CXXVI.
SECOND STAGE OF JEWISH TRIAL. JESUS CONDEMNED
BY CAIAPHAS AND THE SANHEDRIN.
(Palace of Caiaphas. Friday.)
aMATT. XXVI. 57, 59-68; bMARK
XIV. 53, 55-65; cLUKE XXII. 54,
63-65; dJOHN XVIII. 24.
d24 Annas therefore sent
him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. [Foiled in his attempted examination
of Jesus, Annas sends him to trial.] band
there come together with him all the chief priests and the elders and the
scribes. a57
And they that had taken Jesus led him away to the house of Caiaphas
the high priest, cand brought him into the high priest's house.
awhere the scribes and the elders were gathered together.
[It is very likely that Annas had apartments in the same palace with Caiaphas,
and that from these apartments Jesus was led into some hall large enough
to hold the Sanhedrin, which was now convened. But this was not its formal
session as a court; it was more in the nature of a caucus, or committee
of the whole.]
b55 Now the chief priests and the whole council sought afalse
witness against Jesus, bto {athat they might} put
him to death; 60 and they found it not,
though many false witnesses came. b56
For many bare false witness against him, and their witness agreed not together.
aBut afterward came b57
And there stood up certain, atwo, band bare false
witness against him, a61 and
said, {bsaying,} aThis man said, I am able to destroy
the temple of God, and to build it in three days.
b58 We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made
with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.
59 And not even so did their witness agree together. [What Jesus [696] had
really said will be found at John ii. 19-22. Though his words were misunderstood
at that time, being applied, not to his body, but to Herod's temple, yet
it is not unlikely that the Jewish rulers, hearing our Lord's prediction
that he would rise from the dead after three days (Matt. xxvii. 62, 63),
came to understand the import of his words. If so, the record itself shows
the willingness of the Sanhedrin to receive false witnesses against Christ,
for its judges received testimony which they knew to be utterly immaterial
if rightly construed. The accounts of the two Evangelists, moreover, show
how the witnesses failed to agree. A man could only be condemned on the
testimony of two witnesses as to some fact or facts constituting a ground
for condemnation--Deut. xvii. 6; xix. 15.]
a62 And the high priest stood up, bin the midst,
and asked Jesus, aand said unto him, {bsaying,} Answerest
thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
a63 But Jesus held his peace. band answered nothing.
[While the testimony then before the court might be used to show that Jesus
was recklessly boastful, it was insufficient to justify a sentence of blasphemy.
A threat to destroy the temple might be thus construed (Jer. xxvi. 9-11;
Acts vi. 13, 14); but a promise to rebuild the temple, if destroyed, was
altogether different. The high priest, knowing this, sought to extort from
Jesus some additional evidence. With great cunning and effrontery he assumes
that the testimony is all that could be possibly desired, and demands of
Jesus what he has to say in answer to it. But our Lord did not suffer himself
to seem so easily deceived. He gave no explanation, since the future would
explain his meaning, and speak the real truth to all who had ears to hear
it.] aAnd bAgain the high priest asked him, and
saith {asaid} unto him, bArt thou the Christ, the
Son of the Blessed? aI adjure thee by the living God, that thou
tell us whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God. [Seeing that Jesus
was not to be lured into an answer, and well knowing his perfect frankness,
Caiaphas resolved, in his desperation, to question Jesus plainly and [697] bluntly.
His question is twofold: 1. Art thou Christ? 2. Art thou the Son of God?
The latter of these would constitute blasphemy, and the former, by showing
a boastful spirit, would tend to confirm the charge. Perhaps, too, Caiaphas
anticipated the future, and foresaw how useful this claim to be the Messiah
would prove when a hearing was had before Pilate (Luke xxiii. 2). Originally
the Messiah was recognized as the Son of God (Ps. ii. 7), but if the Jews
had ever generally entertained such an idea, they had lost it before Jesus'
day, The Messiah might of course be called the Son of God in that secondary
sense in which Adam was thus called (John i. 49; Luke iii. 38). But Jesus
had used the term in an entirely different sense, and his usage had been
extremely offensive to the Jews (John v. 17, 18; x. 30-39; Matt. xxii.
41-46). Caiaphas evidently wished Jesus to answer this question in that
new sense which the Lord had given to the words. Caiaphas had no legal
right to ask either of these questions. No man can be compelled to testify
against himself, but he knew the claims of Jesus, and realized that if
Jesus repudiated them he would be shamed forever, and if he asserted them
he could be charged with blasphemy. Taking advantage, therefore, of the
situation, Caiaphas put the question with the usual formula of an oath,
thus adding moral power to it, for, under ordinary circumstances, one was
held guilty if he refused to answer when thus adjured (Lev. v. 1). When
their own witnesses failed, these rulers called the "faithful witness"--I.
Tim. vi. 13; Rev. i. 5.]
b62 And Jesus said, {asaith} unto him, Thou hast
said: bI am: and anevertheless I say unto you, Henceforth
ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming
on {bwith} the clouds of heaven. [Jesus freely confessed
the truth which his church is called upon to confess. "Right hand of Power"
was commonly understood to mean the right hand of God. By the words "nevertheless"
and "henceforth" Jesus brings the present state of humiliation into contrast
with his future state of glory. Hard as it might be for them to believe
it, the day would come when he should [698] sit
in judgment and they should stand on trial before him.]
63 And a65 Then the high priest
rent his garments, {bclothes,} and saith, {asaying,}
He hath spoken blasphemy: what further need have we of witnesses? behold,
now ye have heard the blasphemy: 66 what
think ye? [Though Jesus had given the very answer which the high priest
was longing to hear, yet he hypocritically pretends to be shocked at it,
and rends his clothes and feigns horror. Evidently he feared the effect
of the clear, calm answer of Jesus and sought to counteract its influence
on his colleagues.] They answered and said, He is worthy of death. bAnd
they all condemned him to be worthy of death. [This was not the final,
formal sentence, but the mere determination of the council at the preliminary
hearing.] c63 And the men
that held Jesus mocked him, and beat him.
b65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face,
a67 Then did they spit in his face and buffet him:
c64 And they blindfolded him, aand some smote him
with the palms of their hands, 68 saying,
{band [began] to say unto him,} aProphesy
unto us, thou Christ: who is he that struck thee? band the officers
received him with blows of their hands.
c65 And many other things spake they against him, reviling him.
[To spit in the face has been an insult in all ages and in all lands. See
Num. xii. 14; Deut. xxv. 9; Job xxx. 10. Jesus, having stood out for examination,
is now given back to the officers to be led away into the council chamber.
These officers received Jesus with many indignities. They seek to make
his high claims contemptible, and to make it appear that instead of being
divine he is hardly worthy to be regarded as human.] [699]
[FFG 696-699]
