Jesus Trial Before the High Priest

The moment that Jesus has been preparing the disciples for has come. He has been arrested. As Jesus predicted, the disciples deserted Him. Jesus was being led away to a series of mock trials. He would have three separate Jewish trials and three separate Roman trials. But in none of those would He receive any type of justice. Matthew begins by telling us that Jesus was brought before Caiaphas. He leaves out the first trial in which Jesus was brought before the former High Priest Annas. John gives us information regarding that trial.

In John 18:13 the Scripture tells us that Jesus was taken before Annas. Annas had been High Priest around twenty years earlier. And while a High Priest was technically to serve until death, that often did not happen. Especially when Rome rose to power. If it was politically expedient Rome would make sure that a High Priest was removed and replaced. Such was the case with Annas. Annas became well known for transforming the Temple into Jerusalem into a very lucrative place for himself and other religious leaders. He learned to make serious money off of two of the things surrounding the Temple: sacrifices and Temple tax. Animals had to be inspected and approved by a priest before they could be offered. If a worshipper brought an animal from home it was almost always rejected. The reason was so that the worshipper would have to pay the inflated price to buy one of the animals the Temple offered. The temple tax was also a way Annas exploited the people. Most of the people used the currency of Rome. However, Roman coins could not be used because they often had images or inscriptions that were considered idolatrous. Therefore the Temple would not receive them. In order to get the proper coinage for a Temple tax you would have to buy the approved coin at an inflated price. This type of behavior is what caused Jesus to cleanse the Temple on two different occasions (John 2:13-16 & Matthew 21:12).

Rome recognized the influence and power of Annas and had him removed from his position. But many of the people in the religious establishment still considered him a High Priest. He continued to have influence. In fact 5 of his sons served after him and Caiaphas, the current High Priest, married his daughter. What Jesus did in the Temple, cleansing it, would have especially upset Annas. It could be that Annas demanded to see Jesus once He was arrested. So Jesus is taken to him first.

John 18:19-24 gives the account of Jesus before Annas. Annas asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine. It was a pretty general question. He wanted to know what Jesus was teaching His followers. Jesus responded by telling Him that He has been openly teaching in the Temple and synagogue and that Annas should just go out and ask the people. Everyone knew what Jesus had been teaching. One of the officers didn’t like the way Jesus spoke to the High Priest. So the officer struck Jesus with the palm of his hand and said to Him “is that any way to talk to the High Priest?” Jesus responded to this brutal act by saying “If I have said something evil tell Me what it was, but if not, why did you hit Me?” This abuse was illegal. Jesus had not been charged, much less convicted of anything yet. To punish a man that had not yet been pronounced guilty was unjust. Annas, realizing he would get nowhere with this trial sent Jesus to Caiaphas, the presiding High Priest. We can assume it was pretty late on Thursday night by now. Possibly, it was even early Friday morning.

v.57 The religious leaders had gathered at Caiaphas headquarters. Mark 14:55 tells us the Sanhedrin had gathered together. The Sanhedrin was a ruling body made up of Sadducees, Pharisees and other prominent Jews. They were a group of 70, 71 including the High Priest. The number was an odd number to keep a ruling in a matter from being a tie.

v.58 Peter wanted to know what was going on. However, he was enough of a coward to follow Jesus at a distance. John had some connections with the High Priest and was able to get Peter inside the headquarters, which would have been quite large (John 18:16). Peter blended in with the servants around the courtyard to wait and see what would happen.

v.59 The council tries to make some type of sense of the trial. They begin to look for witnesses that would have enough testimony to have Jesus put to death. It was not their responsibility to do that. Charges were to be brought before a person prior to arrest, not before one was arrested. But it doesn’t matter. They are looking for false witnesses anyway. It’s not likely that the entire Sanhedrin was present. Tweny-three were needed for a quorum. We do know that Joseph of Arimathaea was a member of the council and he did not consent to the death of Jesus (Luke 23:50-51).

