Life of Christ 169
It is well after
midnight. Jesus has poured out His soul to His Father in Gethsamane and
received the strength He needs to face Calvary. He wakens the Apostles from
sleep and then calmly awaits the advent of the end. And He doesn't wait long. And immediately, while he yet spake, cometh
Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and
staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. (Mark 14.41-43)
Judas Iscariot, after
leaving the Last Supper in the Upper Room, must have gone immediately to the
Sanhedrin. He proceeded to inform them that Jesus was in the city after dark
and that He could thus be arrested quietly. The Romans would not allow the
Sanhedrin much in the way of an armed force. They appealed to Pilate in order
borrow some of the Roman cohort that was stationed at Fortress Antonia adjacent
to the Temple, and Pilate consented. Taking to the streets with Judas Iscariot
they marched to the Upper Room and found it empty. Bethinking himself of other
places to which Jesus was wont to go at night the Iscariot led them next to the
Garden of Gethsamane.
It would be easy to get
confused in the dark and so the conspirators had previously agreed on a
necessary signal for identification. Thus it is that Judas Iscariot comes to
place the infamous traitor's kiss upon the brow of our Saviour. Once having
been so marked, the Roman soldiers ask for verbal confirmation. Jesus gives it,
and then asks them to spare His Apostles (John 18.8) most of whom are rapidly
departing the scene. Peter puts up a bit of a fuss, wildly swinging his short
ceremonial Passover sword to a not quite so deadly effect before he is calmed
down. Jesus' hands are bound and He is led through the sleeping streets of
Jerusalem to the high priest's palace. (John 18.12-13)
Jesus Before the Sanhedrin, William Brassey Hole, 1900 |
The position of high
priest had long ago devolved into a corrupt family business. The Romans sold
the position to Annas' family, and they maintained a hold on it using differing
relatives over a period of several decades. The Bazaars of Annas were infamous
in the day, and the corrupt monopoly they held over Temple transactions had
twice moved Jesus to visible displays of wrath. Annas' son-in-law, Caiaphas,
nominally held the position of high priest at the moment but it is to the power
behind the throne that Jesus is first brought for examination.
Annas seeks first to
establish the extent of Jesus' teaching and of His followship. (John 18.19).
Jesus retorts that this information was readily known for His ministry was
nothing if not public. (John 18.20-21) This response, viewed as impudent, was
met with the harshness of blows from Annas' lackeys. (John 18.22) This
terminates the interview, and a frustrated Annas turns Jesus over to his
son-in-law, Caiaphas, and a hastily assembled Sanhedrin. (Mark 14.53-65)
Technically, this was a
pre-trial examination. Realistically, it was a kangaroo court. How do you
convict a man of a capital crime who has never done a single thing wrong in His
entire life? That was the conundrum facing the Sanhedrin. At first they sought
to get around that gigantic obstacle by paying witnesses to lie. That did not
work for their testimony, being hastily made up, did not agree and so this
angle had to be abandoned. Next they tried to question Jesus and get Him to
make some kind of incriminating silence. But
he held his peace and answered nothing. After all, why talk when your
prosecutors are doing a swell job of making their indictment look foolish?
Finally, Caiaphas asked Jesus directly if He was the Messiah, and if He claimed
to be God. This Jesus, in good conscience, could not and was not willing to
deny. He confidently asserted that He was and that the day would come when He
would sit in judgment on those who were now sitting in judgment on Him. This
answer, which included a claim to be divine, was tantamount to blasphemy.
Finally, the Sanhedrin had stumbled upon a capital offense. Then the high priest rent his clothes, and
saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what
think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.
What followed was a
demonic orgy of hate. These venerable doctors of the Law gathered around Jesus
and began to spit on Him. Others struck him with open hands and even fists. The
religious leadership of the nation of Israel had lain down with Judas Iscariot
and woken up in Satan's bed. For the next twelve hours their actions would be
marked by an increasing bloodthirstiness that is only explainable when we
accept it was birthed in the pit of hell.
Finally, the sun rose to
see the worst day in the history of humanity. Once dawn had come the Sanhedrin
was legally allowed to assemble. Hurriedly they formally poll the assembled
quorum and a sentence of death results.
No matter how you slice
it, legally or morally or spiritually, the Sanhedrin's actions were nothing
short of appalling. But hell had loosed the dogs of war on Jesus Christ. They
had plenty of rebellion and hatred and jealousy and evil with which to work,
and their work would not cease until the blood pooled at the foot of the cross.
…and what precious blood
that is! The imps of hell and the wicked doctors of the Law together
unknowingly combined to produce the greatest of victories. Without
shedding of blood is no remission. (Hebrews 9.22) But it was shed, and
there is glorious remission.
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