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Arrest-and-Trial-Msg-8-16 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: The final scenes were staged with meticulous care. The religious
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Speaker 1: leaders had contracted an insider to help orchestrate the arrest.
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Speaker 1: His name was Judas, With a mere thirty pieces of silver,
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Speaker 1: the going price for a slave, the betrayal was sealed.
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Speaker 1: Judas had notified the officials of Jesus whereabouts, accompanied them
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Speaker 1: to the site, identified the accused with a kiss, and
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Speaker 1: then stepped out of the way. The soldiers did the rest.
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Speaker 1: I cannot help but notice the irony of this chilling scene.
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Speaker 1: With lanterns and torches, the Roman soldiers searched to find
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Speaker 1: the light of the world.
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Speaker 2: The light just.
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Speaker 1: Stood there, without pretense, without protection, shining openly through the darkness.
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Speaker 1: But those standing in the darkness didn't even recognize him.
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Speaker 1: Join me today as we look closely together at how
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Speaker 1: this scene unfolds as it is recorded for us by John,
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Speaker 1: who was there to see it all. I would like
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Speaker 1: to read for you today sections of the first half
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Speaker 1: of John chapter eighteen from the New Living Translation. Turn
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Speaker 1: there with me as I read John eighteen, beginning with
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Speaker 1: verse one. After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Keydron
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Speaker 1: Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees.
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Speaker 1: Judas the betrayer knew this place because Jesus had often
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Speaker 1: gone there with him his disciples. The leading priests and
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Speaker 1: Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and
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Speaker 1: temple guards to accompany him. Now, with blazing torches, lanterns,
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Speaker 1: and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove. Jesus fully
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Speaker 1: realized all that was going to happen to him, so
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Speaker 1: he stepped forward to meet them. Who are you looking for?
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Speaker 1: He asked, Jesus the Nazarene. They replied, I am he,
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Speaker 1: Jesus said. Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.
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Speaker 1: As Jesus said, I am he, they all drew back
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Speaker 1: and fell to the ground. Once more, he asked them,
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Speaker 1: who are you looking for? And again they replied, Jesus
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Speaker 1: the Nazarene. I told you that I am he, Jesus said,
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Speaker 1: And since I am the one you want, let these
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Speaker 1: others go. He did this to fulfill his own statement.
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Speaker 1: I did not lose a single one of those you
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Speaker 1: have given me. Then Simon Peter drew a sword and
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Speaker 1: slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest slave.
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Speaker 1: But Jesus said to Peter, put your sword back into
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Speaker 1: its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of
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Speaker 1: suffering the Father has given me? So the soldiers, their
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Speaker 1: commanding officer and the temple guards arrested Jesus and tied
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Speaker 1: him up. First, they took him to Annas, since he
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Speaker 1: was the father in law of Caiaphas, the high priest
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Speaker 1: at that time. Now drop down and continue with me.
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Speaker 1: At verse nineteen. Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus
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Speaker 1: about his followers and what he had been teaching them.
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Speaker 1: Jesus replied, everyone knows what I teach. I preach regularly
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Speaker 1: in the synagogues and the temple where the people gather.
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Speaker 1: I have not spoken in secret. Why are you asking
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Speaker 1: me this question? Ask those who hurt me. They know
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Speaker 1: what I said. Then one of the temple guards standing
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Speaker 1: nearby slap Jesus across the face. Is that the way
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Speaker 1: to answer the high priest? He demanded. Jesus replied, if
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Speaker 1: I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if
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Speaker 1: I'm speaking the truth, why are you beating me? Then
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Speaker 1: Annas bound Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas, the High priest.
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Speaker 2: This morning and this evening we will reopen the case
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Speaker 2: of the State versus Jesus of Nazareth. It will be
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Speaker 2: in a different style than we usually are accustomed to
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Speaker 2: in the pulpit ministry of our church, and it will
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Speaker 2: be in a different sequence than we have become acquainted with.
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Speaker 2: The style will be more historical and legal than practical,
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Speaker 2: and the sequence will be simply following one message after
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Speaker 2: the other in the order of chronology. We'll be finishing
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Speaker 2: the message of this morning as we cover the arrest
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Speaker 2: and first two trials that Jesus endured, and then the
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Speaker 2: final four trials this evening that led to his ultimate
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Speaker 2: crucifixion at Galgatha. As I say that, I realized that
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Speaker 2: for some of you this is not your cup of tea,
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Speaker 2: but for many of us who find the technical data
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Speaker 2: of scripture insightful and in fact validating scripture. We have
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Speaker 2: come occasionally to the need for this, and so we
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Speaker 2: will let the scriptures stand as they are, where they
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Speaker 2: are silent. We will with quasi confidence, call to mind
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Speaker 2: the presentation of historical and legal documents. But all the
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Speaker 2: while we have one goal, and that is at the
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Speaker 2: end of the day, to be able to look back
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Speaker 2: and say, with a measure of confidence, I know pretty
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Speaker 2: well what happened the last hours Jesus was on earth
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Speaker 2: before he was crucified. That's my goal in the instruction
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Speaker 2: part of our worship services, that is to help us
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Speaker 2: recreate not simply the events, but listen now the flow
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Speaker 2: of events as they occurred without a narrator. We're looking
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Speaker 2: into John chapter eighteen this morning and partially this evening,
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Speaker 2: and we're going back to April sixth AD thirty two
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Speaker 2: by the Gregorian calendar, and we are drawing from about
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Speaker 2: a nine hour period the events that occurred and the
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Speaker 2: sequence in which they occurred. Unfortunately, no one gospel writer
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Speaker 2: gives us the whole story, so we are occasionally in
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Speaker 2: need of going from one gospel writer to another. We
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Speaker 2: will do that briefly this morning, but more of that
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Speaker 2: this evening. I wish there were some way to enliven
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Speaker 2: all of us to feel a part of the scene.
