Thoughts on Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus Stands on Trial Before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. After his unjust arrest, the Lord Jesus Christ is bound and taken to stand trial before Caiaphas and the other seventy members of the Sanhedrin. Abandoned by His disciples, Jesus is lead into the Sanhedrin meeting hall by the Temple guards amidst the shouts of the members of the council, their attendants, and the crowd of their supporters in the background. Immediately, we are struck in the scene with how calm and assured our Lord is in this terrible situation. He is being set up in a kangaroo court where the verdict has already been decided and the penalty of death ready to be carried out no matter what. Now the great Messianic Prophecy of Isaiah 53, written seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus the Messiah, takes shape and finds fulfillment in the trials, sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. The trial before the Sanhedrin is the beginning of the great fulfillment of Isaiah 53, as Nicodemus will later astonishingly notice, and will reach its historic fulfillment with the atoning death of Jesus the Savior on the cross. Jesus is placed in front of the judgment seat of the High Priest Caiaphas where the wizened Pharisee glaringly looks at Jesus with a condemnatory intention in mind--as his legal questioning will shortly reveal. Nicodemus takes great exception to seeing Jesus bound as if were a criminal. He respectfully remonstrates Caiaphas while he unties Jesus saying of this mistreatment, Caiaphas, that he should be bound like a common thief, its most unseemly sir. What first comes out of Caiaphas mouth is a total lie. He tells Jesus that it is not the Sanhedrins intention to treat Him as a criminal--then why have Him already bound--Caiaphas is being disingenuous from the start--his words belie his actions. Yet we know from the Gospel accounts and the movie Jesus of Nazareth, that Caiaphas and the Council had already decided Jesus was guilty of blasphemy for declaring Himself to be the Son of God and therefore as a false prophet was worthy of death! Caiaphas then goes on to inquire of Jesus: ...We want you to explain to this assembly the nature of your teachings. What is this doctrine You and Your disciples are spreading through Judea? The implication in Caiaphas word is that Jesus is secretly going around spreading his deviant teachings in a clever and secretive way in order to stir up some alleged uprising to over throw the Romans and the religious authorities of Israel. The answer of Jesus in the movie is a quotation from John 18:20, I have spoken openly for all the world to hear. I have taught in the synagogues and in the Temple. I have said nothing in secret. So, why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard Me. They are my witnesses (John 18:20). Jesus was acutely aware of Jewish Law which not only stipulated the accused could not incriminate himself by his own testimony, but that he had the right to call his own witnesses on his behalf to testify in his favor. The Lord knows this whole sham of trial has already been fixed and determined to find Him guilty and worthy of death. He therefore asked for a fair trial here when appealing to witnesses who really had heard Him teach correctly, even though His opponents had already fixed the outcome and sentence against Him! Several illegitimate and false witnesses from the Council now chime in to declare what they heard from Jesus teachings. No defense counsel is provided for Jesus and all the testimony comes from the prosecutions side--which would be most of the Sanhedrin themselves. One Pharisee honestly says he had heard nothing in the preaching of Jesus that denies the basic principles of the faith of biblical Judaism. Two other members of the Council express their failure to understand many of Jesus mysterious sayings. They cite the example of witnesses hearing Jesus say He would destroy the Temple, and rebuild it again in three days. Nicodemus rightly understands the meaning of Jesus here to be symbolic of the Temple and pointing to something else, instead. Other members of the council wrongly say Jesus said two days or four days. Joseph of Arimathea quickly notices the absurdity of the scene by pointing out that the witnesses against Jesus cant even agree. Another Pharisee steps forward to provide another false witness that Jesus caused a riot. But Nicodemus corrects him by pointing out it was the murderer Barabbas who really caused the riot. Joseph of Arimathea now tries to reason with Caiaphas and the council. He recalls for them how several years back the Romans went on a bloodthirsty rampage and crucified over a thousand Jews in Jerusalem, that they ended up nailing people to the walls of the city because there were not enough scaffolds to satisfy the Romans lust for blood. He thus concludes: None of us, Im sure, wants to give any more victims to Pontius Pilate than we can prevent. Another member of the Council agrees with this, believing Caiaphas false words that this was not a trial. But that the members of the Sanhedrin merely assembled to better understand Jesus ministry and how it can heal the Jewish community. Another very old looking Pharisee sincerely, but somewhat misguidedly, tells Jesus that they have heard Jesus came to bring love and brotherhood and begs Him to bring peace to the gathering. First Jesus did not come to bring peace to Israel at His First Coming, but He would divide Israel between those who believe He is the Messiah, and those who do not. When Jesus was circumcised, Simeon