Matthew 26:57-75

Introduction

English Standard Version Chapter 26

Jesus Before Caiaphas and the Council

57 Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. 58 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. 59 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward 61 and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’ ” 62 And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” 63 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.” 64 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.” 65 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. 66 What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” 67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”

Peter Denies Jesus

69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” 71 And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

This week we move on from Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, to his trial before before the Jewish Sanhedrin. And as we’ve seen thus far, much of this account is found in all four of the Gospels to one extent or another. Matthew’s account here is almost verbatim of Mark’s. While John includes certain parts of the story that Mark and Matthew do not, and Luke’s Gospel is the briefest of all of them with regards to Jesus’ appearance before the Jewish council. And, as usual, when you put all of these accounts together you’re often given a fuller picture of the events.

So, before we walk through our text here in Matthew, I want to start by giving you a brief outline of the events that surround Jesus’ appearance before the Sanhedrin. Two weeks ago we witnessed Jesus’ arrest in Gethsemane by a band of armed men who were sent by the chief priests and the elders of the people. This was a band of men (probably a mixture of temple guards and possibly even Roman soldiers) sent by the Jewish council, also known as the Jewish Sanhedrin. Sanhedrin is simply the Greek word translated as ‘council’ here in the Gospels. The Sanhedrin was composed of 71 men who were lead by the High Priest. And it was these chief priests that made a deal with Judas to capture Jesus under the cover of darkness for 30 pieces of silver.

So, Jesus is brought back, under arrest, to meet these chief priests and elders. And when we put all four of the Gospels together we learn that he’s first brought to the high priest, Annas (John 18:13). And in John’s Gospel Annas begins to interrogate Jesus. John 18:19 says that he “questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.” Then we’re told a few verses later that, “Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.” Now, you might be asking yourself, I thought Annas was the high priest? Well, in one sense, he was, at least in the eyes of the people, but in reality Annas was the high priest who had preceded Caiaphas, yet in a very real sense he was still very influential, and still referred to as ‘high priest’.

Now, prior to Roman occupation the high priest served a life term, but when the Romans took control they began appointing the Jewish high priests themselves, and they also took the liberty of changing them out whenever they wanted to, so at this point in history Annas had been removed from his post and Caiaphas had been put in his place. But John also tells us that Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, so there was undoubtedly a close relationship between the two.

So, at first, Jesus is brought to Annas for his initial interrogation, then we’re told that he’s sent to Caiaphas. Now, the best we can tell, this all takes place at the Palace of the Chief Priest. Jesus is initially brought to Annas in the courtyard, and then sent to Caiaphas for further interrogation. All the while, two of Jesus’ disciples, Peter and John, remain outside in the courtyard at a distance. We don’t know the precise location of the Chief Priest’s Palace but it’s assumed that it was somewhere inside the city walls not far from the Temple.

Then, it’s here in Matthew 26 that we get an overview of what transpired next. Caiaphas questioned Jesus, and many false witnesses were brought out against him. And eventually after a sharp exchange between Jesus and Caiaphas (which we’ll look at here in a minute) they concluded that Jesus deserved death. And we’re told that many spit in his face, slapping him, striking him, and mocking him. Then at the beginning of chapter 27 we’re told that when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. The trial that had begun under the cover of darkness had continued until morning when they made their official verdict. However, because the Jews were not permitted to carry out this death sentence themselves, they were forced to send him to their Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate.

Jesus & Caiaphas

So, in light of that outline of events, lets begin by looking there at verse 57,

English Standard Version Chapter 26

57 Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered.

Notice, as I mentioned earlier, Matthew doesn’t mention Annas here in this story, he jumps immediately to Jesus’ interaction with Caiaphas. And I think you’ll see here in a minute why he does so, that it’s Jesus’ interaction with Caiaphas that Matthew intends for us to focus upon.

Peter followed

But before we delve into that, let’s continue there in verse 58, we read,

English Standard Version Chapter 26

58 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, Matthew doesn’t mention it here, but the Gospel of John indicates that “another disciple” was also following Jesus. He doesn’t name the disciple outright, but everything seems to indicate that John is referring to himself, that both Peter and John followed Jesus from a distance and eventually into the courtyard of the high priest.