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Speaker 2: History does that to me, but it doesn't do that
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Speaker 2: to most people I have discovered, And in some way
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Speaker 2: I wish it would possible for us to have one
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Speaker 2: massive role playing experience through the day. This evening. I
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Speaker 2: want to try something that we've never done before, and
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Speaker 2: I've never done before, and in the trying of it,
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Speaker 2: I think you will feel more a part of at
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Speaker 2: least one small glimmer of the action. Now, to get
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Speaker 2: our hits together in the scene, you've got to go
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Speaker 2: back three and a half years from April sixth two.
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Speaker 2: You've got to go back to that ugly, wicked religious
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Speaker 2: band of men who kept constant surveillance on Jesus Christ's
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Speaker 2: earthly ministry. They disliked him to begin with. Their hostility
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Speaker 2: grew to hatred toward the end of his life, and
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Speaker 2: by the time of this particular date we've mentioned, they
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Speaker 2: were wanting nothing more than his death. The most delightful
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Speaker 2: sight in their mind was his corpse. They dreamed of
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Speaker 2: it in the daytime, and they thought of it through
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Speaker 2: the night, and it became a reality finally in their
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Speaker 2: minds when he was nailed to a cross. Spiritually speaking,
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Speaker 2: we know that that was destined eternities ago, But humanly speaking,
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Speaker 2: they put together a plan that was in every way illegal, malatious, unfair,
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Speaker 2: and unwarranted. No man was ever more innocent, and no
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Speaker 2: man ever stood before six more illegal and unfair proceedings
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Speaker 2: than Jesus Christ. Now in order to get him to
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Speaker 2: the cross, they had to arrest him, and John tells
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Speaker 2: us of the arrest in the eighteenth of his book.
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Speaker 2: Will scan it briefly, and then we will go on
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Speaker 2: to the trials themselves, which are of great interest to
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Speaker 2: us in this sequel series, when Jesus had spoken these words,
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Speaker 2: meaning the Upper Room discourse, he went forth with his
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Speaker 2: disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was
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Speaker 2: a garden. This is, of course the garden of Gath's
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Speaker 2: into which he himself entered and his disciples. Now John
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Speaker 2: never mentions it, because John writes sixty years later, and
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Speaker 2: there have already been written three gospel accounts, so he
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Speaker 2: finds it needless to go again into the mentioning of
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Speaker 2: the prayer. But the other gospels tell us that Jesus
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Speaker 2: fell on his knees before the Father, and he prayed,
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Speaker 2: and during the time in such agony he sweat, as
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Speaker 2: it were great drops of blood. This question as to
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Speaker 2: whether literal blood came from the pores of his skin,
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Speaker 2: quite likely it did. There are cases on record of
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Speaker 2: such when under anxiety and stress, that can happen. Nevertheless,
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Speaker 2: in the agony of prayer, Jesus Christ came to the
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Speaker 2: conclusion that it was not the father's will that the
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Speaker 2: cup passed from him, meaning positively, it was the father's
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Speaker 2: will that he go to the cross, and once he
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Speaker 2: was assured of that, he set his face toward the cross.
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Speaker 2: In fact, even cooperating with the arrest, ironic though that
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Speaker 2: may seem, he knew it was the father's will, and
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Speaker 2: he planned without reservation to cooperate willingly, even with the
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Speaker 2: abuse that his body would suffer. Up till now he
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Speaker 2: has not gone under the blows or the pain of
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Speaker 2: Romans or Jews, but beginning with this study he does.
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Speaker 2: In order for there to be the plan, two things
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Speaker 2: had to be arranged, first, the cooperation of Judas, and
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Speaker 2: second the location of Jesus. You see, they had tried
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Speaker 2: to seize him on other occasions, but he always eluded
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Speaker 2: their grasp. However, once they found the man who would
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Speaker 2: do the job of betrayal, ideally one of his own men,
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Speaker 2: they were on their way to succeeding in their arrangement.
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Speaker 2: So Judas agreed for thirty pieces of silver to betray Christ.
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Speaker 2: The plan was ridiculously simple. He would identify Christ, whether
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Speaker 2: it be day or night by a kiss, and the
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Speaker 2: kiss would mark out Jesus as the one in question,
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Speaker 2: and then he would simply get out of their way.
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Speaker 2: Thirty pieces of silver is equal to about twenty to
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Speaker 2: twenty five dollars at the most in our currency. It
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Speaker 2: was the cost of a cheap common slave. It was
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Speaker 2: a pretty chief price, cheap price if you really analyze it.
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Speaker 2: There's an old English couplet that says, still as of
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Speaker 2: old man by himself is Christ for thirty pieces. Judas
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Speaker 2: sold himself, not Christ, and that's true. Once they got
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Speaker 2: the cooperation of Judas, all they had to do was
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Speaker 2: wait for the moment. Judas knew that they had spent
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Speaker 2: the night in instruction. He had been dismissed from the table.
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Speaker 2: Judas also knew the plan because it was common for
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Speaker 2: Jesus and his disciples to spend time in prayer in
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Speaker 2: the garden. That was a perfect place for the arrest. First,
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Speaker 2: it was night and the crowds that pass over would
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Speaker 2: not be in the streets. He would be easy to
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Speaker 2: detect if he ran. Second, in the garden, he could
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Speaker 2: not easily escape because it was bounded by a ravine
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Speaker 2: and heavy hillside. Shrubbery, it seems from what we can detect,
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Speaker 2: so he would be easily caught. They expected a race,
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Speaker 2: a running. They expected to have to capture him in
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Speaker 2: some way. That's why they came with lanterns and torches
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Speaker 2: and weapons. Now, when we come to the actual arrest,
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Speaker 2: beginning at verse three, the passage simply describes itself and
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Speaker 2: what needs only just a brief comment here and there. Judas, then,
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Speaker 2: having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief
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Speaker 2: priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches
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Speaker 2: and weapons. Look at verse twelve. So the Roman cohort
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Speaker 2: and the commander and the officers of the Jews arrested
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Speaker 2: Jesus and bound him. Between verses three and twelve we
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Speaker 2: have the events that surrounded the arrest. The first thing
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Speaker 2: that seems important is the arrival of the soldiers, so
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Speaker 2: question as to how many were there. The word cohort
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Speaker 2: is used twice in the text three and twelve. Each
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Speaker 2: time it's the word spira. It isn't really clear what
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Speaker 2: the word means in Greek. It could mean as few
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Speaker 2: as two hundred or as many as twelve hundred plus,
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Speaker 2: but the term used for commander in verse twelve. Killi
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Speaker 2: ark means leader of a thousand. It's possible that they
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Speaker 2: hired a commanding officer who normally would lead a battalion
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Speaker 2: of men. It would number between six hundred and one thousand.
