Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Divine Confession Before the Lawless Tribunal (Matthew 26:59-64)

Transcript

The Divine Confession Before the Lawless Tribunal (Matthew 26:59-64) · Reformed Thinking

0:00
Welcome to Reformed thinking. I am so glad you joined us
0:04
today. Yeah, thanks for having me.
0:05
I'm really looking forward to this deep dive.
0:07
So to start us off, I want you to imagine something.
0:10
Picture the highest Supreme Court in your country.
0:13
OK, I have got it. Now imagine that this court
0:16
decides to convene at like 2 in the morning and they do it on
0:20
Christmas Eve. Right, which would never.
0:22
Happen. Never.
0:23
And instead of the official courthouse, they meet secretly
0:25
in the Chief Justice's private living room.
0:28
Oh wow. And to make it worse, they are
0:30
actively bribing people to take the witness stand and lie.
0:33
All of this to secure a predetermined death penalty
0:36
against a totally innocent person.
0:38
That is just a staggering visual, but I mean that is the
0:41
reality of the text we are looking at today.
0:43
It really is. Today, our mission for this deep
0:46
dive is to unpack a stack of theological essays and
0:49
historical notes focused on one single astonishing event.
0:53
We are looking at the trial of Jesus Christ before the
0:56
Sanhedrin. Right.
0:57
And that is found in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26, verses
1:00
59 through 64. Yeah, and the contrast at the
1:04
center of our sources is just stark.
1:06
You have the righteous judge of all the earth standing as a
1:10
bound prisoner. In a late night, completely
1:12
corrupt, illegal courtroom. Precisely, it is the most
1:16
infamous trial in human history. And, you know, we really cannot
1:20
treat this as just an isolated piece of ancient history or like
1:26
some tragic legal. Accident.
1:28
No, it is way bigger than. That it is this event is a
1:31
mirror. It reflects the hardwired human
1:33
rebellion against divine authority.
1:36
As we go through these sources, you, the listener, are going to
1:39
be forced to evaluate your own stance.
1:41
Right, because it begs the question, do we submit to the
1:44
authority of Christ, or do we try to put his words on trial?
1:47
Yeah, especially when his words challenge our own personal
1:49
autonomy. That tension is what makes this
1:51
so compelling. But before we get into the trial
1:53
itself, we have to set the stage right.
1:55
Absolutely. You have to understand the
1:57
historical powder keg of 8030 Jerusalem.
1:59
The air was just thick with political and religious anxiety.
2:02
You have the Roman occupation. Right.
2:04
The Romans were there, and they were utterly obsessed with
2:06
maintaining order. So the Roman government
2:09
represented by the prefect Pontius Pilate, they held the
2:13
exclusive legal right to execute criminals.
2:16
Yes, Rome maintained an absolute monopoly on the sword.
2:19
Which means the Jewish Supreme Council, the Sanhedrin, had a
2:23
huge problem. It did.
2:25
And the Sanhedrin had local jurisdiction.
2:27
They handled civil disputes, religious infractions.
2:30
They were stripped of the right to carry out capital punishment.
2:34
If they just dragged Jesus out of the city and stoned him for a
2:37
religious offense, Rome would view that as an unauthorized
2:41
riot. And Pilot would crack down on
2:42
the city immediately. Brutally so.
2:45
The religious leaders needed a very specific kind of
2:48
accusation. A dual purpose charge.
2:50
Exactly. I mean they need a charge that
2:52
sounded like blasphemy to the Jewish crowds to discredit Jesus
2:55
religiously. But they also had to pitch it as
2:57
political sedition to the Romans.
2:59
Yeah, they had to thread the needle perfectly.
3:01
And the guy orchestrating this whole operation is the high
3:04
priest Joseph Caiaphas. He is a fascinating, though
3:08
terrifying, historical figure. Looking at our historical notes,
3:11
it says Caiaphas was a Sadducee who managed to hold the office
3:15
of high priest for 18 years. Which is unheard of under Roman
3:18
rule. Right.
3:19
Most high priests lasted what, a year or two?
3:22
Yeah, the Roman governors would depose them constantly based on
3:24
a whim. So to survive for 18 years you
3:28
have to be a master political operator.
3:30
You have to know how to play the game with Rome, yeah, and you
3:33
have to know how to crush threats to your own institution.
