Well today we are continuing our short series following the final hours of Christ’s earthly ministry leading up to Resurrection Sunday, Easter Sunday. We began a few weeks ago with Christ in Gethsemane and we watched Him agonizing in prayer and submitting Himself to the sufferings ordained for Him by His Father – “Not My will, but Yours be done,” He prayed. And then last week we stayed in Gethsemane as Judas arrived at the head of the troop of soldiers to arrest our Lord. They came armed for violence expecting to manhandle Jesus and drag Him away. What they found instead was Christ the Lord, the great I AM, who leveled the soldiers with a word. Simply by identifying Himself, He knocks them to the ground as forcefully as any earthquake. And so when Jesus goes with them, we discovered He didn’t go in weakness, unable to help Himself, overcome by the soldiers. No, He went voluntarily, obeying what was in fact the beginning of the answer to His Gethsemane prayers – that the will of the Father be done. It was, we saw, as Isaiah prophesied, “the will of the Lord to crush Him, that by His wounds we might be healed.”
And now today we follow Jesus to the next step of His ordeal. We go with Him to the first of two trials that He was to undergo. There was a religious trial before the chief priests and the elders of the Jewish people, and then as we will see next week, God willing, there followed a second secular trial before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. Today we’re focusing on the first of those, the religious trial, and it takes place in two phases. First, there is an informal interrogation that occurs in the home of Annas who was the father-in-law of the then current high priest, Caiaphas. Annas had himself been the high priest but had been deposed by the Roman governor, a man called Gratus, who was the governor before Pontus Pilate.
And now in those days, at least among the Jewish people, being deposed from office by the Romans was not necessarily a PR disaster. In fact, Annas continued to enjoy a certain prestige and deference from the Jewish people. He was still called high priest as a sort of honorific, much in the same way presidents of the United States are still honored and called, “Mr. President,” even after having left office. And so Jesus, first of all, as we are about to see, is interrogated by Annas. And then when Annas can do nothing with Him, he sends Him off for a more formal trial at the home of Caiaphas and the whole Sanhedrin; the Sanhedrin is the Jewish ruling council.
If you’ll take your Bibles in hand and turn with me first of all to John chapter 18, and beginning in verse 19 we will read John’s account of the interrogation of Jesus by Annas. And then, we’ll turn to Matthew 26 verse 57 and see how things went when Jesus stood before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. Before we do all of that and read the text together, let’s pause again and pray. Let us pray.
Open our eyes, O Lord, that we may behold marvelous things out of Your Word, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
John chapter 18 at the nineteenth verse. This is the Word of Almighty God:
“The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered him, ‘I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.’ When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, ‘Is that how you answer the high priest?’ Jesus answered him, ‘If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?’ Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.”
Then turn back to Matthew 26. Matthew 26, beginning at verse 57. Matthew 26, verse 57:
“Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, ‘This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’’ And the high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?’ But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, ‘I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his robes and said, ‘He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?’ They answered, ‘He deserves death.’ Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, ‘Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?’”
Amen, and we praise God that He has spoken to us in His holy, inerrant Word.
Well as good Presbyterians, you will be unsurprised to hear me say that the Westminster Shorter Catechism is a brilliant summary of the teaching of the Bible. In question 23, the catechism helps us think about the way Jesus saves us by highlighting what the catechism calls His “offices.” In the Old Testament you will remember God ordained three offices in particular for the benefit of His people. There were prophets, priests, and kings. And so the catechism asks in question 23, “What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?” and it answers, “Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in His estate of humiliation and exaltation.” So during His humiliation, that is, during His earthly ministry, as well as in His exaltation, that is, after His resurrection, seated where He now reigns at the right hand of the Father in glory, He saves us specifically by fulfilling the work of a prophet, a priest, and a king.
Now I find that to be an immensely helpful way to break down the different aspects of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf. And I bring it up not just because I want you to love our catechism – I really do – but because these three offices of Christ – prophet, priest and king – are highlighted for us in Jesus’ trial, especially His trial before Caiaphas and the Jewish council in Matthew 26. And all I want to do this morning is to look at each of those offices in turn and to tease out some of their implications for us. In verses 57 through 62 of Matthew 26 we are taught, first of all, that Jesus is the final Priest. Jesus is the final Priest. In 63 and 64, Jesus is the true King. And in 65 through 68, Jesus is the great Prophet. Jesus is the final Priest, the true King, and the great Prophet.