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Speaker 2: We know that they expected more than what they got
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Speaker 2: because they came prepared for a fight after the arrival
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Speaker 2: of the Romans and the Jews. The next thing that
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Speaker 2: stands out in our minds is the response of Jesus.
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Speaker 2: It is incredible in their minds that this would happen.
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Speaker 2: Jesus verse four, knowing all the things that were coming
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Speaker 2: upon him, went forth, meaning what means that when he
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Speaker 2: got up off his knees, he heard them coming, and
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Speaker 2: he went out to meet them. Rather than running to
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Speaker 2: the hills, he ran toward the cohort and the commander.
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Speaker 2: They weren't ready for that. They didn't think it was him.
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Speaker 2: I suppose that at this moment Judas stepped forward and
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Speaker 2: kissed him. They held the lamp up the torches and
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Speaker 2: the flickering light would cast shadows here and there, and
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Speaker 2: they didn't detect who it was. And so he said,
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Speaker 2: whom do you seek? And they responded Jesus the Nazarene
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Speaker 2: verse five, he said to them, I am he. You
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Speaker 2: know this. Verse five concludes Judas, who was betraying him,
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Speaker 2: was standing with him, and verse six concludes they drew
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Speaker 2: back and fell to the ground. I take it that
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Speaker 2: means what it says. They were shocked. They were certain
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Speaker 2: that he wouldn't be easily seized. But to their surprise,
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Speaker 2: you see, he had already submitted to the Father's will.
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Speaker 2: By the way, there's something beautiful about submitting to the cross.
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Speaker 2: For all of us. It is in different shapes and sizes.
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Speaker 2: We all have those things that we must bear daily.
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Speaker 2: And the normal human response is to run, and to
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Speaker 2: run fast, and to be surrounded with self pity and stubbornness,
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Speaker 2: and to feel it isn't fair, it isn't right. But
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Speaker 2: not Jesus Christ. When he got off his knees and
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Speaker 2: the Father pointed his finger at him and said, son,
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Speaker 2: it's the day, this is the hour, Jesus simply met
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Speaker 2: that with calm, quiet, repose the father's plan. Men don't
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Speaker 2: look any further. I am he well. When they got
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Speaker 2: themselves together and came back to him, he said to
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Speaker 2: them the second time Verse seven whom do you seek?
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Speaker 2: They answered the same way, Jesus the Nazarene, I told
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Speaker 2: you that I am he. If therefore you seek me,
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Speaker 2: let these go their way. The these is a reference
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Speaker 2: to the disciples. You see, not only are we impressed
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Speaker 2: with the arrival of the Romans and the soldiers in
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Speaker 2: this fight they expected. The next thing that presses us
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Speaker 2: is the response of Jesus. Remember, he hasn't had any sleep.
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Speaker 2: His face is marked by fatigue, the agony at gets simony,
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Speaker 2: the hurt and pain of that upper room discoord the
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Speaker 2: finality of the father's voice. This is my will, walk
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Speaker 2: in it. And here he is giving himself up, and
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Speaker 2: yet he's concerned with compassion for his disciples. What a
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Speaker 2: remarkable example, What an incredible individual. You and I would
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Speaker 2: have been mainly concerned with our own flesh and the
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Speaker 2: pain that this cross would mean. Jesus said, no, wait, man,
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Speaker 2: just before we go any further, why not let these
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Speaker 2: men go? John adds in the next verse, it fulfills scripture.
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Speaker 2: But in the heart of Jesus there was more than
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Speaker 2: the fulfilling of scripture. Was no pedanic decision. It was look,
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Speaker 2: I'm concerned for these men. The other gospels tell us
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Speaker 2: at this point they departed, and they fled away. They
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Speaker 2: deserted him, so he is all alone. There's a brief
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Speaker 2: interlude where Peter cuts off the ear of Malchus. We'll
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Speaker 2: look at that at some other time, because that's another study.
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Speaker 2: The whole interwoven fabric of this scene. Comparing Judas with
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Speaker 2: Peter and the response of the two is an interesting thing,
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Speaker 2: and it's really intriguing. You should study it yourself. We'll
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Speaker 2: look further at Peter later on. But Jesus even had
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Speaker 2: compassion on the Roman soldier with that ear. I'd have
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Speaker 2: picked it up and thrown it a mile if I
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Speaker 2: could have, but not Jesus. He'd put it right back
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Speaker 2: on his head and let it go at that, And
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Speaker 2: I'll tell you it is marvel of compassion. He even
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Speaker 2: took care of those who had him under arrest. And
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Speaker 2: so the final accomplishment was the arrest itself, and that
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Speaker 2: is what we see in verse twelve. They arrested Jesus
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Speaker 2: and bound him from this point on. He was not free.
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Speaker 2: He was a piece of meat in the hands of
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Speaker 2: hungry men of state, and they planned to devour him.
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Speaker 2: He was not the son of God. He was a
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Speaker 2: rabble rouser, he was a maverick. He was a false
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Speaker 2: fake in their minds, So when they took him under arrest,
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Speaker 2: they made him remember that he was no longer free.
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Speaker 2: Jim Bishop, in his fine book The Day Christ Died,
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Speaker 2: writes this, The Romans decided that this emotional scene had
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Speaker 2: gone far enough. They came forward and arrested Jesus. The
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Speaker 2: proper manner, taught by the academy of Soldiery in Rome,
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Speaker 2: was to take the victim by the right wrist, twist
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Speaker 2: his arm behind him so that his knuckles touched between
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Speaker 2: his shoulder blades, and at the same time jammed the
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Speaker 2: heel of the boot down on the right end step.
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Speaker 2: This was the beginning of pain Jesus would feel this day.