3:36
And Paiphus was not motivated by theological truth, was he?
3:39
Not at all. His primary concern was
3:42
protecting his aristocratic status quo and the economic
3:46
system of the temple. Because the Sadducees controlled
3:49
the temple complex. Right.
3:50
It was a massive financial engine.
3:52
You had currency exchange animal sales for sacrifices.
3:55
And Jesus had just disrupted all of that a few days prior.
3:58
Right. He cleansed the temple courts.
4:00
He drove out the money changers. And publicly called the
4:03
religious elite hypocrites. So to Caiaphas, Jesus was an
4:08
existential threat. This trial was a calculated
4:11
political assassination. Masked by judicial formality?
4:15
Yes, a very thin mask of formality.
4:18
Which brings us to the staggering list of illegalities
4:22
taking place here. Oh man, the rule breaking is
4:24
just off the charts. These were the guardians of the
4:27
Mosaic law. They were fastidious about
4:29
rules. But they threw out their entire
4:31
legal playbook. Let's look at the Mishna
4:34
guidelines for capital trials. OK, let's go through the
4:36
violations 1 by 1. First, Capital trials were
4:39
strictly forbidden at night. Because justice was supposed to
4:43
be transparent, right? Administered in the light of
4:46
day, yes. To prevent secretive mob
4:48
justice. Second, they were forbidden
4:50
during major religious festivals.
4:52
And this is happening during Passover.
4:54
The holiest season on their calendar.
4:56
It was supposed to be a time to remember God's deliverance.
4:59
Not a time to execute prisoners. 3rd, the location was totally
5:03
wrong. It was supposed to be in the
5:04
official hall of Hewn Stones, right?
5:06
Yes, within the temple precinct, that was the authorized place of
5:09
judgment. But they are meeting in the high
5:11
priest's private residence. It turns a Supreme Court hearing
5:15
into a shady basement interrogation.
5:17
It. Completely delegitimizes
5:19
everything. And there was a rule about
5:21
deliberation, too. It wasn't there, yeah.
5:23
If they actually reached a guilty verdict in a capital
5:26
case, the law required a mandatory night of fasting and
5:29
deliberation. Before the sentence could be
5:31
finalized, right? The judges were supposed to go
5:34
home in pairs, abstain from wine and see if they could find any
5:38
argument for an acquittal. But they ignored that completely
5:42
in their rush to eliminate him. They.
5:44
Threw it all out the window. It is just massive hypocrisy.
5:47
I mean, these are men who would debate the tiny details of
5:50
Sabbath law for hours. Right, the ultimate rule
5:53
keepers. But the moment their human
5:56
systems feel threatened by absolute holiness, they
5:59
abandoned their own ethical standards.
6:01
When human institutions feel cornered, they will trample
6:04
their own laws to maintain control.
6:07
It really exposes the moral bankruptcy of their religious
6:10
system. It does, but because the trial
6:13
was illegal and the verdict was predetermined, they ran into a
6:16
huge problem. They lacked actual evidence.
6:18
Right. They have the courtroom, they
6:19
have the judge, they have the prisoner.
6:21
But no crime. Exactly.
6:22
I mean, that is the crux of the issue.
6:24
They needed a crime. And the grammar Matthew uses
6:27
here to describe this hunt for evidence is fascinating.
6:30
Yes, let's look at the specific Greek words in verse 59.
6:34
Matthew says they were seeking false testimony, but it is not
6:38
just a casual search. No, the verb is EZ tune.
6:43
It is an imperfect active indicative.
6:45
Which means it was a continuous, frantic, ongoing hunt.
6:49
Right. Picture these men running
6:50
through the dark streets of Jerusalem in the middle of the
6:52
night. Knocking on doors, trying to
6:55
find anybody willing to take the stand.
6:57
And the word used for what they are seeking is pseudomartyrian.
7:01
Literally perjury. Fabricated testimony They were
7:04
actively soliciting liars. Think about the irony here.
7:08
These are the men tasked with upholding the 10 Commandments.
7:11
And the 9th commandment is do not bear false witness.
7:14
Yet they are actively paying people to fabricate a capital
7:17
charge. They are breaking the moral law
7:19
of God to preserve their religious authority.
7:22
But initially it doesn't even work.