Jesus is the Final Priest
Let’s think about verses 57 through 62 first of all. Jesus is the final Priest. We saw Jesus bound and dragged away from Gethsemane and delivered in the first instance to the home of Annas, the deposed former high priest as we read in John 18. No doubt Caiaphas and the other conspirators had agreed that Annas should try to get some sort of confession out of Jesus first of all. Perhaps they thought because of his seniority and the honor in which he was held generally he might be able to get something out of Jesus. They knew that getting witnesses to appear in the middle of the night, as it then was, would have been extremely difficult in order for them to conduct a legal trial. In religious trials like this, the rule was you were not allowed to interrogate the accused directly, so the case had to be made entirely based upon witness testimony and finding witnesses at this hour would have been extremely difficult. Actually, as the story reveals, finding any witnesses that were credible at all proved extremely difficult.
And Annas interrogates Jesus informally trying to get Him to confess and it becomes very quickly apparent that Jesus knows His rights and insists that since His teaching was always conducted in public, that witnesses should be brought to bear testimony to the content of His message. In other words, “If we are going to do this, we have to do it right, and I demand a proper trial.” And so Annas sends Him on to Caiaphas, his son-in-law. And Matthew 26:59-60 tell us that everyone has convened and the chief priests and the whole council are seeking testimony against Jesus that they might put Him to death. So they’ve already agreed on the verdict before the trial starts. And they find no one, no credible witnesses, though many false witnesses came forward. Mark’s gospel explains, Mark 14:56, that the witness testimony they were able to find did not agree. So it was mutually contradictory and inadmissible.
The Mishnah, which is an ancient collection of rabbinic laws, categorizes legal testimony in three ways. There is vain testimony, a standing testimony, and adequate testimony. Vain testimony was clearly worthless, incredible testimony. James Boice and Philip Ryken suggest that vain testimony is like when a judge in a modern courtroom instructs a jury to disregard certain testimony and that it be stricken from the record. Vain testimony. It can’t be used in deciding the case. Standing testimony, on the other hand, was relevant. It was pertinent information but it had yet to be verified; it could be confirmed or disproved. And so whether it will be helpful or not remains to be seen. But the third category of testimony in ancient Jewish trials like this was adequate testimony. That is, the only kind of testimony deemed sufficient to convict. It is relevant testimony on which at least two witnesses are agreed. And the gospel records make clear, don’t they, that the majority of the testimony received that night was vain testimony; mutually contradictory, clearly incorrect, utterly unsubstantiated. All of which betrays the mounting desperation that the priests and the elders are beginning to feel as they seek to find a way, any way, to be rid of Jesus Christ at last.
And how long this litany of incredible false witnesses went on we really don’t know, but certainly it dragged on late into the night until finally two witnesses were found whose testimony seemed to reflect historical fact. Look at the report of the two witnesses in verse 61. Look at verse 61. “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.’” Now neither Matthew, Mark nor Luke record any such saying of Jesus. But John’s gospel, chapter 2 verse 19, you will remember, after Jesus drove out the moneychangers from the temple, records Jesus as saying, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” John reports that the Jews around Him replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But, says John, by way of explanation, “He was speaking about the temple of His body destroyed” – “this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.”
And so this is the incident that these two witnesses appear to be bearing testimony to.
But did you notice how they distorted subtly what Jesus actually said? They make Jesus say that He would personally destroy the physical temple building in Jerusalem and then rebuild it three days later. And that would certainly have been a terrible insult to the worship and the piety of the Jewish religious establishment, but that’s not what Jesus said. Is it? What He actually said is, “You destroy this temple, the temple of My body, you destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” So He wasn’t talking about something He would do to the bricks and the mortar of the temple building, but about something they would do to Him. And so the false witnesses are purposefully distorting Jesus’ teaching really to serve the agenda already set by those who are trying our Savior.
The great irony of course is that while they lie and twist the facts in order to destroy Him, the original prophecy to which they refer in John chapter 2 was beginning to be fulfilled. And their lies and their distortions were the very means of accomplishing it. He was the true temple of God. He Himself. In Jesus, as John 1:14 puts it, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, dwelt as in a temple amongst us.” Literally, “He tabernacled among us.” The focal point of sacrifice, the venue for atonement, the only place in which the holy God can be reconciled to sinful men and women, the temple, is Jesus Christ. That’s what Jesus is saying. “The reality to which the earthly temple pointed has now come in Me.” That’s what He was saying. Not another building, but the Lord Jesus Christ. And He had predicted that one day they would begin to tear that temple down; they would begin to destroy the tabernacle of His flesh. And here in the home of Caiaphas the high priest, of all people, that demolition project was underway in earnest.
Well with that apparently more solid testimony finally before the court, you will notice that Caiaphas loses all patience. Verse 62, “The high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer to make?’” He does what you are not supposed to do. He interrogates the accused directly. “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” And don’t miss what Matthew says next. Despite the slander, despite the pressure, Matthew tells us “Jesus remained silent.” He remained silent. He doesn’t correct His accusers. He doesn’t argue with the accuracy of their testimony. He doesn’t open His mouth at any point in His own defense. Does He? He remains silent.