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Speaker 2: This the first experience Jesus had with pain. And at
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Speaker 2: the arrest they put his hand behind his back, no doubt,
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Speaker 2: following Roman order. They slammed their boot down on his
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Speaker 2: end step, and then tied the other arm with a
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Speaker 2: loose noose around the neck, so that from now on
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Speaker 2: and you never read that he was ever loosed or
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Speaker 2: freed released. So from now on, all of the blows
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Speaker 2: he took his hands were tied behind his back, which
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Speaker 2: tells you something again of his control. Jesus Christ endured
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Speaker 2: it all all to him we owe. He did it
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Speaker 2: not to be a sensationalist, not to make the headlines.
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Speaker 2: He did it so that sin might be born. He
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Speaker 2: did it that you and I might know the joy
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Speaker 2: of peace and forgiveness from sins, since all of this
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Speaker 2: had to do with his baring sin in himself on
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Speaker 2: our behalf. Now we come at verse twelve to the
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Speaker 2: trial beginning actually at verse thirteen, they led him to Annas.
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Speaker 2: Let's save a lot of time by looking together at
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Speaker 2: the chart that was in your bulletin, and it's on
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Speaker 2: the opposite side of the outline marked the trials of
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Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. Contrary to popular opinion, that was not one trial,
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Speaker 2: but there were six. They were not all Jewish, half
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Speaker 2: of them were Jewish, and half of them were Roman.
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Speaker 2: Let me explain this to you in case you have
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Speaker 2: forgotten it. The Jews lived as a very small finger
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Speaker 2: of land and a massive piece of real estate known
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Speaker 2: as the Roman Empire. Palestine was a tiny, virtually in
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Speaker 2: insignificant part of land. Part of the land in the Empire.
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Speaker 2: The Romans were ruled by the god on earth Caesar.
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Speaker 2: The Caesar at this particular time was Tiberius. Tiberius ruled
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Speaker 2: with an iron fist. He was a sadistic, anti Semitic gentile,
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Speaker 2: as was Pilot. By the way, it had been passed
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Speaker 2: down from Rome that Palestine would never carry a prisoner
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Speaker 2: to a capital punishment. The Jews could not take a life.
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Speaker 2: If they could have, they would have stone Jesus, because
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Speaker 2: that was the method of killing. But since they were
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Speaker 2: under Roman authority, they must crucify him. That was the
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Speaker 2: Roman method of capital punishment. So they could try a
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Speaker 2: man and bring him only so far, namely to their
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Speaker 2: council called the Sanhedron, a body of seventy to seventy
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Speaker 2: three men. That's the Great Sanhedrin. The lesser Sanhedrin was
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Speaker 2: twenty three. But they could not pass on capital crimes.
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Speaker 2: So before the full body of men, this man must stand.
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Speaker 2: Once they have come to an accusation, they must carry
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Speaker 2: that to the Roman authority, who happens to be Pilot.
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Speaker 2: And when he says thumbs down, then and only then
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Speaker 2: could death occur. And that's why he was crucified for
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Speaker 2: treason rather than stoned for blasphemy. You see, the Jews
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Speaker 2: did not try him for treason. They found him guilty
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Speaker 2: of blasphemy, but they twisted the accusation when they came
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Speaker 2: before the Romans, and they turned it into treason because
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Speaker 2: in Rome, death is instantaneous for those guilty of treason.
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Speaker 2: You see in the chart itself, there are six trials
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Speaker 2: on the left hand margin. You will notice first there
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Speaker 2: was Annas, and then there was Caiaphas with a body
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Speaker 2: of men making up the Sanhedrin. And then third there
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Speaker 2: was this official band called the Sanhedrin that was the
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Speaker 2: final Jewish trial. Look to the right and find the
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Speaker 2: column marked type. All three of these were Jewish and
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Speaker 2: religious kinds of trials. The whole question of treason is
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Speaker 2: not even verbalized. But when they came back to Pilot
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Speaker 2: number four, the governor, they now accused him of treason
27:43
Speaker 2: because they were before a Roman civil court. And ultimately,
27:49
Speaker 2: after a brief actually clowning experience in front of herod Antipus,
27:56
Speaker 2: all he wanted to see were some tricks. We'll see
27:59
Speaker 2: that tonight. He came back to Pilot, and finally Pilot
28:02
Speaker 2: out of pressure because of his wife and because of
28:07
Speaker 2: Rome said you may kill him. Pilot never was convinced
28:13
Speaker 2: of his guilt. By the way, I personally feel the
28:16
Speaker 2: only halfway fair trial he ever got he got before Pilot. Now,
28:24
Speaker 2: as we're looking at the matter of trials, let's let
28:28
Speaker 2: me give you some helpful information. Don't feel that you
28:31
Speaker 2: have to get it all down. We'll be sharing more
28:35
Speaker 2: of it this evening, and let me just kind of
28:37
Speaker 2: lay out before you as far as these Jewish trials
28:40
Speaker 2: were concerned, some of the illegalities, they were fallacious in
28:45
Speaker 2: every way. A first year law student could shoot seventy
28:50
Speaker 2: holes in the whole scene just by a brief reading
28:53
Speaker 2: of history. But I would suggest to some of you
28:56
Speaker 2: that are seminary students looking for a dissertation or a
29:01
Speaker 2: thesis studies, I suggest you think seriously about a thesis
29:06
Speaker 2: on the trials of Jesus Christ would make an incredible dissertation.
29:11
Speaker 2: I feel that's the kind of thing that would really
29:14
Speaker 2: interest me personally, and I would love to read something
29:18
Speaker 2: that's done on it from a conservative and historical legal
29:21
Speaker 2: point of view. For example, these things come to the
29:24
Speaker 2: surface when you read between the lines. Number one. If
29:30
Speaker 2: a man was arrested for a capital crime. He could
29:33
Speaker 2: never be arrested at night. It had to be in
29:36
Speaker 2: broad daylight. Jesus arrest took place between one and two
29:41
Speaker 2: o'clock at night. If a man was arrested for a
29:46
Speaker 2: capital crime, no one cooperating in the arrest could be
29:50
Speaker 2: in any way connected to the one who was accused,
29:53
Speaker 2: because they felt if the accused was guilty, so were
29:56
Speaker 2: his followers. But the entire plot revolved around Judas, one
30:00
Speaker 2: of the followers that was blatantly and openly ignored. Three.
