Mat 26:59-68 | KingComments | STEP | Those who have taken the Lord prisoner believe that they have Him in their power and can do with Him what they want. But the Lord allows Himself to be carried away like a lamb led to slaughter ( ). They bring Him to the high priest Caiaphas. It was there that the scribes and elders gathered. The religious leaders had determined that He would stand trial before them. The Son of God would be judged and condemned by these people, for the outcome was certain. Peter, who had previously fled with all the other disciples, wants to know what is going to happen to his Lord. In his curiosity and also out of love for Him he follows Him. Only, he follows Him “at a distance”. That is the portent of his fall. If we do not remain close to the Lord, the fall is near. After a brief look at Peter, Matthew takes us back to the trial against the Lord. Never has there been such a trampling of justice as in the trial against Christ. And that’s just if we read how the ‘judges’ look for false witnesses. We are not dealing here with people who misjudge a case or are misled, but with people who consciously seek false witnesses. That is how corrupt they are. What court case has ever started in such a way that judges diligently seek liars to convict the accused? That’s how it is here, and Christ is silent. The testimony of the Scriptures is brief: “They did not find [any]”. And how they did their best to condemn Him on the basis of false testimony, for they brought “many false witnesses” forward. None of these false witnesses is mentioned by name, but God knows them all. What a responsibility to make a false testimony against Christ. They are not ignorant people, but people who distort the facts to give false judges a reason for conviction. It doesn’t have to be true, as long as it sounds plausible. But nothing is found. At the very end, two false witnesses come up and say something the Lord has almost said in this way ( ). Only they do not quote Him well, nor do they understand what He said. They think he spoke of the temple building, while He spoke of His body. Indeed His body is the temple of God in the true sense of the word. The fullness of the Godhead dwelled on earth and dwells forever bodily in Him ( ).

‏ Matthew 26:59-68

Many False Witnesses

Those who have taken the Lord prisoner believe that they have Him in their power and can do with Him what they want. But the Lord allows Himself to be carried away like a lamb led to slaughter (Isa 53:7). They bring Him to the high priest Caiaphas. It was there that the scribes and elders gathered. The religious leaders had determined that He would stand trial before them. The Son of God would be judged and condemned by these people, for the outcome was certain.

Peter, who had previously fled with all the other disciples, wants to know what is going to happen to his Lord. In his curiosity and also out of love for Him he follows Him. Only, he follows Him “at a distance”. That is the portent of his fall. If we do not remain close to the Lord, the fall is near.

After a brief look at Peter, Matthew takes us back to the trial against the Lord. Never has there been such a trampling of justice as in the trial against Christ. And that’s just if we read how the ‘judges’ look for false witnesses. We are not dealing here with people who misjudge a case or are misled, but with people who consciously seek false witnesses. That is how corrupt they are. What court case has ever started in such a way that judges diligently seek liars to convict the accused? That’s how it is here, and Christ is silent. The testimony of the Scriptures is brief: “They did not find [any]”.

And how they did their best to condemn Him on the basis of false testimony, for they brought “many false witnesses” forward. None of these false witnesses is mentioned by name, but God knows them all. What a responsibility to make a false testimony against Christ. They are not ignorant people, but people who distort the facts to give false judges a reason for conviction. It doesn’t have to be true, as long as it sounds plausible. But nothing is found.

At the very end, two false witnesses come up and say something the Lord has almost said in this way (Jn 2:19). Only they do not quote Him well, nor do they understand what He said. They think he spoke of the temple building, while He spoke of His body. Indeed His body is the temple of God in the true sense of the word. The fullness of the Godhead dwelled on earth and dwells forever bodily in Him (Col 1:19 ; Col 2:9).

Convicted for the Truth

During all the false accusations, the Lord has said nothing. The high priest can’t stand this. He wants to force Him to make a statement. But the Lord does not allow Himself to be forced. He is, as always, perfect Master of the situation. Then the high priest takes refuge in the oath and adjures Him by the living God. The man is so blind and so far from God that he does not realize that the living God is before him. He wants the Lord to say whether He is the Christ, the Son of God. If He were to say so, they would have proof that He blasphemed God and thereby have a reason to condemn Him.

The Lord now opens His mouth to confess the truth about His Person. He confesses the glory of His Person as Son of God. He adds, however, that from now on they will no longer see the Son of Man in the meekness of Someone Who does not break the bruised reed (Isa 42:3), but as Someone Who sits at the right hand of power and comes with the clouds of heaven. He points to the position of glory that He will take in heaven, as it says in Psalm 110 (Psa 110:1), and to His coming in glory from heaven to earth, as spoken about in Daniel 7 (Dan 7:13).

This confession is what the high priest needs. In hypocrisy he tears his robes as if he has heard something awful that plunges him into mourning. He pronounces and asks for approval. The scribes and elders agree with the accusation and judge the Lord guilty of death. Thus the Lord Jesus is condemned on the ground of the truth, the testimony of His own Person.

As if they had not gone low enough, the high men are falling to their lowest level ever. To their blatant condemnation of the Righteous, they add the most brutal insults that can be given to a human being. The high priest does not intervene, but enjoys it and may have himself participated.

The Lord has not been spared any humiliation. Not only did they hurt Him physically, but their questions also hurt His soul. They mock Him as the Prophet. They mockingly call Him “Christ”. They challenge Him to say who hit Him. One day He will answer this question to their great dismay when they appear before the great white throne. Hopefully there will be those who have come to repentance and therefore have discovered before then that He knew who was hitting Him.