Matthew 26:59-68
Every believer,
every one of us, will faces times when God’s holy and perfect will confronts
our desires and expectations. How many times have we prayed for God to move,
but often it is our will, our desires on how we imagine He should move. We pray
for God’s guidance, but we quietly hope He guides us in the direction we
already prefer OR we are not willing to do follow His will in what He has shown
for us in His Word.
John 18 shows
us a Savior who stands faithfully in the face of injustice, rejection, and
misunderstanding and it shows us a people who prayed for centuries for the
Messiah yet resisted Him when He came.
As we prepare
our hearts for what God desires to do in us, this passage calls us to examine
where our expectations may be resisting His work. Revival in the heart begins
with surrender and surrender begins with seeing Jesus clearly in His trials.
The Innocent Christ is bound, struck, and interrogated not because He is
guilty, but because humanity cannot tolerate the Light that exposes its
darkness.
I. The
Injustice vs. the Innocent (John 18:12-14, 19-24)
12 Then the
detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews
arrested Jesus and bound Him. 13 And they led Him away to
Annas first, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that
year. 14 Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it
was expedient that one man should die for the people.
19 The high
priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine. 20 Jesus
answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues
and in the temple, where the Jews always meet, and in secret I have said
nothing. 21 Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard Me
what I said to them. Indeed they know what I said.” 22 And when
He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with
the palm of his hand, saying, “Do You answer the high priest like that?” 23 Jesus
answered him, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if
well, why do you strike Me?” 24 Then Annas sent Him bound to
Caiaphas the high priest.
Last week, on
the cover the bulletin, there was a scene from the film the Gospel of John,
showing accurately Jesus’s arrest and being bound to and from Annas’s house, even
though He offered no resistance. Jesus had eluded the officials before so they
took no chances, but still, John records he was bound and stayed bound. The One
who could have undone the universe with a word allowed Himself to be tied like
a criminal.
Annas,
father-in-law to Caiaphas, was the true power behind the high priest office. He
was appointed as high priest by Rome in 6 AD, which would have been about the same time that young 12 year old
Jesus had stayed three days and two nights at the Temple.
The house of
Annas was infamous for its greed and violence. Even though Caiaphas held the
official title, Annas still held the influence. John even refers to Annas as
the high priest (John 18:19, 22), and Luke 3:2 and Acts 4:6 confirm his ongoing
authority.
This was not a
legal hearing, Jewish laws at that time prevented court’s and proceedings for
the Sanhedrin to be conducted at night. But it was not a legal hearing not only
because of its timing but its predetermined outcome, disguised as a justified
trial.
While still
bound, the first of many blows Jesus was to receive. In my mind, I
wonder if Satan was the most surprised that the Son of God allowed Himself to
be tied up. Jesus could stop winds, storms, and sicknesses. Christ could stop
Satan and sins biggest prize of all by raising the dead. Could mere ropes
shackle the One who unshackled people from sin, sickness and death? Growing
more bold, Satan motivated a guard to strike Jesus across the mouth. Jesus who
taught His disciples to turn the other cheek did not resist but only questioned
to show the injustice of being struck without a cause.
GracePointe #1:
Jesus, the only innocent One, was
condemned by an illegal court beginning with a corrupt ruler so that the guilty
could stand acquitted before the throne of God. Because He stood faithful in
His trial, we can stand FORGIVEN .
II. The Irony
of Israel’s Prayers and Rejection
I love the way
John interweaves Peter’s failures and Christ’s trials in chapter 18. Christ
stood in truth and was even struck for speaking truth. When Jesus was sent to
Caiaphas, the other gospels show that false witnesses not only contradicted the
Truth Incarnate, they could not even agree with themselves.
John doesn’t
tell us this, but the synoptics tell us, (Do you know that Matthew, Mark, and
Luke, the first three gospels, are called the synoptics?) they tell us when He
brought before the council, they spit on Him, they blindfolded, beat and mocked
Him. Caiaphas mockingly and ceremonially tears his robes in insincere, staged
and pretentious shock, crying out that the Holiest one of all has committed
blasphemy and deserves of death.