30:07
Speaker 2: No Jewish trial could ever be held at night. The
30:12
Speaker 2: law stated that it must be held in the daytime.
30:14
Speaker 2: Listen to the code, which is taken from the Talmud.
30:18
Speaker 2: The members of the court may not alertly and intelligently
30:21
Speaker 2: hear the testimony against the accused during darkness. But if
30:27
Speaker 2: you check the clock and read the record, you find
30:31
Speaker 2: that both before Annas and Caiaphas, these trials were held
30:37
Speaker 2: in darkness. Another thing that came to the service in
30:40
Speaker 2: my study was that the members of the Jewish court,
30:43
Speaker 2: after hearing the testimony in a capital crime, could not
30:48
Speaker 2: immediately act and judge. They were to go home and
30:54
Speaker 2: ideally remain there two days thinking about the testimonies they
30:58
Speaker 2: had heard at least one day during that time. Here's
31:04
Speaker 2: what they were to do in the language of the
31:05
Speaker 2: code again I quote, eat light food, drink light wines,
31:10
Speaker 2: sleep well, and once again return and hear the testimony
31:15
Speaker 2: against the accused. Then and only then shall you vote.
31:21
Speaker 2: They didn't do that. They never left the presence of Caiaphas.
31:26
Speaker 2: In fact, another thought came to my mind as I
31:28
Speaker 2: was studying, and that is that even the method of
31:31
Speaker 2: voting was specified, they never took an all in favor,
31:35
Speaker 2: say I all a post say no kind of vote.
31:39
Speaker 2: Their vote was taken from the youngest to the oldest,
31:43
Speaker 2: so that the youngest wouldn't be intimidated or influenced by
31:46
Speaker 2: the older vote. All of that was overlooked, openly, willfully ignored, disobeyed.
31:54
Speaker 2: And yet that was the law that required them to
31:57
Speaker 2: carry out their business as they did. And in the
32:01
Speaker 2: history of jurisprudence, I don't know of a more fallacious
32:04
Speaker 2: series of trials. Honestly, none of these things were carried out.
32:10
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, the first man before whom
32:12
Speaker 2: he stood was a crook. From beginning to end. Verse
32:17
Speaker 2: thirteen tells us they led him to Annas. Why Annas
32:21
Speaker 2: he wasn't even the high priest. Verse thirteen tells he
32:26
Speaker 2: was the first one to see Jesus on trial. John
32:31
Speaker 2: makes it clear he saw him first, but he was
32:34
Speaker 2: the father in law of Caiaphas, the high priest. What's
32:38
Speaker 2: a father in law doing seeing a criminal when he's
32:43
Speaker 2: no longer in the court. That's Caiaphas's job. Furthermore, it
32:47
Speaker 2: shouldn't have taken place till daylight. What's Anna's doing seeing
32:51
Speaker 2: Jesus at two o'clock in the morning. Well, do you
32:57
Speaker 2: remember an occasion in the life of Jesus where he
33:00
Speaker 2: put together some leather thongs and he made a whip,
33:04
Speaker 2: and he went into the temple and perhaps in the
33:06
Speaker 2: most incredible display of control and yet strength, he drove
33:14
Speaker 2: the money changers from the temple. Remember that occasion. Well,
33:18
Speaker 2: the man in charge of that bazaar at that time
33:21
Speaker 2: was named Annas, who was the high priest at that time.
33:26
Speaker 2: He had been the high priest seventeen years. He was
33:29
Speaker 2: the boss of the mafia. The mafia was in charge
33:34
Speaker 2: of two special things that pass over. First, the changing
33:38
Speaker 2: of money and the discount rate was atrocious, and the
33:43
Speaker 2: purchasing of sacrificial animals, and the cost was incredible. If
33:49
Speaker 2: you were smart enough to bring your own animal, you
33:51
Speaker 2: had to have it pass the mafia. Well they weren't
33:55
Speaker 2: called the mafia, but they were Annis's men. And when
33:58
Speaker 2: you brought your animal there, they would they would take
34:02
Speaker 2: careful look at the animal, and they would surely find
34:05
Speaker 2: some marks that would keep you from being able to
34:08
Speaker 2: use your animal. So you must buy their animal and
34:12
Speaker 2: their animals worth three times sometime four times more than
34:16
Speaker 2: you would have ever had to pay back home for
34:18
Speaker 2: a good old sheep. But you had to pay it
34:21
Speaker 2: when you came there, and all the profet wound up
34:25
Speaker 2: in Annas's pocket. He was a crook, but you see,
34:32
Speaker 2: he was now the wealthiest and most influential man in
34:35
Speaker 2: the province. He passed off the throne to his son
34:40
Speaker 2: in law, who was nothing more than a weak sister.
34:45
Speaker 2: He was a puppet of Rome. He was a pawn
34:47
Speaker 2: in the hand of his father in law, Caiaphas was
34:50
Speaker 2: And that's the way Annas wanted. And Annas never forgot
34:53
Speaker 2: the time Jesus drove him out of the temple and
34:56
Speaker 2: he lost that cash, and he wrote down in his
35:00
Speaker 2: mind one of these days, buddy, I'm gonna get back
35:03
Speaker 2: at you. Well that's sort of a swindall paraphrase, but
35:06
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. He said in his mind,
35:08
Speaker 2: you just wait. It will come a day and I'll
35:12
Speaker 2: see you first. And now he's got his chance. Here's
35:17
Speaker 2: Jesus' hands tied behind his back, standing in front of
35:22
Speaker 2: Annas at his residence at two o'clock in the morning.
35:26
Speaker 2: Everything about it is illegal. He has no business standing
35:30
Speaker 2: before one who is not in council, and there are
35:32
Speaker 2: no witnesses. In fact, he wasn't even required to answer.
35:36
Speaker 2: No jew had to make his own statement. There were
35:40
Speaker 2: statements made against him, and the council would decide he
35:43
Speaker 2: could remain a mute from beginning to ending. But that's
35:47
Speaker 2: not the way they did it. Verse nineteen. The High
35:51
Speaker 2: Priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.
