Matt. 26:57-68; Mk. 14:53-65; Lk. 22:63-71

Around the time the rooster would crow to announce the new day the Sanhedrin had gathered in the house of Caiaphas, the high priest.  As has often been noted, there were many illegal aspects of this trial.

·        The trial was required to be at the meeting place of the Sanhedrin, not in the house of the high priest.

·        Trials must begin in the daytime, not at night (it seems that this relatively brief meeting ended as the sun came up when Jesus was then taken to Pilate).

·        No trial could be held on Sabbath or on feast days or on the eve of either.

·        A guilty verdict required two or three witnesses in agreement.

·        Jews had an elaborate system of warning and cautioning witnesses, unlike here where they were sought out.

·        Guilty verdicts were to be rendered on the following day.

·        There was to be no prolonged death in capital punishment and no scourging.

The injustices perpetrated against Jesus are not the primary issue, although they are significant given the holiness of the One on trial and the sinfulness of those who rejected their Messiah.  Jesus does not cry for justice.  Rather He exhibits the meekness of the Lamb predicted in Isa. 53:7: He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.

It is not that Jesus is absolutely silent.  But we can say that the truth is powerfully stated both by what Jesus does not say and then what He does say.

Ø Jesus DID NOT answer the charges that were drummed up against Him (destroying the temple) not did He answer when Caiaphas pressed Him for an answer.  They were not looking for answers or for justice; they only wanted, as had been the case, to catch Him in a technical mistake of some sort.

Ø Jesus DID answer when asked, Are you the Christ, the Son of God?  This is the fundamental question (as in Matt. 16:15: Who do you say that I am?)  This was the reason Jesus had come to earth and the essence of His public ministry.  This question He answered in the affirmative.  This still did not satisfy the verdict of guilty but the council took it as such anyway.

The result of the guilty verdict was that Jesus was beaten and ridiculed: beaten with the fist and the open hand and mocked as Prophet (Mark 14:65), King (Mark 15:16-20) and Messiah (Mark 15:29-32).  Jesus is unequivocal in His submission to His Father’s will, the matter that was settled in Gethsemane.  This is our Lord, who when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously (1 Pt. 2:23).  Likewise, let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator (1 Pt. 4:19).