Given the times we live in, that, I think, is really quite striking. Wouldn’t you agree? We live in a time when people are on a hair trigger looking for every real or perceived injustice. Social media is filled with folks playing the victim card or signaling their virtue by fulminating in full outrage at every transgression. The vigorous demand that justice be done, at least to our own satisfaction, has become, I think, the characteristic cry of our generation. How different is the Lord Jesus Christ. When faced with the hateful lies of His accusers, our Lord remains completely silent, poised and still. As the wrecking ball of injustice slams into Him again and again, He meekly absorbs the blows without uttering a word. Now why? Why not speak up in His own defense? He would have every right, after all. He doesn’t speak because Isaiah 53:7 says of the Messiah, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mount. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.” Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Here is our true Passover – silent as He is led to the slaughter.
Every year – you may know – every year on the Day of Atonement, Caiaphas the high priest entered the Most Holy Place, right in the very heart of the temple, to offer the blood of the sacrificial lamb to atone for the sin of the people, according to the Law of Moses. That was Caiaphas’ sacred duty. But there was a problem. Every year, year after year, Caiaphas did his bloody work, sprinkling the blood of the lamb on the mercy seat over the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place. And not once, not once in all those years, not once since God gave the Law to Moses at Sinai, not once did the blood of that lamb take sin away. Not once. Hebrews 10:11, “Every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sin.”
Now perhaps you’re beginning to see enough of the great ironies. There are several that lace this passage. Another of the great ironies of Jesus’ trial that night, the high priest, the one who ought to, who sought to but never could make atonement by the blood of a lamb in the temple in Jerusalem, was condemning God’s true High Priest, the true Temple, the spotless Lamb who alone will atone for the sin of the world by the offering of Himself. Unlike Caiaphas, Hebrews 9:24 tells us, “Christ has entered not into holy places made with hands which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer Himself repeatedly as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then, He, Christ, would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Jesus stands in Caiaphas’ home wearing, as it were, the mantle of the true and final priest of God. His silence, part of His priestly work of offering Himself in atonement for our sin. He is the Lamb being led to the slaughter who opens not His mouth. He is the true Temple, being torn down and rebuilt that sinners might meet with God only in Him.
Now what does that mean for us? Well, it means full atonement, full atonement. “Guilty, vile and helpless we, spotless Lamb of God was He. Full atonement! Can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior!” That’s what it means. It means you don’t need another Priest. We have Jesus. We don’t need ministers or gurus to get to God. Jesus has reconciled sinners to the Father. You don’t need penance or religious performance. Jesus has paid in full. We don’t need to make atonement for our own sin. We never could, any more than Caiaphas could on the Day of Atonement every year. Only Jesus can make satisfaction for sinners. Only Jesus can pay the blood debt our disobedience has incurred. Only Jesus can appease the wrath of a holy God that blazes righteously against us. Jesus is the Lamb. Jesus is the Temple where God and sinners are reconciled. Jesus is the High Priest. He is all you will ever need to get right with God. Look nowhere else, look to no one else, and trust yourself wholly and entirely to Him. He is a perfect Savior. Jesus the final Priest.
Jesus is the True King
And then secondly, Jesus is the true King. Look at verses 63 and 64. When Jesus remains silent before His accusers, the high priest decides to up the ante and puts Jesus under a solemn oath. Do you see that in the text? “I adjure you, by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” And it’s at this point, bound by a sacred oath, that Jesus finally breaks His silence. “You have said so, but I tell you from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” “So are you the Christ, the Son of God?” “Well, you said it, Caiaphas! And what’s more, you need to understand who you’re really dealing with, who you’re really dealing with.” The prophecy that Jesus gives here is a quotation actually from two places in the Old Testament scriptures. The first is Psalm 110 verse 1, “The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’” The Son of Man, the name, the title Son of Man, Jesus’ favorite name for Himself in the gospels, the Son of Man will reign at the right hand of the Father.
And that language, by the way, of the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven takes us to the second Old Testament place to Daniel chapter 7. Daniel says, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like the Son of Man and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him and to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” Jesus is telling Caiaphas and all his petty judges who they’re really dealing with. They presumed to abuse their power to destroy Jesus Christ, not understanding that by His death and resurrection on the third day Jesus would ascend to the throne of heaven and be crowned as the King of kings and the Lord of lords whose dominion would be an everlasting dominion and whose kingdom there would be no end.