(Turn to
Matthew 26 for the most inclusive part)
59 Now the
chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against
Jesus to put Him to death, 60 but found none. Even though
many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false
witnesses came forward 61 and said, “This fellow said, ‘I
am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ ” 62 And the high priest arose
and said to Him, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify
against You?” 63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high
priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell
us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”
At this point,
the gospel of Mark records, “I AM”
64 Jesus
said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you,
hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the
Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
65 Then
the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy!
What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His
blasphemy! 66 What do you think?” They answered and said, “He
is deserving of death.” 67 Then they spat in His face and beat
Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, 68 saying,
“Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”
Let’s stop
there. Jesus has declared He is the Son of God. He responds with I AM,
according to Mark. And then Jesus declared He was the Son of Man, sitting at
the Right Hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of Heaven.
Let me just
tell you, this phrase comes exactly from Daniel 7:13.
In the first
part of Daniel 7, there is a vision of Four
beasts to come, Babylon (about 605 through 539 BC, Medo-Persia (about 539
through 332), Greece (Alexander the Great, and the four horns
culminating with Antiochus) and then Rome, which came to power over Judea in 63
BC).
When Jesus
said He was the “Son of Man coming with the clouds,” He was claiming
more than a human title. In Daniel 7, the One coming on the clouds is a
heavenly, divine figure who receives everlasting dominion from the Ancient of
Days.
2 Daniel
spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of
heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. 3 And four great beasts came
up from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first was like
a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and
it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a
man’s heart was given to it.
5 “And
suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side,
and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus
to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’
6 “After
this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back
four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to
it.
7 “After
this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and
terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring,
breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different
from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I
was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up
among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots.
And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a
mouth speaking pompous words.
9 “I watched
till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His
garment was white as snow, And the hair of His
head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its
wheels a burning fire;
…
13 “I was
watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they
brought Him near before Him.
We now know
this is God the Father (“the Ancient of Days”) with the God the Son (“One
like the Son of Man”).
In Jesus’s
day, only God rides the clouds, only God judges the nations, BUT
NOW God Himself shares His throne.
When Jesus
applied that passage to Himself, He was claiming the authority, identity, and the
very essence of both the Son of God and the divine Son of Man.
This wasn’t a
vague messianic claim. It was a direct assertion of divine status. That is why
the high priest tore his robes: Jesus was declaring Himself to be the heavenly
Judge who would one day judge them.
It is the only
passage that combines cloud‑coming, Son of Man imagery, heavenly glory, and judicial
authority, all drawn directly from Daniel 7.
Revelation 1:7
reminds us of Daniel’s saying the Jesus will come with clouds of judgment, “Behold,
He is coming with the clouds…”
Revelation
1:13, reminds us that Jesus is “…in the midst of the lampstands one like a Son
of Man…”
Revelation
1:14–16 shows us the heavenly‑figure imagery that John describes as, “blazing
eyes, white hair, bronze feet, a voice like many waters, and a face sining like
the sun.”
Let’s finish
Matthew 26
67 Then
they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the
palms of their hands, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ!
Who is the one who struck You?”
Luke records
that Jesus was later sent to Herod, the one responsible for the death of John
the Baptist. Herod wanted a miracle show, but Jesus refused to speak to Herod
at all.
Israel prayed
for centuries for the Messiah; and when He came, they rejected Him because He
did not fit their expectations.
This is the
deep irony of the passage. God’s ways are not our ways. It is ironic that
the same nation which had prayed for the coming of the Messiah would reject Him
when He came.
Aren’t we the
same? We pray for God’s will, but when it comes, we reject it.
Christ
returned to His Original glory, as the Son of God AND the Son of Man. We now
have been given access straight to the very throne of God because of the
ascension of the Son of Man.
The One Israel
rejected is now the One who grants us access to the throne of God.
The One they
bound now who reigns.
The One they
struck now intercedes for us.
The One they
condemned now justifies us.
Israel prayed
for the Messiah; and rejected the Christ.
Let us not do
the same
GracePointe #2: Israel
had prayed for a Messiah to come, but rejected Him when He came. The One who
was bound now REIGNS The One they struck now intercedes for us. The
One they condemned now justifies the guilty who believe. The rejected
Messiah accepts us and provides us the way to God’s throne.
Let us pray
“Dear God, help me to stand in the trials of
life. Strengthen me to face down whatever comes my way. Remind me that nothing
will happen to me today that You and I cannot both handle together. Thank You
for standing with me. Amen.”