7:24
No, it is a mess. Biblical law required the
7:27
consistent testimony of two witnesses.
7:29
And our sources show that many false witnesses came forward,
7:32
but their stories contradicted each other.
7:34
Even in a rigged court, the lies were just too sloppy.
7:37
Until finally, two people step forward with a charge the
7:40
council thinks they can use right.
7:42
They claim Jesus said I am able to destroy the temple of God.
7:46
We need to unpack this linguistic twist because they
7:49
took something Jesus actually said and weaponized it.
7:52
Yes, in John chapter 2 verse 19, Jesus used the metaphor.
7:56
He said destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it
8:00
up. He was referring to the temple
8:02
of his own body. Notice the phrasing there he
8:05
used a passive construction. Destroy this temple.
8:08
He's putting the action on his opponents.
8:10
But these witnesses change the grammar.
8:13
They make it an active, literal threat.
8:16
I am able to destroy the temple. They paint him as a domestic
8:19
terrorist. Threatening a sacred site.
8:21
An error rarely announces itself as poor fiction, does it?
8:25
No, it usually it takes fragments of truth.
8:27
It strips away the context and weaponizes the vocabulary.
8:31
In the ancient Near East, threatening a major temple was a
8:33
heinous capital offense. So this charge was perfectly
8:36
calculated. It would outrage the Jewish
8:39
public. And it sounded like dangerous
8:40
political insurrection to the Roman.
8:42
Right. So with these explosive charges
8:44
hanging in the air, the high priest stands up.
8:46
He is furious. He demands an answer from the
8:49
defendant. And this is where we see the
8:51
majestic silence of the Lamb. Because Jesus says absolutely
8:54
nothing. The Greek verb Matthew uses is
8:57
isipa. Also in the imperfect tense.
8:59
Yes, indicating A prolonged, resolute, unyielding silence.
9:03
But let me jump in here because from a modern legal mindset,
9:08
pleading the 5th or refusing to answer looks terrible.
9:12
It looks like an admission of guilt to us.
9:14
Right. If he is innocent, why wouldn't
9:17
he mount a defense? Why is this silence actually a
9:19
display of absolute majesty? Because we have to read this at
9:23
the lens of redemptive history. This silence fulfills prophecy.
9:27
Specifically Isaiah 53.7. Yes, the suffering servant who
9:31
was oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.
9:35
Like a lamb led to the slaughter.
9:37
Jesus is not scrambling for a defense strategy.
9:39
He is not panicking. He is entirely self possessed.
9:43
He is, and this connects directly to the theological
9:46
concepts of his active and passive obedience.
9:49
These concepts are all over our historical notes for this
9:52
passage. We should really break them down
9:53
for the listener. Let's do it.
9:54
So Christ's act of obedience refers to his perfect conformity
9:59
to the law. Even in a lawless room.
10:01
Yes, he's dealing with corrupt judges, lying witnesses, and yet
10:06
he maintains perfect righteousness.
10:09
He does not sin in anger. He doesn't manipulate the room.
10:11
Right. And then there is his passive
10:13
obedience. Which is his willing submission
10:16
to the penal consequences of our law breaking.
10:18
He is standing silent in the place of sinners.
10:21
Because sinners have no defense before the holy tribunal of God.
10:25
Absolutely. By remaining silent, he's
10:27
accepting the imputation of our guilt.
10:29
He is satisfying divine justice. He has no defense to offer for
10:33
the sins he is bearing, because He is bearing ours.
10:36
That reframes the entire courtroom scene.
10:38
It really does. But Caiaphas is looking at this
10:40
silent prisoner and he is just completely frustrated.
10:43
He cannot break Jesus's resolve. Yeah, the witnesses are falling
10:47
apart. The silence is making a mockery
10:49
of the whole trial. So Caiaphas resorts to the
10:52
ultimate judicial weapon. He forces a confession.
10:55
He places Jesus under a solemn, legally binding oath.
10:59
The Greek word is exorcisa, right?
11:01
Yes, he adjures him by the living God.
11:04
Under Jewish law, a person under this specific oath was legally
11:08
obligated to answer truthfully. Caiaphas demands to know if he
11:13
is the Christ, the Son of God. It is a brilliant, vicious trap.