And isn’t that the fatal error of the whole unbelieving world, after all? This is the fundamental mistake, isn’t it? We do not believe that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And so people casually dismiss Him. They cruelly mock Him. Or they condemn Christ and His Gospel claiming it to be the root of all the problems of this age. How we need to beware, oh how we need to beware of joining Caiaphas and his cronies passing hasty judgment on the Christ of God because one day He will come in the clouds of heaven to be the Judge of the living and the dead and you will stand before Him with your hand over your mouth in stunned amazement. And if you have not bent your knee to Him in repentance and faith here, you will bend it on that day in horror and shame and everlasting regret as you, along with every other creature under heaven, are made to confess that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus is the Great Prophet
Jesus is the final Priest. Jesus is the true King. And finally, notice Jesus is the great Prophet. Look at verses 65 through 68. The high priest, hearing Jesus’ prophecy, is under no allusions at all about its real significance. Clearly he catches the allusion to Psalm 110 and Daniel 7. He knows the claim Jesus is making to deity and to kingly dignity and prerogatives. And in outrage he tears his garments and cries, “He’s uttered blasphemy! What further witnesses do we need? You’ve now heard His blasphemy. What is your sentence?” And the answer – “He deserves death.” There’s no suggestion, notice, that Jesus’ claims need to be evaluated to determine if they are true. They’ve already determined that Jesus must die. Talk about confirmation bias. Their reaction is visceral and violent. He is immediately condemned as a blasphemer because He clearly claims the titles and prerogatives of deity.
And it’s here, once again, we pause to notice another of the ironies. Who’s the blasphemer in this story? Well it’s Caiaphas, isn’t it – the high priest. The one who invokes the name of God to condemn the Messiah Himself, whom he condemns for blasphemy.
But condemned He was and the sentence is passed and Matthew says – look at this – “They spat in His face.” That has to be one of the most degrading displays of contempt one human being can show to another. They spat in His face and they beat Him and some slapped Him, Matthew says. The word to “beat” Him there may imply that actually they were using sticks and clubs. This was an extremely violent act of sheer brutality. Mark 22:64 says they blindfolded Him; that’s why they’re asking Him, “Prophecy! Who struck You?” Now remember, these are the elders and the priests and they are speaking as if prophecy were little better than an act of clairvoyance, as if Jesus was being invited to do some fortune telling – “Who struck You?” What they ought to have understood but clearly did not is that the prophetic word has a different character altogether. It’s not a cheap trick. It’s scope is the revelation of God to the world. And the final irony of this text is that in Jesus Christ, God’s climactic act of self-disclosure, His word to the world, has reached its zenith. “Long ago, at many times and in different ways,” Hebrews 1 verse 1, “God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.” Jesus is the Word made flesh, and all the while His tormentors demanded a prophetic word from Him, Jesus’ mute suffering spoke more eloquently than any sermon ever could of the love of God for sinners in the provision of a suffering Savior.
Don’t we see here a terrible display of just how antithetical to Jesus Christ false religion really is? These are the religious elites, remember, and they lie and they abuse power and they do violence to Jesus Christ. Why do they do it? They do it because the free grace of God in Jesus is the enemy of mere religion. It is the enemy of self-righteousness. It is the enemy of trying to merit favor from God. There are no reactions quite so hostile to Jesus Christ and His Gospel than those you find amongst good religious people. You see, what Jesus offers you isn’t, “Do better. Try harder.” It isn’t, “Clean up your act and then God will accept you.” It is not mere morality or more religious duty. It is free, full, complete forgiveness. Acceptance with God not because you were righteous but because Jesus Christ the Righteous One suffered and died for you. And that Gospel shatters pride and self-reliance and calls us all to turn in wholehearted dependence to Jesus alone for rescue. That’s why it’s so offensive to the scribes and the Pharisees and the chief priests, and maybe why the Gospel really offends you as well – because you want something to do; some way to make it under your own steam. Some contribution you can point to to say, “This is what I did and that’s why God loves me!”
But my dear friend, please understand that Christ endured all that we see Him endure here, and yet more to come, as we know, at Calvary, precisely because you cannot make it under your own steam; precisely because your every so-called contribution will damn you rather than save you. The harder you try, the worse you will make it. It’s time to quit. It’s time to stop, right now, and to repent from your self-reliance and go to Christ and say, “Jesus, You’ve done everything that I need. Will You rescue me? Otherwise, I have no hope.” He has paid in full. There is no debt for you to pay. You must merely trust yourself to Him.
Jesus is the final Priest. You don’t need any other. Jesus is the true King. Bow before Him lest He judge you when He comes. Jesus is the great Prophet who reveals the heart of God for sinners, that beats with sacrificial love and gives up Christ to be your Redeemer. Trust Him. Let’s pray together.
Our Father, how we praise You for the Lord Jesus Christ, our Prophet, Priest and King. And we pray for any here among us who have not yet bowed their knees to Him, surrendered to Him, repented of every effort of their own and clung to Him alone for rescue. Draw them to the Redeemer and do it now, we pray, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.