“732. THE JEWISH TRIAL—MATTHEW 26:47-75; MARK 14:43-65; LUKE 22:47-71; JOHN 18:2-27”

The Jewish Trial—Mat_26:47-75; Mar_14:43-65; Luk_22:47-71; Joh_18:2-27

By the time that our Lord arose victorious over this grievous trial, his enemies, led on by Judas, appeared in the garden. They came in force, probably apprehensive of resistance from the disciples, or of some attempt at rescue by the way. The priests had not only brought some of the Levites who served in the temple, and who acted as official attendants and apparitors of the Sanhedrin; but a company of Roman soldiers, obtained probably rather to sustain the others in case of any attempt at resistance or rescue, than to take any active part in the proceedings; and the force was not only well armed; but provided with lights—both torches of pitch, or wax, or resinous wood, and lanterns in which oil was burning. It was indeed the full of the moon, but the moon may have been overcast, or it was feared that He whom they sought might escape by passing away under the shade of the trees.

Egyptian Watchmen, with Lantern

Eastern Lanterns

On entering, Judas went before them, and went straight up to his Master, giving Him the kiss usual between friends who met again after some time of absence. This was the sign which he had appointed for the identification of Jesus, who well understood its real purport, yet wishing to recall him to a consciousness of his crime, said, “Friend, wherefore art thou come?” and then, after a moment’s pause, “Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?” If the man had a heart, these words must have smote it—and there is reason, from what afterwards happened, to think that they did.

Jesus then, anxious to shield his disciples, advanced to the approaching force, and said, “Whom seek ye?” They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth,” He said, “I am He;” at which word, instead of advancing to seize Him, they drew so hastily back, that many of them fell to the ground. What ailed them? If we look back to the inability of the officers, sent by the Sanhedrin to apprehend Him in the Temple, to fulfill their office, overawed by his presence and his words, the answer is easily found. The same officers, being attendants in the Sanhedrin, were doubtless in the foremost body now; and they had received themselves, and imparted to their fellows, exalted ideas of his dignity and power. Conscience taught them that they were engaged in an evil work. And thus, when Jesus—the single object of all this formidable array—stood forth, in the serene and heavenly dignity of One whose voice, as they knew, the dead had heard, and at whose rebuke the traffickers had fled the temple, they were appalled, and for the moment hesitated. It is indeed quite possible, that but for the presence of the Roman soldiers, who shared not these impressions, they would have returned to the city without their prisoner. But Jesus thought not to avail himself of their confusion. He was willing; and they had no power over Him but that which his will gave. He therefore again asked the same question, and, on receiving the same answer, desired them, since their orders were only to take himself, to let the disciples depart unmolested. The military, perceiving how backward in the discharge of their office were those to whom it had been mainly entrusted, now thrust them aside, and themselves seized Jesus, and bound Him, as was the custom with all prisoners at their apprehension, whatever their offence. They then, however, put Him into the charge of the Jewish officers, whose prisoner He was.

On beholding this treatment of their revered Master, the disciples became strongly excited, and one of them drew a sword, and smote at one of the most forward of the men, cutting off his right ear. And to whom would any one ascribe this rash and hasty act? No one who has read these pages would hesitate a moment to say that it was Peter; and Peter it was—who seemed now ready, as he had said, to die for his Master. To screen Peter from the consequences of this rash act, and to favor his escape, as well as to show that He went not as a captive of the sword, and that no blood should be lost on his account, He begged a moment’s pause, while He healed the man’s ear. His name was Malchus, and he was known as a servant of the high-priest. Thus the last act of healing by our Lord was performed in favor of one who had been the most active among his enemies. He was then led away; and, as He had a few hours before predicted, all the disciples forsook Him and fled. Two of them, however, turned, and followed at a safe distance to watch the result. One of them was Peter, the other John. They observed that their Lord was taken to the palace of Annas “the high-priest.” The actual high-priest at the time was Caiaphas; but this Annas had been high-priest, and as such enjoyed the title by courtesy. Being also a man of great wealth and influence, and of active habits, he took upon him much of the business of that high office, as a sort of assessor to, or substitute for, Caiaphas, who was his son-in-law. Hence the evangelist describes them both as “high-priests” (Luk_3:2), as they were in fact. We do not know, however, why our Lord should have been first taken to the house of Annas, unless that probably he took a prominent part in the judicial business of the office, and that his house may have been nearer than that of Caiaphas. Or it may be that the officers merely took their prisoner there to apprise him that Jesus had been captured, and ask his further instructions. He directed that our Lord should be taken to the palace of Caiaphas.

