Before Caiaphas

[00:00:24] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Josh. [00:00:25] Speaker B: And I'm Gabriel. [00:00:26] Speaker A: And today on reading the gospel, we are studying the event j Jesus trial before Caiaphas. This is found in all four gospels. We find this in the book of Matthew, chapter 26, verses 57 through 68, in Mark, chapter 14, verses 53 through 65, in Luke, chapter 22, verses 54 through 62, and in John, chapter 18, verses 19 through 24. We're going to be reading in the book of Matthew, so follow along with us in chapter 26, beginning in verse 57. [00:01:07] Speaker B: Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. And Peter was following him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest. And going inside. He sat with the guards to see the end. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they had put him to death. But they found none. Though many false witnesses came forward, at least two came forward and said, this man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days. [00:01:52] Speaker A: And the high priest stood up and said, have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you? But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him, you have said so, but I tell you, from now on, you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his robes and said, he has uttered blasphemy. What further witness do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment? They answered, he deserves death. Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, prophesy to us, christ, who is it that struck you? Again, we are in these dark events which lead up to the death of Jesus Christ. And. And this is the first of a number of trials that Jesus will go through. As Jesus comes before Caiaphas, they have this mock trial. They've brought in false witnesses, people who will say things to try to make up or put Jesus in a tough spot. You know, we see this all the time. You can come before an interview, sit down to an interview, and you can share all the information you want. And then the interviewer can go away and cut the footage up and make it sound like you're saying the complete opposite of what you wanted to say. And so these people could have come in and Said Jesus said this and taken it out of context or tried to put Jesus in a way that made him say something that he didn't actually say or made it sound like he did something that he didn't actually do. And so they're trying to accuse him, but they're not able. [00:03:53] Speaker B: They are seeking. And for me, this is a key word. It's in verse 50. The chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus. What do we seek when he goes through a difficult moment, Moment like in a relationship. Do we seek to see the positive or the negative? [00:04:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:17] Speaker B: Do we try to walk into the other person's shoes to understand the situation, to listen? When a political event happened in the country, what do we seek? Do we seek arguments for whatever we pre decided in our mind? Same is in church. The same is in our families, everywhere. What do we seek if we make our mind before gathering data, if we decide what is right and what is true beforehand, we just seek arguments for. [00:04:52] Speaker A: Our previous decision and we see how toxic that is. Just look at our court system. In the United States, we have a presumption of innocent until proven guilty. But the media, when an event happens, they, they pronounce people guilty before they even went to trial. And here, this goes beyond that. They've, the judges have already made the decision that they want to kill Jesus. Now they're looking for an excuse to do it. They're saying, okay, come up with evidence. Tell us why we need to put this man to death. It's not that. Here's the crime that he did and now we're going to put him to death no matter what everyone says. It's, guys, come up with something. [00:05:43] Speaker B: And now let's go to people's side. It says here in verse 59 and 16, the priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus, but they found none, even though many false witnesses came forward. So people are ready to say bad things about someone else. And those bad testimonies cannot stand even against those who are seeking false testimony. Can you believe that? [00:06:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:16] Speaker B: And this is, this is very interesting how human beings are being swayed from one extreme to the other. Some of these people could have been in the crowd like four days early on Sunday when they received Jesus Christ as a king, singing and, you know, crying out loud, Hosanna, welcome right in the name of the Lord. You are like them in know, like David walking on a mule to be coronated as a king. We need someone like you. [00:06:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:50] Speaker B: And couple of days later, this is Thursday night and Friday morning, they say, we don't need you. The earth doesn't need you. You're not worthy to be among the living. [00:07:02] Speaker A: Yeah, I think of Balaam when I think of this. You know, he goes to try to prophesy against Israel. And every time he prophesies, he. He blesses them. And so I wonder, these people, they, they come to try to curse Jesus. I wonder their evidence, like they couldn't get the words out, or they mess up or they say something, I, I wonder, I would have liked to have been there to hear, was God confusing their thoughts and confusing their logic so that they couldn't bring false accusations? [00:07:35] Speaker B: And eventually two people came forward and said, this man said, I'm able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days. When Jesus Christ used similar words, he didn't say the temple of God, he said this temple, talking about his own human body, which was destroyed by death for three days, and he resurrected on Sunday. Because the