II: Jesus before Caïphas and the Sanhedrin
Matt. xxvi. 59-68; Mark xiv. 55-65.
Jesus was brought away and introduced into the presence of the Sanhedrin, over whose deliberations it would seem that Caïphas was presiding during this night-session. Rightfully this function belonged to Rabban Gamaliel, who had held the presidency since the death of his father Simon; and without doubt he had been kept away designedly. A man of broader mind and sincerely attached to the doctrine of Hillel, his ancestor, like him he had broken clean away from the narrow and austere formalism of Shammaï and the Scribes, while later on we even find him pleading the cause of the Christians. Such a man was not likely to be invited to the condemnation of Jesus. Accordingly the High-Priest assumed the direction of the trial himself. And, further than this, it was no unusual thing for the Pontiffs to reserve this right to themselves, especially in any cases where the worship of Jehovah was in question.
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| The false witnesses before Caïphas. J-J Tissot. |
The gathering before which Jesus appeared was the High Court of Justice in Judaea. In full conclave it numbered 71 members, but the presence of 23 was sufficient to constitute a tribunal and give authority to its decrees. The Nasi, or "Patriarch," of the Sanhedrin, seated upon a platform, presided over their deliberations; around him, upon cushions arranged in a semicircle along the ground, were seated the other judges. The Nasi had, at his right hand, the Vice-President who directed the debates, and close at hand the Sages, who were the usual legal Councillors of the Court. At either extremity of the space were posted two secretaries, occupied in recording in order, one everything charged against the accused party, the other anything favourable to his cause. Besides these there were various subaltern officials who surrounded the accused, armed with ropes and thongs with which to bind or beat him at the first order from the court. Such was the general aspect of the tribunal before which Jesus was no conducted.
From the beginning it was easy to see just how far the prejudice entertained by the judges against their prisoner was likely to carry them. There is nothing to indicate that they in any way respected the Rules of the Sanhedrin, which commanded that for capital offences everything in favour of the accused must be exhibited first. No counsel, not a single witness for the defence, was engaged in this case. Then, too, the accusation was of a different tenor this time; it was no longer a question of some secret doctrine, but of His public instructions His blasphemies against religion.
As if in derision of the Lord’s request that "they should interrogate His hearers," the Chief of the Sanhedrin replied by producing various suborned witnesses, who asserted that they had heard Him uttering scandalous sayings,— these were some of His expressions, either misunderstood or distorted, of which we find numerous examples in the Gospels.
The regular formalities were gone through with for the benefit of these informers, the oath was proffered them, and they listened to the solemn voice of the Nasi:—
" Know ye, that the blood of the innocent man and of his posterity shall return upon your heads now and for evermore."
Nevertheless, determined as they were to utter their calumnies, they were unable to concert up on all points; and before this tribunal, where they now appeared one after the other, their depositions did not agree. Thus Jesus had simply to listen in silence, and behold the artifices of His adversaries annul themselves.
But in the end two men testified that they had heard Jesus say, " I am able to destroy the Temple of God, and in three days rebuild it." This testimony Saint Mark reports under another form:—
" We have heard him say,'I will destroy this Temple, the handiwork of man, and in three days I will build another, which shall not be the handiwork of man.'"
Even upon this point they could not manage to agree.
The prosecution was falling to the ground amid all this contradictory evidence; moreover, the falsity of the whole thing was manifest, for it was in public and in the open courts of the Temple the Jesus had said: " Overthrow this Holy of Holies," as by your faithlessness and your crimes you are doing, and "in three days I will re-erect it." And thereby, we must bear in mind, He referred to His Body, destined to become the Holy of Holies of a New Covent to mankind.
Mighty in the testimony which the simple truth had tendered to His cause Jesus stood there, silent still, and let the confusion have free sway about Him. Caïphas realized how eloquently the silence spoke for the defence. Suddenly he stepped down from the judicial daïs and advanced into the centre of the hall, until he was face to face with the Prisoner.
" You understand nothing!" He said sharply. "What it is all this they are testifying against you?"
Still Jesus was silent.
The disconcerted Pontiff perceived now that he must bring matters to an issue. Accordingly, thrusting aside technical shifts and captious questions, he administered a solemn oath to Jesus which, according to the Law, obliged Him to make answer.
" I adjure you, in the Name of the living God, tell us if you are the Son of God."
Caïphas's language really anticipated his thought; he did not say: "Tell us if you pretend to be really the Son of God;" his words were "whether you are the Christ, the Son of the Blessed God."
" I am He," replied Jesus, and, with this declaration, He spoke some few words following upon the thought, of which the Evangelist has preserved only this single noteworthy utterance:—
" Moreover, I say unto you, one day you shall see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Majesty of God, and coming on the clouds of Heaven."
The Scribes could not fail to recognise how, in these words, there was a twofold reference to the Prophecies of Scripture; on the one hand, it recalled the Psalm which foretold the Divinity of the Christ: " the Lord hath said to My Lord:'Sit Thou at My right hand;'" and on the other, it contained an allusion to Daniel's Vision, where there Messiah "advanceth upon the clouds of Heaven unto the Ancient of Days." And therefore Jesus thereby proclaimed that He was the Christ for whom Israel had so long been waiting; that His place was on the right hand of God, and His Mission to come at the end of time to judge the world.
But the Sanhedrin-Council turned a deaf ear to this testimony, and the High-Priests sole answer was to rend his garments.
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| The High-priest rent his garments. J-J Tissot. |
" What further need have we of witnesses?" He cried aloud. "You have heard the blasphemy. How seems this matter unto you?"
"He is worthy of death!" they all made answer.
Forthwith commenced a scene of unspeakable outrages. It seems, following Saint Mark's account, that even here, in the centre of the National Council, some of these high functionaries, as if to give a signal for the indignities which ensued, were the first to spit full in the face of Jesus; then when they had so covered His face they struck Him with the flat of their hands, while others, says Saint Matthew, smote Jesus, and at every blow shouted,—
" Christ, prophecy! Who struck you?"
When their rage and fury had spent itself the Sanhedrin-Councillors handed Jesus over to their servants and the understrappers of the court. This throng received Him with a shower of blows from their sticks, according to the reading of the sacred texts; while in another place we are told that they drove Him before them, maltreating Him in every manner.
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