It happened that John was known to the household of the high-priest, and of course known as a disciple of Jesus. He found ready admittance to the interior; and presently, knowing that Peter was lingering about the door, he went and spoke “to her that kept the door,” and obtained leave from her to introduce his friend. It seems strange to find a woman acting as porteress to a great mansion. This custom has not been preserved in the East, but it existed among the Jews, Note: See another instance in Act_12:13. and in some degree among the Greeks and Romans. The friends were now in the outer-court of the palace, where a number of servants and Levitical officers were waiting, and the night being cold, they had a charcoal fire, around which they gathered to warm themselves. Peter joined them and warmed himself at the fire, trying to assume the manner of an unconcerned spectator. He could see, if not hear, all that passed in the large open room to which Jesus was brought, and in which his examination took place. What became of John we know not—but it is open to inference that he did not remain here; but, being acquainted with the premises and the people, went up nearer, so as to see and hear more clearly all that passed. But it fared ill with Peter at the fire. His late confidence was now exchanged for timid caution, and with his anxiety for his Lord, a strong apprehension of compromising himself was mingled. The woman who had let him in guessed, perhaps from his connection with John, that he was one of the disciples of Jesus, and put the question to him as he stood there in the midst of dangerous persons. He denied this stoutly; but perceiving that he was still regarded with distrust, he withdrew from the fire, and went out into the vestibule, leading to the outer door. The cock then crew, but in the excitement of the moment the warning sound fell blank upon his ear. Presently another woman noticed him, and began to say to those who stood by that “this was one of them.” Seriously alarmed at this, he again denied the charge. It may excite surprise that the women should be thus forward in suspecting him. But Jesus had been seen and heard by multitudes in the city, with Peter and the other apostles in attendance upon Him; and as women observe individuals more narrowly than men, his countenance had left an impression upon their minds in connection with that of Jesus. Still, the difference of light sufficed to prevent the recollection from being quite determinate, or more than a strong impression. But Peter now thought it better to mix boldly with the people in the court, around the fire, than to excite suspicion by lurking about. He therefore returned thither, and entered into the conversation that was going on. At length one that stood by—perhaps one who had been in the garden and had witnessed his assault upon Malchus, for he is said to have been a relative of that man, said, “Surely thou art one of them;” and in corroboration added that his accent and mode of speech clearly showed him to be a Galilean. In fact, we know from Jewish authorities that the rough provincial accent of the Galileans was very distinguishable from that of the metropolis, and was, in fact, a subject with which the Jerusalemites often made themselves merry. Peter, now seriously frightened, denied the charge with great earnestness, confirming the denial with an oath, and declaring that he knew nothing whatever of the man of whom they spoke. The word had scarcely left his mouth when the cock again crew, and at the same moment Jesus “turned and looked upon Peter.” That sad look went instantly to his heart; and, leaving the place, he sought some spot apart, where he might reason freely over his sin, and pour forth the hot tears of shame and grief.