v.60 The Sanhedrin could not find any false witnesses. Notice the text says that many came, but they couldn’t find any. This means that they couldn’t find any false witnesses whose accounts were close enough to one another to be considered legitimate. I can almost see this line of people coming before the group with their ridiculous lies about Jesus. Finally they find two that suit their fancy. Two witnesses were necessary before a person could be sentenced to death (Deut. 19:15). They find two and proceed with this kangaroo court.

v.61 Here we have the charge. These two witnesses say that Jesus said He was able to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. In the beginning of His ministry Jesus said “destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up”. In context, Jesus was talking about His own body. He was saying “You will kill Me but in three days I will rise again.” So the words of these witnesses were not consistent with what was actually said. Jesus never called for the temples destruction nor did He say He would destroy it and rebuild it in three days. But perhaps Jesus actions in cleansing the Temple made some believe that Jesus might attempt to destroy it. However, that was not the case. These two men were absolutely lying.

v.62-63 The High Priest basically says “Well what do you have to say for yourself?” He wants Jesus to explain these words. But Jesus doesn’t say a thing. Isaiah said in 53:7 that the Messiah would be brought as a sheep to slaughter but not open His mouth. Any other person would be pleading for their life. Especially against such a weak prosecution. But Christ has committed Himself to death for our sins. Now the High priest gets upset. He goes beyond the trumped up charge. He uses about the strongest language a Jew could use. He says “I adjure you by the living God”. He is saying to Jesus “You are under an oath to God so you had better tell the truth.” Then he says “Are you the Christ the Son of the living God?” If Jesus does claim to be the Messiah this will seal His fate. Because in the eyes of the Sanhedrin He is clearly not. Therefore, to claim that He is would be blasphemous, a charge worthy of death.

v.64 In this statement Jesus affirms that He is indeed the Son of God. “Thou hast said” means that what Caiaphas said was right. Jesus then goes on to explain even further. He alludes to two Old Testament verses. Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13 describe the Messiah in the two ways Jesus describes Himself here. Jesus is the Son of Man and He will ascend to the right hand of the Father. Christ makes it clear that His power is not merely earthly. His power is also heavenly. He also sends a warning to the council. He tells them that one day they would see the son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven. In other words, one day He would be coming to judge them!

v.65 The high priest took this as an act of blasphemy. He gets a little theatrical with it all. He rips his noble clothing. This was something that religious people did to show outrage or some great sorrow. I think his was contrived. He knew what Jesus was going to say. He knew Jesus had been claiming to be the Messiah. I don’t think he was surprised or taken aback by the comment. The High Priest then declares that they need no more witnesses. The entire council just witnessed Jesus say He was the Messiah. In their eyes that was blasphemy and many witnesses heard it. Blasphemy was punishable by death. The court had what they wanted.

v.66 The High Priest asks the Sanhedrin what their verdict is. They reply “He is guilty of death!” What is amazing is that they did not even consider that Jesus might be telling the truth. Had they investigated Jesus claim they would have found He was telling the truth. All they had to do was look to their own scriptures, the divine miracles of Jesus and the testimony of many that had been convinced of His messiahship and they would have found He was being truthful. But they are hasty. They are convinced He is not the Christ before they ever even went to trial.

v.67-68 Now the trial gets out of hand. The religious leaders begin to spit in His face. This was one of the most shameful act one Jew could do to another (Num. 12:14, Deut. 25:9). Some began to slap Him. The trial of Jesus is quickly digressing. It is clear that His accusers have serious contempt for Him. Luke 22:64 tells us that the blindfolded Him and slapped Him. They then would ask Him which of them hit Him. They were obviously mocking His claim to be God’s prophet. If He was a prophet, He should be able to tell who hit Him. Jesus did know who was hitting Him. And if they did not repent, that sin would one day be one of the ones they paid for as they endured the eternity of hell.

Thoughts to Consider

1. There is a guilty distance between the Lord and many of His followers.

2. Evil men will find other evil men to help accomplish evil tasks.

3. Those who want to be blind will never see the truth of the Gospel.

4. What is blasphemy to man is merely bible to believers.