The First Trial of Jesus

Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace, And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, 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. Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee? Matthew 26:59-68

Steps: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12

In this story Jesus has been captured by the Jewish leadership so that they can kill Him. They are basically jealous of Jesus and His popularity and the leadership wants to remove Him once and for all from the public eye, and to have the people return to them for guidance and teaching. To kill Jesus in this historical time they have to come up with a charge that will pass the test of the Roman empire so they are hoping to find a charge that will allow them to get Jesus to court and then attempt to bribe, or politically manipulate the governor to kill Jesus. So the leadership tries to find false witnesses to condemn about saying that He would destroy the temple and build it again in three days. This statement comes from John 2:18-22 and Jesus was talking about His own resurrection after they would kill Him. The Jewish leadership finally gives up with the false witnesses and they ask Jesus to condemn Himself by having Him testify that He was the Messiah, sent from God. If He says that He is the Messiah then they will accuse Him of blasphemy, a death sentence in the Jewish religion. If He says nothing then He will tacitly deny His relationship with God. In this situation Jesus declares not only that He is the Messiah but that He will some day in the future judge all of those sitting in judgment on Him. With that statement the leadership declares Him worthy of death and then treat Him as a criminal with no rights to a fair and decent trial. They declare their own addictive desire for power and control while killing the One who claimed, and displayed, the power of God.

Prayer for Today: God, when it is our turn to be in a position of power, help us to remember to treat even our victims in a way we would like to be treated. Help us to recognize our addictive behaviors and our need of Your help. Thank You again for Your mercies toward us.