Gospel is very clear. That statement of Jesus Christ was about his death and resurrection. And this is a little bit, at least confusing because Jesus talks about his death, that is a substitutionary death in our place, taking our sins upon him, sins that will kill him, separate him from the source of life, who is the Father. And they are using this argument of a substitutionary death to put him to death, to the first death. That means to destroy him from among the living. [00:08:44] Speaker A: So then he doesn't get through even with that argument. So Caiaphas just straight up asks him, tell us, are you the Christ, the Son of God? And Jesus doesn't say, yes, he says, you've said it. But I tell you, from now on, you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power coming in the clouds of heaven. So Jesus doesn't say, yes, I'm the Son of God, but he says, from now on, you're going to see me in power, coming in the clouds of heaven. And that was enough for Caiaphas to say, blasphemy, blasphemy, and try to get the death penalty. [00:09:25] Speaker B: And to impress upon the council, he torn his garment. And the high priest was forbidden to do that very clearly in the Old Testament because he represented Jesus Christ as intercessor and he was not allowed to mourn or to torn his clothes. [00:09:46] Speaker A: Yeah, I think this brings us to a practical point for us, our daily lives, when we come to places where we need to deal out judgment, I think parents, when kids have messed up, when they've done something wrong, we need to come at the punishment in a place far from anger. Because when we're angry, we make rash decisions, bad judgments. Here they're coming at Jesus with anger, and they make this decision that they're going to crucify him. And then what do they do? They then beat him, strike him, spit in his face. You know, we have the death penalty in this country, and so oftentimes is put on hold because we can't execute it in a way that is humane. And so there might have been someone in our country who killed someone. And the court has said, this person deserves death. But even though they deserve death, they're still a human being. And we try to treat them with dignity until the sentence is carried out. Right. And, and so here this is not the case. Jesus receives the death penalty. And, and they could have treated Jesus with dignity, but no, the hatred that they have in them comes out that they, they. It's not enough that they're going to kill him. Now they spit in his face and beat him. [00:11:27] Speaker B: And it was prophesied. It is in the book of Isaiah. I think it's chapter 50. [00:11:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:11:32] Speaker B: If you have that verse available, because all these details have been revealed in the Bible prophecy. [00:11:42] Speaker A: Yeah. In Isaiah 56, the Bible says, I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. And so Jesus is practicing what he preached because he told people, if someone slaps you, turn the other cheek. And he's now living it out in his life. He's offering his back. He's offering his cheek. He's not running away from this. It's easy to be terrified of torture. Think of the three Hebrews that were thrown in the furnace. It's easy to be terrified of what pain could come. But God is able to remove pain if he so chooses. Read Fox's Book of Martyrs about the martyrs in the Middle Ages. And they're burning at the stake while singing hymns. They have peace on their face. You know, there's something that happens and God is able to take us through these times. Whether he does or doesn't, that's up to him. But he is able to bring us into these circumstances where we might face someone spitting in our face, someone slapping, tearing out our beard, and God is able to stand there. [00:12:58] Speaker B: And one more practical point, when Jesus is facing these false witnesses, he was supposed to defend himself. And in fact, he was offered that option. In verse 62, the high priest stood up and said, have you no answer to make what is it that these men testify against you. But Jesus remained silent a couple of minutes later when the high priest said, I adjure you by the living God. So it is like official testimony. I adjure you by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ, the son of God. And Jesus answered, you have said so, and you will see me that is the Son of man, this and that. So the question is, when should we be silent and when should we use words? [00:14:00] Speaker A: Well, and this comes back to the council that we had earlier when it talks about the Holy Spirit. When Jesus goes back to the heaven, he's going to send the Holy Spirit, who will be our guide and says in that day he will give us what to say. [00:14:15] Speaker B: Mm. [00:14:16] Speaker A: And we need to pray and ask God to give us what to say. I know there are many times in my life where I find myself talking to someone and realizing that this situation, this conversation is a serious conversation. And I need to respond with a answer that's more than my. My knowledge. And so I'll pray. I'll say, God, please give me the words to say. Give me what to answer in the. To this question that's coming or this situation. And God does. He answers us and he gives us the answer we need in those times. Let us pray. Father God, we want to be filled with your Holy Spirit. [00:14:56] Speaker B: Amen. [00:14:57] Speaker A: So that if we find ourselves in situations where we are being accused falsely, or we're finding ourselves in situations where people need counsel from you or they're seeking, whether we. We have anything to share, I pray, Father, that we will know when to say something and when to be silent. And that will be your spirit that will give us the words to say that you will be glorified, that Christ will be lifted up and he will draw all people to himself. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. [00:15:30] Speaker B: Amen. Sa.