11:17
Because if Jesus stays silent now, he's breaking an oath
11:20
before God. But if he answers and claims a
11:22
title, he signs his own death warrant.
11:25
And this is when Jesus finally speaks.
11:27
He says You have said so. Siapas in Greek.
11:30
It is such a brilliant idiom. It really is.
11:32
It is an affirmation, but it pushes back against the
11:34
questioner. He is acknowledging the titles
11:36
are accurate. But he utterly refutes
11:38
Caiaphas's political, nationalistic preconceptions of
11:41
what those titles mean. Caiaphas wanted a Messiah who
11:44
would overthrow Rome and protect the temple state.
11:46
Jesus is saying I am the Messiah, but not the carnal
11:50
version you are looking for. And then Jesus introduces this
11:54
massive eschatological clan. Yes, the pivot point of the
11:58
trial, Yeah, he uses the word but or nevertheless.
12:01
The Greek word plan. And he fuses 2 explosive Old
12:05
Testament prophecies. Daniel 7.13 and Psalm 110.1.
12:10
Let's walk through those references.
12:11
OK, Daniel 7 describes the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
12:15
heaven. Approaching the Ancient of Days.
12:17
Right, and receiving an everlasting Kingdom in dominion.
12:20
And then Psalm 110. That is the Lord inviting the
12:23
Davidic King to sit at his right hand.
12:25
In the position of ultimate cosmic authority.
12:28
Until his enemies were made his footstool.
12:30
So by combining these texts while underoath, Jesus is
12:34
claiming coequal deity. He is and think about the visual
12:38
reality of this moment. You have this bound, bleeding
12:41
prisoner. Looking dead in the eyes of the
12:43
most authoritative men in the nation.
12:45
And calmly informing them that he is actually the cosmic judge.
12:48
He is telling them the next time we lock eyes, the roles will be
12:51
reversed. You will be the ones on trial.
12:53
And I will be the one executing final judgement.
12:56
That gives me chills. That is not the statement of a
12:58
victim. No, it is the declaration of a
13:00
sovereign king. Which brings up a central
13:02
theological theme from our sources.
13:04
This scene vividly displays Christ's threefold office.
13:08
Yes, prophet, priest and king. Let's break down how he fulfills
13:12
each of these roles right there in the courtroom, starting with
13:15
his role as prophet. Well, a prophet speaks divine
13:17
truth, right? Right here.
13:19
His dignified silence acts as a devastating prophetic indictment
13:23
of their spiritual blindness. And when he does speak, he
13:27
delivers the ultimate prophecy about his exultation dictating
13:30
the future of the cosmos. Exactly.
13:33
Then you have his role as priest.
13:35
The irony here is striking. The corrupt earthly High priest
13:38
is interrogating the true great High Priest.
13:41
Yes, Jesus isn't just the officiating priest here.
13:44
He is the spotless victim. Preparing to offer himself on
13:47
the cross. To satisfy divine justice once
13:50
and for all, he is making intercession through his willing
13:53
submission. And finally, his role as king.
13:56
Even in his deepest humiliation, bound and mocked, he speaks with
14:00
total sovereign dominion. Claiming an everlasting Kingdom.
14:04
He assures them that His physical weakness is just the
14:07
path to His glorious enthronement.
14:09
Our sources also connect this posture to the concept of the
14:13
second Adam. Yes, acting as the federal head
14:15
for his people. Because where the first Adam
14:18
failed, Christ succeeds. Adam was in a perfect garden
14:22
environment, yet he rebelled and plunged humanity into ruin.
14:26
But Christ, the second Adam is in the most hostile, corrupt
14:29
environment imaginable. Surrounded by absolute
14:32
corruption and the threat of death.
14:34
And yet He maintains perfect righteousness and submission to
14:37
the Father's decree. Securing righteousness for
14:40
everyone united to Him. It is a stunning contrast.
14:43
Speaking of contrast, Matthew intentionally frames the scene
14:46
with a specific literary device. He uses juxtaposition
14:50
brilliantly here. We have what is happening inside
14:52
the courtroom and what's happening outside in the
14:54
courtyard. Inside, Jesus stands entirely
14:57
alone, facing the most intimidating men in Israel.
14:59
And he makes a bold, faithful confession, knowing it will cost
15:02
him his life. But outside, in the courtyard,
15:04
you have Peter. A devoted follower who just
15:07
promised to die for Jesus. Right.