On the arrival of Jesus, the high-priest seems to have sent out to call an early meeting of the Sanhedrin at his palace. The members of that body were probably in bed, and to get them together for an extraordinary meeting, must have taken some time. Meanwhile the high-priest himself subjected the prisoner to a preliminary examination. He asked Him concerning his doctrine. But Jesus said He had always taught publicly; nothing had been done in secret, and the tenor of his teaching could easily be ascertained from those who had heard Him. And so, throughout, He refuses to stand upon his defence, or to furnish materials which might be perversely used to his own conviction, by those who had pre-determined on his destruction. One of the officers who stood by chose to consider the answer disrespectful to the high-priest, and smote Jesus on the mouth. This practice is still retained in some parts of the East, especially Persia, being usually inflicted with the heel of a shoe, which inflicts a very severe blow, usually cutting the lips, and sometimes breaking the teeth and filling the mouth with blood. This, however, was not so severe, being inflicted with the palm of the hand.

Caiaphas seems to have withdrawn after this to his private apartments till the meeting of the council, which did not take place till the morning broke.

Though the council had pre-determined on the death of Jesus, they, out of regard to their character, and the customs of the court, which could not easily be dispensed with, felt the necessity of observing some show of legal procedure. The fundamental rule of evidence was, that no man could be capitally convicted but on the evidence of two independent witnesses for every essential fact. Now, although there were plenty of witnesses willing to testify to anything, no two could be found whose testimony could be made to tally in the degree the law required. The nearest point that could be reached, was when two witnesses were found to agree tolerably in a very distorted and even absurd version of his declaration made on his first ministerial visit to Jerusalem. He had said, “Destroy this temple (meaning the temple of his body), and I will raise it up in three days;” but they declared, “We heard Him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days will build another made without hands.” This was certainly, as the evangelist says, false evidence; and after all, there was no law which could make this declaration, even as thus misreported, a capital offence. Jesus meanwhile had not condescended to put himself upon his defence. He did not cross-examine the witnesses; He did not expose their misrepresentations; He did not vindicate his character or statement. He asked nothing; He explained nothing. “He was as a lamb dumb before the shearers; and He opened not his mouth.”

Aggravated at this imperturbable silence, and seeing that there was no evidence on which a conviction could be founded, unless it might be drawn from himself, the high-priest called his attention to the evidence, and asked why He did not answer to it. No reply was given. On this Caiaphas became desperate, and adopted a resource which our own rules of evidence would declare most infamous, and which was also wholly adverse to the first principles of Mosaic jurisprudence, and the like of which occurs in no circumstance of Hebrew history. It was that of putting the prisoner upon his oath to answer questions, framed for his own crimination. It is noticeable that the continental commentators take little if any notice of this, as their own legal practice allows every advantage to be taken, for the purpose of extorting confessions or fatal admissions from a criminal. The high-priest could not, indeed, make Jesus take an oath, but he could lay Him under an equivalent constraint, which would compel any man to speak, and a religious man to speak truly. He said, “I adjure Thee, by the living God, that Thou tell me whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God.” Thus adjured, Jesus could not but speak; and, indeed, the satisfaction of his followers required, that He should take the opportunity of declaring himself plainly on this point, before the highest ecclesiastical tribunal of his country. He therefore answered decidedly in the affirmative.

Even this was not sufficient for their purpose; for it required evidence to show that He was not what He thus claimed to be, before they could convict Him; and certainly the evidence of his mighty works went all the other way. But He further expressed himself, so as to lead them to see that He claimed even a higher quality than they ascribed to the Messiah. On hearing which, there was a general exclamation, “Art Thou, then, the Son of God?” And on his answer that He was, the high-priest, though joyful at having obtained what he considered conclusive evidence, rent his clothes as an expression of grief and consternation, and declared that no further evidence could be needful after this shocking blasphemy from the prisoner’s own mouth. The rest were of the same opinion, and declared Him “guilty of death.”

He was then abandoned to the low and ribald treatment of the brutal fellows in the court below. Some spat in his face—the last and most degrading of insults to an Oriental; while others in derision of his prophetic powers, covered his eyes, and then striking Him, asked Him to tell who it was that smote Him.

Autor: JOHN KITTO