Now, if you recall, earlier that night when Jesus and his disciples were making their way to the Mount of Olives Jesus told them that they would all fall away. But Peter responded by saying, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” And even after Jesus told him that before the rooster crowed he would deny him three times, Peter still said to him, “Even if i must die with you, I will not deny you!” And while we’re told that all the other disciples said the same, Peter’s insistence stood out amongst them all.

Following at a distance

So, when Jesus was arrested we were told that all the disciples left him and fled, but Matthew says here that Peter still still followed him. And it’s hard not to wonder if it was Peter’s insistence that he would never fall away that kept him from fleeing at first. And while, initially, this might seem admirable, notice what else it says there in verse 58, that while Peter followed Jesus he followed him at a distance. On one hand he hadn’t altogether left him yet, but he kept himself at a distance. In fact, at the end of verse 58 it says that he sat with the guards to see the end. In other words, Peter had come to see what would happen to Jesus, but at a distance. Peter had positioned himself to be an onlooker but from a safe distance.

And this is why we read starting down there in verse 69,

English Standard Version Chapter 26

Peter Denies Jesus

69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” 71 And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Unfortunately, it’s common for believers to put distance between themselves and the Lord, especially when our affiliation with Him puts us at risk, when it threatens our reputations, when it jeopardizes our jobs, our comforts or our possessions. All of a sudden we mince our words, we shrink back in fear and become as cowards. And circumstances like these reveal what’s truly important to us, whether it’s the opinions of others, our careers, our families, our possessions, our lives, or anything else. The cost of following Jesus is high, and we have to ask ourselves have we counted the cost? Are we willing to renounce everything to be his disciple?

It’s hard not to be reminded of Jesus’ words to his disciples (including Peter) back in Matthew 10:32-33, when he said, “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Or just a few verses earlier in chapter 10, when Jesus said, “And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” And the reality is that we ‘re going to face circumstances in this life that will challenge and test our allegiance to Jesus, circumstances that will reveal what or who we love most, and we ought to prepare ourselves for those moments, taking an assessment of our lives, asking ourselves whether we’re willing to lay aside every weight and sin which so easily entangles us (Hebrews 12:1).

Yet, while following Jesus may seem daunting at times, and outright impossible, remember also Jesus’ words to Peter in Luke 22:31-32 after he had told Peter that he would fall way.

English Standard Version Chapter 22

31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

So, while we are commanded to pickup our crosses and follow him, we are also to take heart that Jesus has prayed for us, that our fail would not fail. “That he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.” (Philippians 1:6) And it’s that promise that should serve as the grounds for your faith and your ability to pickup your cross and follow him, to be able to acknowledge him before men, even when it costs you. Therefore, do not follow Jesus at a distance, but rather follow him no matter what it costs, for he is merciful and his steadfast love endures forever.

False witnesses

Now, let’s continue back there in verse 59,

English Standard Version Chapter 26

59 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward.

In other words, the chief priests and the whole council had already reached a verdict, they just needed a charge against him from two or more witnesses. They needed a couple of liars to agree upon a lie to prop up their verdict. You see, in Deuteronomy 19:15, when the Lord gave Israel the law he told them,

English Standard Version Chapter 19

15 “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.

And the Lord gave them this law to help protect the innocent, he knew that while there would be a risk that some might get away with a crime because of a lack of witnesses, that it was equally important to protect the innocent from false accusation, and so for the Sanhedrin to condemn Jesus they needed at least two false witnesses to make the charge stick. And they were willing to pervert justice to put him to death.

Jesus a threat

And while I’m sure there were a multitude of motives, John 11:42 describes their plot as far back as when Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead, and he writes,

English Standard Version Chapter 11

45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”

One of the motives that was central to their plot to kill Jesus was their concern that Jesus would prompt a following that would ultimately cause the Romans to come and take away their ruling authority and their nation. To them Jesus was a threat to their power and a threat to their nation. Therefore, they felt justified to take whatever actions necessary to eliminated Jesus, to them the ends justified the means. That it would be better for them that one man should die for the people, rather than the whole nation perish.

Destroy the temple

Then, starting at the end of verse 59 we read,

English Standard Version Chapter 26

At last two came forward 61 and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’ ” 62 And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent.

