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Jesus Is Questioned
(Mark 14.53-65; Luke 22.54,55,63-71; John 18.13,14,19-24)
57After Jesus had been arrested, he was led off to the house of Caiaphas the high priest. The nation's leaders and the teachers of the Law of Moses were meeting there. 58But Peter followed along at a distance and came to the courtyard of the high priest's palace. He went in and sat down with the guards to see what was going to happen.
59The chief priests and the whole council wanted to put Jesus to death. So they tried to find some people who would tell lies about him in court. 60But they could not find any, even though many did come and tell lies. At last, two men came forward 61 and said, “This man claimed he could tear down God's temple and build it again in three days.”
62The high priest stood up and asked Jesus, “Why don't you say something in your own defense? Don't you hear the charges they are making against you?” 63But Jesus did not answer. So the high priest said, “With the living God looking on, you must tell the truth. Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?”
64 “That is what you say!” Jesus answered. “But I tell all of you,
‘Soon you will see
the Son of Man
sitting at the right side
of God All-Powerful
and coming on the clouds
of heaven.’ ”
65 The high priest then tore his robe and said, “This man claims to be God! We don't need any more witnesses! You have heard what he said. 66What do you think?”
They answered, “He is guilty and deserves to die!” 67 Then they spit in his face and hit him with their fists. Others slapped him 68and said, “You think you are the Messiah! So tell us who hit you!”
Jesus Is Brought to Annas
(Matthew 26.57,58; Mark 14.53,54; Luke 22.54)
12The Roman officer and his men, together with the temple police, arrested Jesus and tied him up. 13They took him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 This was the same Caiaphas who had told the Jewish leaders, “It is better if one person dies for the people.”
Reflect
As a child I once had a dream about the grade 9 boys who bullied me. In the dream I was walking home from school when a group of boys ran up to me and started harassing me. They grabbed my school bag and emptied the contents out on the street. They took my prized baseball cap and passed it around for each one to try on. They pushed me backwards to make me fall. But that was the first part of dream.
As I was falling backwards a wave of supernatural strength came over me and I did a reverse somersault landing on my feet. I shouted a loud kung fu style sound that I saw on TV and I began dismantling this group of thugs one at a time. Before I could get to the last one they had all picked up their belongings and fled like yellow bellied cowards. It felt so good. It felt so right. And then I woke up.
In the previous Scriptures we saw how the tyrants of the religious sector bullied Jesus and used brute force to intimidate him. Here in this part of the Scripture we see Jesus being confronted by the religious thugs at the Temple. They mocked him, they hit him and they spit on his face.
If I were Jesus, the story would have turned out differently. When the first person hit me electricity would have surged through his body like a bolt of lightning and he would have fallen paralyzed on the floor. But I’m not Jesus. And he didn’t act like that. But I am a Christian. I am a little Jesus if you will. And I must live my life in such a way that even those onlookers in the crowd would be able to say that Christ lives in me.
Respond
Dear Lord, take away my need to get even. My desire for vindication. Help me to live in such a way that others see you in me.
Barry Slauenwhite
Dr. Barry Slauenwhite is President Emeritus of Compassion Canada where he has served since 1983. Barry's advocacy for the poor has taken him to 61 countries. From his experience as a pastor and a ministry leader, he passionately works to promote holistic child development through the local church as being the most effective kingdom-building strategy available to the Christian world. Barry's latest book, Strategic Compassion, addresses the theological implications of poverty and draws a conclusion that the gospel is the most effective tool the church has to eradicate poverty.