35:55
Speaker 2: I noticed two things that he probed. Anis wanted to
35:58
Speaker 2: know about the and then he wanted to know about
36:02
Speaker 2: the teaching. We are never told what Jesus said. I
36:07
Speaker 2: would imagine that if Annas had had his way, he
36:09
Speaker 2: would have wanted all his men killed, because after all,
36:13
Speaker 2: they were already filled with his teaching, and they would
36:19
Speaker 2: simply carry on when he left off. But I don't
36:22
Speaker 2: imagine Jesus mentioned to him, at least from John's record,
36:26
Speaker 2: he doesn't say a word there. When it comes to
36:29
Speaker 2: the teaching, he answers in a most unusual way Verse
36:33
Speaker 2: twenty Jesus answered, I have spoken openly to the world.
36:39
Speaker 2: I always taught in the synagogues and in the temple,
36:44
Speaker 2: where all the Jews come together. I spoke nothing in secret.
36:49
Speaker 2: Why do you question me? You see, Jesus knew the law,
36:54
Speaker 2: and he knew that he was out of order when
36:56
Speaker 2: the judge questioned him. A judge, by his own persuasion,
37:03
Speaker 2: question those who have heard what I spoke to them?
37:07
Speaker 2: These know what I said now verse twenty two. When
37:13
Speaker 2: he had said this, one of the officers standing by
37:15
Speaker 2: gave Jesus a blow, saying, is that the way you
37:20
Speaker 2: answered the High priest? By the way? Brutality was never
37:24
Speaker 2: allowed in the court either. One historian writes, under the
37:29
Speaker 2: rules of trial procedure, Jesus knew that it was against
37:34
Speaker 2: the law to solicit the testimony of any except witnesses
37:39
Speaker 2: and corroborators. Besides, under the law, no prisoner had to
37:46
Speaker 2: undergo preliminary examination. Question those who heard what I said.
37:55
Speaker 2: You see, he said, patiently, they know what I said.
38:01
Speaker 2: One of the guards walked around in front of Jesus
38:04
Speaker 2: and smashed his face. Is this the way you answer
38:08
Speaker 2: the High Priest, the guard said. Jesus shook his head
38:13
Speaker 2: to clear the effects of the blow and said to
38:16
Speaker 2: the guard, if I was wrong in speaking this way,
38:22
Speaker 2: then prove me wrong. But if I was right, then
38:27
Speaker 2: why do you strike me once again? I'd say, at
38:33
Speaker 2: the risk of being repetitious, under perfect control of the
38:37
Speaker 2: Holy Spirit. And let me add at this point, it's
38:42
Speaker 2: a perfect time to do so when you are treated
38:46
Speaker 2: unjustly and unfairly, and that is the lot of the
38:50
Speaker 2: Christian Occasionally, if nothing more you might gain from this message,
39:00
Speaker 2: etch it into your mind Jesus' great control, and be
39:08
Speaker 2: sure that you can have the same kind of control.
39:13
Speaker 2: I think it is significant that the one who develops
39:15
Speaker 2: that whole subject is Peter first, Peter two, who was
39:20
Speaker 2: an eyewitness to what occurred. And Peter knew what he
39:25
Speaker 2: was talking about when he said he without an answer,
39:31
Speaker 2: who when he was reviled, reviled not again when he suffered,
39:36
Speaker 2: he threatened not, but committed himself to him who judges righteously,
39:41
Speaker 2: who his own self bore our sins in his own
39:44
Speaker 2: body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins,
39:48
Speaker 2: should live unto righteousness. Now listen by whose stripe we
39:52
Speaker 2: are healed. It's in the singular. Peter saw him ultimately
39:57
Speaker 2: as one massive pulp, not many stripes. But as Isaiah said,
40:04
Speaker 2: his visage was marred more than that of a man.
40:09
Speaker 2: He didn't even look like a man when they finished
40:11
Speaker 2: with him. The swollen bruises, the blood, the mess, and
40:19
Speaker 2: he bore it without retaliation. It is incredible. Let me
40:26
Speaker 2: say something else that might appeal to a part of
40:29
Speaker 2: you that you haven't thought of before. He must have
40:32
Speaker 2: had some kind of physique, hands bound behind his back,
40:36
Speaker 2: taking the punches of grown men. And we never read
40:41
Speaker 2: where he fell unconscious. He never fell with that cross
40:47
Speaker 2: that comes from tradition of the church. That's not in scripture.
40:52
Speaker 2: He could have, but it doesn't say he did. The
40:55
Speaker 2: point is without sleep and without a break. He endured
41:00
Speaker 2: everything from the boot of the Roman soldier's heel there
41:05
Speaker 2: in the in the garden, all the way to the
41:09
Speaker 2: nails and the cross, which is another subject. Will undertake
41:14
Speaker 2: Anna's finished with him. He had no answer, he was silenced.
41:19
Speaker 2: He himself was judged not Christ, and so they carted
41:22
Speaker 2: him off to Caiaphas. Let's wrap it up by looking
41:25
Speaker 2: at Mark chapter fourteen. That is, wrap it up this morning.
41:30
Speaker 2: We'll have to complete it tonight. Caiaphas was the current
41:35
Speaker 2: High Priest, equally corrupt, but probably not as clever as Annas.
41:43
Speaker 2: He hadn't had as many years to develop the art
41:46
Speaker 2: of deception. And so Caiaphas now got together a band
41:53
Speaker 2: of men. It's about three thirty in the morning on
41:56
Speaker 2: the sixth of April, as best we can determine, and
42:01
Speaker 2: Caiaphas gains a hearing. Jesus stands before him verse fifty three,
42:07
Speaker 2: Mark fourteen fifty three. Remember now it's illegal because it's dark.