So, finally, two come forward with a charge they’re able to agree upon. They claim that Jesus said he could destroy the temple of God, and rebuild it in three days. Now, the idea that Jesus claimed he could destroy the Temple would have been a borderline blasphemous statement, because a threat against the temple would have been tantamount to a threat against them and the sacred nature of the Temple itself. Such a statement would have given them the impression that Jesus had an anti-temple agenda.

But we know that they had probably misunderstood what Jesus had said, because in John 2:18-22, after Jesus had driven out the moneychangers from within the Temple, we read,

English Standard Version Chapter 2

18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

So, Jesus could have defended himself. He could have tried to clarify his words, but he didn’t. And he didn’t for at least two reasons, 1) because in Luke 22 when asked if he was the Christ, he told them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer.” In other words, he knew full well they were not interested in the truth, and 2) because this is his mission. So many times during his ministry Jesus spoke discretely of his identity and evaded the crowds when they sought to capture him. He was controlling the narrative, buying his time until his final journey to Jerusalem, but now, it’s time. The time has come for him to be delivered up and to be crucified.

Moreover, I can’t help but be reminded of Isaiah 53:7,

English Standard Version Chapter 53

7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

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.

Jesus goes that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.

Seated at the right hand of Power

But this only frustrated the the high priest, and so we read there, starting at the end of verse 63,

English Standard Version Chapter 26

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.” 64 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.” 65 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. 66 What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.”

So, out of frustration the high priest demands that Jesus, under oath, tell them, if he is the Christ, the Son of God. And finally, Jesus, before the Jewish Council, answers him. And he says, “You have said so.” And while that answer, at first, might not seem satisfactory to our ears, as though Jesus is somehow reluctant to answer him plainly, think about why he responded the way he did. On one hand, yes, Jesus is the Christ, certainly, but he’s also saying, “I don’t mean by that, what you mean.” You see, to the Jews, the word ‘Christ’ came with a lot of nationalistic connotations, and Jesus didn’t have the political ambitions as the high priest might have assumed when he used the word ‘Christ’, so Jesus is avoiding Caiaphas’ loaded question. On one hand, yes, I am the Christ, but that doesn’t mean I have political ambitions to overthrow the Romans.

Then Jesus goes on to give one of his most powerful and provocative statements in all the NT. Jesus went on to define himself on his own terms, calling himself the Son of Man, and drawing his language and imagery straight out of the Book of Daniel to describe his ministry and future vindication, saying, “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.” So, while the the Jews had some power and authority to condemn him to death, soon Jesus would take his seat at the right hand of Power and become their judge. And they would witness this in several ways, the first would be Jesus’ resurrection, I can only imagine their fear upon hearing reports that the man they had unjustly condemned had returned from the dead, second through the power of the Spirit as we see it portrayed in the Book of Acts, the signs and wonders, and wisdom of Jesus’ disciples that began at Pentecost.

And lastly, Jesus used this same kind of language back in Matthew chapter 24 when he described to his disciples that his judgement upon Jerusalem would be severe (that not one stone of the Temple would be left upon another), and that a sign would appear in heaven, the sign of the Son of Man, then all the tribes of the earth would mourn, and they would see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, not referring to a coming down to the earth, but to his coming on the clouds of heaven to be seated at the right of Power, which would be signified by the destruction of Jerusalem and her Temple, which took place within their own generation less than 40 years later, beginning 67 AD.

Book of Daniel

Now, as we close I want to take a brief look at the Book of Daniel. In so many ways Jesus saw his ministry described in the Book of Daniel, which is why he alluded to it so often. For instance, listen to Daniel chapter 7, starting in verse 13, see if you can pickup the parallels, particularly with the language he used to describe himself.

English Standard Version Chapter 7

13 “I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven

there came one like a son of man,

and he came to the Ancient of Days

and was presented before him.

14  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.

So when Jesus tells the Jewish Council, “but I tell you from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven,” he’s telling them that he is the one of whom Daniel spoke. And while you and I marvel at this in hindsight, we’re told that Caiaphas tore his robes as a sign of horror, saying, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witness do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgement?” And they answered, “He deserves death.” They could not bear Jesus’ presumption of having such a close relationship to God that he would sit at his right hand, nor could they bear the claim that Jesus would stand in judgement over them. So, their only conclusion, blasphemy. They had what they needed.

Conclusion

Then we’re told there in verses 67-68 that,

English Standard Version Chapter 26

67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”

His passion had begun.

Prayer