Before the High Priest.
Matt. 26
AFTER the incident of the cutting off of the ear of the high priest’s servant, Jesus gave Himself up into the hands of those who came to take Him, and then all the disciples forsook Him, and fled. When left to themselves, their courage completely failed, and they had no power to stand with their blessed Master, who had been betrayed into the hands of sinners.
So Jesus was left alone with His enemies, who laid hold of Him, and led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders were assembled. There they were in the night at the high priest’s house, waiting to sit in judgment on the blessed Son of God. So eager were they to have Him condemned, they could not even wait till the morning light. Like many other deeds of darkness, this awful deed of arraigning and condemning the Son of God as a blasphemer was done in the darkness of the night. Alas! what wickedness.
But every step in this terrible tragedy was a step of fearful wickedness. The first thing they did when they brought Him before the council was to seek for false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death. No true testimony could be found against Him, and so they must find false testimony, for they were determined to have Him put to death.
They finally found two false witnesses who testified that Jesus said He was able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days, which is not what He said at all. And even if He had said so, what ground was this for putting Him to death?
Finally the high priest arose and asked Jesus, “Answerest thou nothing? What is it that these witness against Thee?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Then the high priest adjured Jesus by the living God; that is, he put Him on oath, as they say in the courts now, and called upon Him to say whether He was the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus then confessed that He was the Son of God, and testified to them: “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” This statement should have checked them in their dreadful work, and made them consider what they were doing, for they knew well that He had displayed the powers that belong to the Son of God. They knew that He had opened the eyes of blind people, unloosed the tongues of the dumb, healed multitudes of sick people, and cast out legions of demons. And they knew that He had raised up Lazarus from the dead. But all this was of no avail. Their hearts were hardened, and consciences they had none. They had given themselves over to the power of Satan, and they were simply his willing tools. The high priest rent his clothes, and said: “He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses. Behold, now ye have heard His blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.”
Such was the terrible decision of the nation’s chief tribunal: “He is guilty of death.” The guiltless One who had only spoken the truth, and done the will of God, was condemned in this wicked council of darkness, as worthy of death. Let us bow our heads in shame and grief, to think that such was the wickedness of the human heart, that the highest court of the nation should willfully, and deliberately, condemn the Holy One to die. Ah! my young reader, such is the heart of man—your heart and my heart. And just because of this, Jesus gave Himself up to die—to die for you, for me, for all, in order that through His death we might be saved. Think of this.
ML 04/15/1906