the prophet prophesied by the Holy Spirit of God the controversial presence and claims of the Lord Jesus would cause the fall and rising of many in Israel (Luke 2:34). The divided Sanhedrin in this scene is microcosmic proof of Simeons prophecy being fulfilled. The High Priest Caiaphas shrewdly redirects some of the sympathetic members of the Councils attention by now putting Jesus under divine oath. So Jesus was legally bound to answer the truth now before the Almighty and the judicial assembly of the Sanhedrin. The High Priest solemnly intones, Tell me, it has been said that You proclaimed Yourself the Son of God. I ask You now, in the Name of the Eternal: Are You the Messiah, the Son of God? Now was Jesus chance to save His own life from committing blasphemy by saying No and try to explain away such a claim to the satisfaction of the Council and Caiaphas. But with the real case and identity of Who Jesus Christ really is, Our Lord had no choice to answer but Yes precisely because He is whom Caiaphas refuses Him to be--The Messiah and Son of God. To affirm or deny anything else would have been an outright lie to Who Jesus really is. And of course being God in the flesh, Jesus answers emphatically in the affirmative. A long, silent and pregnant pause follows Caiaphas all-important question for the Council and the entire world waiting to hear the great answer. Using the Hebrew Word for Yahweh God, Jesus, with a fixed look on Caiaphas, unequivocally answers, I am. And you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the Right Hand of the Power of God The Lord not only answered truthfully here before the Sanhedrin, but for all time to mankind about Who He really is--and He did so unflinchingly knowing it was under pain of death! The reference to Caiaphas seeing Jesus on the right hand of God the Father is an allusion to Daniel 7:13 where the Messianic Son of Man comes to earth in great glory to judge all mankind and punish all wicked unbelievers from the greatest to the least.The confession of Jesus is an unmistakable claim to deity--and Caiaphas knew this! So here Jesus is really not the one on trial but those who falsely try and condemn Him--they are being tried in His divine and regal presence. They are the ones now actually being judged by the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus was telling Caiaphas, the scheming and unbelieving High Priest, that he will stand in judgment before Jesus the Son of God and Messiah and will be condemned for his unbelief and unabated desire to see Jesus killed--the very Messiah and Son of God he refuses to believe in when blasphemously presuming to judge Him. Caiaphas upon hearing Jesus acclaim He is the Messiah and Son of God, makes a theatrical show of offense at Jesus truthful words. Closing his eyes, the High Priest stands up and quotes the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4 and then proceeds to tear his holy garments. The act of rending the High Priests garments was prohibited by the Law of Moses (Leviticus 24:10). But the outward gesture signifies a far deeper truth here that is usually overlooked. The sacrifice of Jesus brought in His own unique High Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek which He alone holds and is nontransferable (Hebrews 7:24). The sacrifice of Jesus being, eternal, perfect, and once for all in its efficacious power to permanently remove all sin has replaced the inferior priesthood and sacrificial system of the Old Covenant. The Old has been rent, set aside and removed, as signified by the High Priest representing the Old Covenant, and replaced by the permanent and everlasting blessing of the New Covenant brought in by the Messiah of Israel. For He (Jesus the Messiah) takes away the first (the Old Covenant) that He may establish the second (the New Covenant) by His eternal and supreme sacrifice on the cross (Hebrews 10:9). The members of the Council in one accord gasp in horror at this perceived blasphemy spoken by Jesus. Zerah the Chief Scribe steps forth as he and the Council are now convinced Jesus is guilty for blasphemy. He curtly proclaims, We have heard enough. Let Him be taken before the Procurator Pontius Pilate in whose hands lies the final authority for trial and judgment! When they grab Jesus and take Him out of the meeting hall, the mocking crowd goaded on by the Chief Priests and Pharisees greets the Savior with the vilest false accusations. They alternately shout at the Savior: Blasphemer, Prophet? I hope they stone Him to death. This scoundrel, a prophet? They should crucify him! Son of God, ha! Kill Him, stone him! Blasphemer! Peter is standing outside the Council chamber hearing and seeing his Master mocked, jeered and laughed at and now has the look of bewilderment and shock on his face that the once all powerful Messiah He followed suddenly looks totally powerless to save and defend Himself. Here are the seeds of doubt in Peters heart and mind growing that will tragically bloom into full denial of knowing Jesus shortly afterwards. The Gospels list six different trials Jesus endured. The one under discussion was the last of the three religious trials. Jesus is now formally found guilty of blasphemy. He is now taken to appear before the Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate for His first civil trial at the Antonia Fortress adjacent to the north side the Second Temple. Start video at 5:12:17 and end at 5:17:54. Click on: https://youtube/watch?v=tFUTEWi5EsY&list=WL&index=45
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 02:46:50 +0000
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