42:14
Speaker 2: It's illegal because it's a preliminary hearing. It's illegal because
42:18
Speaker 2: they are in the wrong place, Caiaphas's residents. They're not
42:21
Speaker 2: in the council chamber. It's a clandestine meeting. It's a
42:26
Speaker 2: kangaroo court. Fourteen fifty three. They led Jesus away to
42:32
Speaker 2: the High Priest and all the chief priests and elders
42:35
Speaker 2: and scribes gathered together. Peter followed at a distance Verse
42:41
Speaker 2: fifty six. Many were giving false testimony against him, and
42:46
Speaker 2: yet their testimony was not consistent. Not even the liars
42:49
Speaker 2: were in agreement in their lives. They couldn't even get
42:52
Speaker 2: two people to lie in agreement. And some stood up
42:56
Speaker 2: and began to give false testimony against him, saying, we
43:01
Speaker 2: heard him say I will destroy this temple made with hands,
43:04
Speaker 2: and in three days I will build another made without hands.
43:07
Speaker 2: And not even in this respect was their testimony consistent.
43:11
Speaker 2: That incredible. Not really, when you're a wicked liars, you
43:18
Speaker 2: don't have the right to agree, you know. It ought
43:20
Speaker 2: to just be one of those rights that you give up.
43:24
Speaker 2: Is also interesting too, as to what this says about
43:27
Speaker 2: human opinion. Six people can see the same accident, and
43:31
Speaker 2: it's by the time you finish talking with all six
43:34
Speaker 2: you wonder if it's they even saw the same thing.
43:37
Speaker 2: And these witnesses said they heard this and that, and
43:39
Speaker 2: they didn't. Now. The High Priest was pressed for an answer.
43:45
Speaker 2: He needs to get this case down to pilot. He's
43:50
Speaker 2: been told by his father in law, I want this
43:52
Speaker 2: man killed. And Caiphas knows that he has no witness.
43:57
Speaker 2: So what does he do? Well, he tries another illegal route.
44:02
Speaker 2: He talks to the accused. It's illegal. But he said
44:07
Speaker 2: to him verse sixty, do you make no answer to
44:11
Speaker 2: what these men are testifying against you? And he kept
44:13
Speaker 2: quiet and made no answer. And again the high priest
44:18
Speaker 2: was questioning him, saying to him, are you the Christ,
44:21
Speaker 2: the son of the blessed One? Now you might wonder
44:24
Speaker 2: why is the answer now and not before. One of
44:27
Speaker 2: the gospels tells us that just before he asked this question,
44:32
Speaker 2: he said, I adjure you, in the name of the
44:34
Speaker 2: Living God. Answer. And when a pious Jew heard that,
44:38
Speaker 2: he was obliged to answer under oath, he could not
44:43
Speaker 2: plead any amendment. He had to answer. And look at
44:47
Speaker 2: his answer, Jesus said, I am, you shall see the
44:53
Speaker 2: son of Man sitting at the right hand of power
44:55
Speaker 2: and coming with the clouds of heaven. That sounds like
45:00
Speaker 2: he's God, doesn't it? In fact he is. He was
45:06
Speaker 2: simply laying a prophecy on him that Caiaphas couldn't handle.
45:09
Speaker 2: And in good legal fashion, Caiaphas grabbed the collar of
45:13
Speaker 2: his robe and he gave it a yank, because you see,
45:16
Speaker 2: the talmot required that when a moderator heard blasphemous words,
45:21
Speaker 2: he was to publicly disagree by tearing his garments. By
45:26
Speaker 2: the way, Leviticus taught that no official was to tear
45:28
Speaker 2: his garments. And so that's where the talmot cuts cross
45:31
Speaker 2: grain with scripture. But they were driven by the talmot,
45:35
Speaker 2: at least in parts that they liked. The other part
45:37
Speaker 2: they left out. So he tore his garments, you are
45:43
Speaker 2: blaspheming verse sixty three. What further need do we have
45:47
Speaker 2: of witnesses? Hey, that's a nice out, isn't it. Who
45:51
Speaker 2: needs witnesses, especially when you can't find him? So what
45:54
Speaker 2: need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy.
45:58
Speaker 2: By the way, it was not allowed for the moderator
46:00
Speaker 2: to make the decision. The council had to make the decision.
46:04
Speaker 2: But this is a case again of the moderator taking charge,
46:08
Speaker 2: and he said, you've heard the blasphemy. How does it
46:10
Speaker 2: seem to you? Now, let's do it in order. No,
46:13
Speaker 2: he doesn't say that all who agree that he's condemned
46:17
Speaker 2: is deserving of death. And they all said, we agree,
46:23
Speaker 2: they all condemned him. Verse sixty five. They added a
46:27
Speaker 2: little extracurricular activity. Some began to spit at him, to
46:33
Speaker 2: blindfold him, and to beat him with their fists, and
46:38
Speaker 2: to say to him, prophesy, you see, it was a mockery.
46:43
Speaker 2: They put something like a handkerchief over his face. Then
46:47
Speaker 2: they would punch him two or three times, and then say, hey, Prophet,
46:51
Speaker 2: tell us who hits you? Who was it this time?
46:55
Speaker 2: Call him by name. Then they would hit him again,
46:59
Speaker 2: and then they would on him again. One sage says
47:05
Speaker 2: the judges came down from their seats and walked up
47:09
Speaker 2: to Jesus and spat in his face. Others in the
47:15
Speaker 2: crowd clenched their fists and hit him. He said nothing,
47:20
Speaker 2: though some of the blows, no doubt caused him to
47:23
Speaker 2: double over. For such highly placed, respected religious leaders of Judaism,
47:33
Speaker 2: those acts and indignities were most degrading. They slipped out
47:40
Speaker 2: into the darkness that damp, cold April morning, and verse
47:47
Speaker 2: one of chapter fifteen says, they assemble together as a council,
47:53
Speaker 2: and they held a consultation. And that's where we'll pick
47:57
Speaker 2: up tonight. Now, let's wait just a minute before we
48:04
Speaker 2: wrap it up and go home. There's really no way
48:09
Speaker 2: to end an incomplete message, except perhaps to invite you back.