15:08
And Peter isn't facing the Supreme Court.
15:11
He is questioned by a servant girl.
15:13
And he completely folds. He denies he even knows Jesus
15:16
just to avoid mild social pressure.
15:19
Why does Matthew highlight this tragic contrast for his original
15:23
readers? To provide immense pastoral
15:25
comfort. Because the original Jewish
15:28
Christian audience in the late 1st century was facing serious
15:31
pressure. They were facing expulsion from
15:33
their synagogues. They were dealing with severe
15:36
social alienation. And their unbelieving neighbors
15:39
were making a very tough intellectual argument against.
15:43
Them, they were saying if Jesus was truly the Messiah, the
15:46
official Sanhedrin would never have rejected him.
15:49
It is an appeal to authority. If your theology is true, why do
15:52
all the cultural elites reject it?
15:54
Right. That kind of argument carries a
15:56
lot of psychological. Weight So Matthew includes this
15:59
detailed account of the trial to prove a point.
16:02
To prove that the Sanhedrin was apostate and lawless.
16:05
Their official rejection did not invalidate Jesus's credentials.
16:09
It actually confirmed the prophetic pattern.
16:11
Like in Psalm 118, right? The builders wouldn't.
16:17
Matthew was showing his readers that these leaders were acting
16:21
just like the wicked kings of the past who persecuted the true
16:24
prophets. Which provided massive spiritual
16:27
comfort to the early believers. It showed them that standing
16:31
with the rejected Christ put them on the right side of
16:33
redactive history. And those same dynamics are
16:36
still playing out in our culture today because the human impulse
16:40
for self justification hasn't changed.
16:42
Caiaphas and the Council were driven by pragmatism.
16:45
They chose what worked to preserve their institution over
16:49
submitting to divine truth. And we see that same kind of
16:51
pragmatic, seeker sensitive religion today.
16:54
We do. Modern humanity constantly tries
16:57
to put Jesus on trial. We try to sanitize him.
16:59
We want a therapeutic Jesus who agrees with our subjective
17:02
politics or our personal comfort.
17:04
We want the moral teacher, but we strip away the absolute
17:07
claims of his deity. And his role as the final judge,
17:11
because the final judge demands unconditional surrender.
17:13
And the unregenerate mind hates that.
17:15
It really does. So when you, the listener, are
17:19
facing false accusations or marginalization for holding to
17:23
biblical truth, how does Christ's posture here offer a
17:27
blueprint for endurance? It calls us to emulate his
17:30
dignified restraint. Because our natural fleshly
17:34
impulse is defensive anger. Or panic, self-defense.
17:37
Or launching a PR campaign to clear our name.
17:40
But Jesus shows us a different way.
17:42
We don't need to rely on carnal anger.
17:45
We can rest knowing our vindication is secure before the
17:48
Heavenly Throne. We can entrust our reputation to
17:50
the Father. Just as Christ did.
17:52
Which brings us to the ultimate cosmic irony of Matthew 26.
17:57
The Sanhedrin thought they were so incredibly smart.
18:00
They thought they were neutralizing a threat and saving
18:02
their religious system. In reality, they were simply
18:05
instruments fulfilling the sovereign decree of the Father.
18:08
They were freely making wicked choices, but God used their
18:11
wickedness to deliver the Lamb to the slaughter.
18:14
To secure redemption for his people.
18:16
They orchestrated salvation without even knowing.
18:18
It it is an amazing display of God's Providence over human
18:21
evil. It really is.
18:24
As we wrap up this deep dive, we want to leave you with a final
18:27
provocative thought to haul over.
18:28
Yes, this passage makes it clear that neutrality is impossible.
18:32
The age of Christ's patience is temporary.
18:35
The silent prisoner of Caiaphas's court is rapidly
18:38
approaching on the clouds of heaven.
18:40
As the supreme judge of the living and the dead.
18:43
So what does that mean for the areas of your life where you are
18:46
still trying to act as the judge of His word?
18:48
The earthly gavel is going to be shattered by a heavenly one.
18:51
We do not get to call court into session and interrogate God.
18:55
He is the one who will evaluate us.
18:57
Thank you for joining us today and we will see you next time.