, as in John 10:24.

And he said unto them, if I tell you, you will not believe. The Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions read, "will not believe me"; neither what he said, nor that he was the Messiah; they were determined not to believe in him, and receive him as such; their unbelief was wilful, obstinate, and invincible: they were proof against all arguments, evidence, and demonstration itself.