Luke 22:67
Luke 22:6767“If You are the Christ, tell us.” Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe.
Luke's version of the trial is read as the council pressing Jesus for a messianic claim and Jesus deflecting. The Watchtower takes his eventual answer as an acknowledgement of his appointed role as Jehovah's king, and the council's verdict as the injustice of men who rejected God's chosen one.
Luke's account is worth reading alongside Matthew's because it separates the two questions, and the separation shows what the council was actually reacting to. In verse 67 they ask whether he is the Christ, and Jesus answers evasively — even if I told you, you would not believe. Then in verse 69 he volunteers Daniel's picture unprompted: from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the powerful right hand of God. Only then, in verse 70, do they ask "are you, therefore, the Son of God?" — and his answer ends the trial. So the messianic question did not produce the verdict. What produced it was Jesus placing himself at God's right hand in Daniel's language. The council drew the conclusion themselves, and Luke records them drawing it. That sequence is useful with a Witness who has been taught that "Son of God" means only a created son. Ask why the council escalated from "are you the Christ" to "are you the Son of God" only after he described himself seated beside God. Compare , , .