Matthew 26:57-68 - May 18, 2010
Matthew 26:57-68 - May 18, 2010
Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome. The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward and declared, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.'" Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?" But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" "He is worthy of death," they answered. Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, "Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?"
Matthew 26:57-68
It was a strange trial. The court had already determined the verdict before the trial began. The leaders wanted to condemn Jesus to death. So the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Court, rounded up some witness to give testimony against Jesus because the Scriptures stated, “One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses” (Deuteronomy 19:15). But their conflicting reports did not offer any true evidence for condemning Jesus. Throughout the barrage of poisoned words, Jesus remained silent. He didn’t need to defend himself; the opposing reports made it obvious that all their words were lies. But Jesus endured these things for us. He allowed false charges to be spoken without defending himself, so that their cruelty would bring about our salvation. "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7). He did this to rescue us from our sins.
Finally, the high priest took charge of the trial. He demanded Jesus to say if were “the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus could not remain silent because silence would have inferred that it was not true. So Jesus spoke: “Yes, it is as you say.” The high priest and the court claimed that this was blasphemy – that a mere human claimed to be God. And this is the evidence they used to condemn Jesus to death.
The irony is that Jesus was placed under the death penalty for speaking the truth. He is the eternal Son of God. God the Father himself declared this to be true: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). And the Father “so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16). Jesus is the one whom God promised and sent to be the world’s Savior from sin. He is the Christ, the promised Messiah.
Jesus bore the guilt of your sin and submitted himself to the death penalty to free you from the fear of facing God. Trusting in him as your true Savior, when he comes back and you “see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven,” your joy will be made complete and your hope of heaven fulfilled.
Jesus, increase my faith in you as the Son of God who was born, lived, and died to be my Savior. Be my comfort and support until your glorious reappearing turn the longings of my weary heart to everlasting songs of joy. Amen.
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