48:18
Speaker 2: But I came across a true event in my own experience,
48:23
Speaker 2: which I shared with a number of you in an
48:25
Speaker 2: evening service many months ago, and it seems to describe
48:31
Speaker 2: a good stopping point for us and illustrate what we
48:34
Speaker 2: have seen spiritually speaking. Because remember, now, you and I
48:39
Speaker 2: deserve that spit. If I may be so brash, we
48:44
Speaker 2: deserve the nails in our feet and hands. It was
48:47
Speaker 2: our sins that he bore, not his. It was our
48:51
Speaker 2: place he took, not the fathers. We are the guilty ones.
48:55
Speaker 2: We are like sheep gone astray, turned everyone to our
48:58
Speaker 2: own ways. We are the rebels. Our iniquity has separated
49:03
Speaker 2: us from our our God, not his. But because of love.
49:07
Speaker 2: See that's the message in all of this. He did
49:10
Speaker 2: it for us. I was up at Trinity Seminary back
49:14
Speaker 2: in the spring of seventy four interviewing men for internships.
49:19
Speaker 2: At that time, I had a young man come who
49:23
Speaker 2: told a true and intriguing story of his experience. He
49:29
Speaker 2: told me that he hadn't had much experience in the ministry.
49:33
Speaker 2: I asked him about his background, and he said, you know,
49:36
Speaker 2: the only thing I have by way of ministry is
49:38
Speaker 2: some discipleship ministry which came about and in altogether unique fashion.
49:44
Speaker 2: He said, I last year came to the end of
49:46
Speaker 2: the school year, and I didn't have a ministry, didn't
49:49
Speaker 2: have a church, didn't really have anyone to work with.
49:52
Speaker 2: I asked God to make me available to whatever would
49:55
Speaker 2: be his will. I checked the want ads because this
49:58
Speaker 2: time wore on need some money, and I found that
50:02
Speaker 2: there was a bus driving job made available to me,
50:05
Speaker 2: and I hired out in South Chicago as a bus driver.
50:09
Speaker 2: If you know anything about Chicago, it's not South Chicago
50:12
Speaker 2: that you want to drive a bus in. But that's
50:15
Speaker 2: where they had the need, he found out later, because
50:18
Speaker 2: nobody else would stay on the job, so he hired
50:21
Speaker 2: in drove it. Before a week passed, some thugs got
50:25
Speaker 2: on the bus and didn't pay. They sat in the back,
50:28
Speaker 2: sneered and jeered and mocked him, and the next day
50:32
Speaker 2: the same thing happened. They didn't pay. Third day they
50:35
Speaker 2: got on didn't pay. About the fifth or sixth day,
50:38
Speaker 2: he said. It went on about a week. He just
50:40
Speaker 2: decided he didn't have to put up with that, so
50:44
Speaker 2: he decided he would call an officer into the bus
50:46
Speaker 2: and make him pay. He saw one down about a block,
50:50
Speaker 2: and after the fellows got on in the same procedure,
50:53
Speaker 2: he stopped and told the officer when he got on,
50:56
Speaker 2: the fellows back there haven't paid, and they haven't paid
50:59
Speaker 2: for several days. Would you at least make them pay today?
51:04
Speaker 2: And he did, but unfortunately the officer got off the bus,
51:09
Speaker 2: and when the door was closed, the bus driver drove
51:12
Speaker 2: a little further and turned a corner. That's the last
51:14
Speaker 2: thing he remembered. They knocked a couple of teeth out
51:17
Speaker 2: of his head. They stole his money, and when he
51:20
Speaker 2: woke up, the bus was empty, and he sat there
51:24
Speaker 2: in confusion and disillusionment, wondering what kind of a ministry
51:28
Speaker 2: is this? Lord, I had told you I was available,
51:31
Speaker 2: this was the job you opened up? And he went home,
51:35
Speaker 2: turned the bus in, took the rest of the day off,
51:39
Speaker 2: and went home to a little cot. Stared up at
51:43
Speaker 2: the ceiling as he was nursing his wounds, and he thought,
51:48
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna let him get away with that. So
51:52
Speaker 2: through an interesting chain of events, they rounded up, with
51:55
Speaker 2: the help of some officers, those very fellas and took
51:58
Speaker 2: him to court the day of the hearing, he stood
52:02
Speaker 2: before the court, and the judge listened carefully and decided
52:06
Speaker 2: the fellows were guilty and they didn't have any money
52:11
Speaker 2: to buy their way out, so they had to stand
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Speaker 2: some time in jail. Suddenly the fellow realized, here's my chance.
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Speaker 2: He said, your honor, may I speak for a few
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Speaker 2: moments said yes, you may. He said, I'd like for
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Speaker 2: you to tally up all the time these fellas together
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Speaker 2: would be spending in jail, and I'd like to go
52:32
Speaker 2: in their behalf. And the judge responded, now, that's highly irregular.
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Speaker 2: It has never been done before. The fellow responded, oh, yes,
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Speaker 2: it has nineteen hundred years ago. And then in about
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Speaker 2: four minutes he gave him the Gospel straight down the line,
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Speaker 2: three of the young and then came to know Christ
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Speaker 2: right on the spot one of them. Later after he
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Speaker 2: was incarcerated, and that fellow, at the time I interviewed him,
53:08
Speaker 2: was having a discipleship ministry with those four guys bound
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Speaker 2: for Hell who heard the message that somebody else wanted
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Speaker 2: to pay the price for their sin, a living testimony
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Speaker 2: of what Jesus did for us. Let's bowance voyage. Let's
53:33
Speaker 2: sit very quietly before the Lord. We've been quite intent
53:38
Speaker 2: with me, as we have worked intensely through a very
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Speaker 2: technical series of words. But underneath it all there was
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Speaker 2: a marvelous message of love and deep emotion. Our Lord
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Speaker 2: tells us that he proved his love and that while
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Speaker 2: we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Do you
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Speaker 2: know that he died for you? I am amazed at
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Speaker 2: times how many people do not know that Jesus paid
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Speaker 2: it all all to him. I owe sin had left
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Speaker 2: a crimson stain, he watched it white as snow. Bernard
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Speaker 2: of Clairval wrote, what language shall I borrow to thank
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Speaker 2: thee dearest friend for this thy dying sorrow, thy pity
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Speaker 2: without end? Oh make me thine forever, And should I
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Speaker 2: fainting be Lord