August 19, 2024

Jesus on Trial: Matthew 26:57-68 (Sermon)

Introduction

Thank you, worship team. What famous court scene do you remember before we turn to God’s Word? Does any come to mind? The one that sticks out in my mind is the dialogue between a prosecutor and defendant, Colonel Jessup:

The prosecutor states: I want the truth!

Col Jessup answers: You can't handle the truth!

Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lieutenant Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know -- that Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives; and my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives.

You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall -- you need me on that wall.

We use words like “honor,” “code,” “loyalty.” We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punch line.

I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it.

I would rather that you just said “thank you” and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand the post.

That was a dialogue between Jack Nicolson and Tom Cruise in what movie? [A Few Good Men]. Good job. You join me in dating my cultural frame of reference for a courtroom scene.

Maybe when you think of a courtroom, you think of

Perry Mason,
The novel To Kill a Mocking A Bird
Or, a John Grisham story
Perhaps, Judge Judy,
Nancy Grace,
or a Supreme Court Justice.

Whatever courtroom you imagine, today we will see one of the most famous court scenes ever: Jesus on trial. Let’s dive into the text and experience it for ourselves.

TEXT

If you have your Bible, open to Matthew chapter 26, starting at verse 57 and going through 68. I am going to have K.K. read for us. Please stand with me if you are able.

Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. 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 the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’ ” And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” 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.” 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.” 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. What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?” (Matthew 26:57–68)

PRAYER

“The Word of the Lord,” [“Thanks be to God.”] Let’s pray. Dear God, thank you for your Word. It is true. This is familiar, and it reminds us of what you suffered. We need your help to follow you; in Jesus’s name, we pray, amen. You may be seated.

CONTEXT

We are continuing our series in the book of Matthew as we preach verse by verse, chapter by chapter. The book is about following the Promised King into his Kingdom. Jesus is the king that God had promised. He came to earth as a baby and lived a morally perfect life, yet died a sinner’s death. He paid the penalty for our sins with his blood. He is the only substitute sacrifice that can make us right with God. But before he did that, one of his friends betrayed him, the others abandoned him, and his spiritual leaders sought to kill him. What we read was part of his trial transcript.

STRUCTURE:

The passage breaks down in three sections:

The Setting (Verses 57–58)

The Purpose (Verses 59–60a)

The Trial (Verses 60b–68)

We start with The Setting, which includes an update about the follower of Jesus named Peter. He had run away when Jesus was initially arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, but he didn’t remain away. He came back and went to the courtyard and home of the high priest. He wanted to see what would happen next with his friend and Master Jesus.

PURPOSE

Then, we get to The Purpose in verses 59 through 60a. Look there:

“Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward” (Matthew 26:59-60a, ESV).

In Jesus’s day, the council consisted of seventy male leaders named the Sanhedrin. They had a degree of authority under the oversight of Rome. Over the Sanhedrin was a president called the high priest. That year, it was Caiaphas. According to contemporary historian Josephus, Caiaphas had the most extended term in the first century (AD 18–35). Caiaphas’s family was part of a priestly line that held office for decades. His family was like the Kennedys in politics, the Genovese of Italian organized crime, and the Dupont family in business. This was a Jewish power structure. In the trial, the religious leaders couldn’t win a fair fight. They were not able to censor or stop Jesus. So what did they do? They skirted their own rules. They violated their ninth commandment, “Thou shall not bear false witness,” which they swore to defend and teach.

REASON

Why were they so adamant about getting Jesus? What did he do that was so bad? John, another follower of Christ, shared some insight as to why. If you have a Bible, flip over to John chapter 11. Keep your finger in Matthew chapter 26, and jump to John 11, starting at verse 50. What did he write?

So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man [Jesus] performs many signs. 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.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 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.” (John 11:45–50, ESV)

So, the thinking was that the cost of one life was better than the cost of everyone else’s lives. By killing Jesus, they were saving a nation from further Roman oppression and preserving their privileged positions. How convenient.

“So from that day on they made plans to put him [Jesus] to death” (John 11:53, ESV).

PREDICTION

Jesus knew their intentions. He could predict the future. He saw it coming. This was why he came to earth. He came to die and told his small band of followers what would soon occur. Matthew chapter 16, verse 21 states:

“From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed” (Matthew 16:21, ESV).

Chapter 17, verse 22 states:

“As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him’ ” (Matthew 17:22, ESV).

Finally, Matthew chapter 20, verse 17 states:

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.” (Matthew 20:17–19, ESV)

Jesus knew what was going to happen, and it wasn’t going to be easy. That is why we read last week that he pleaded to God for another way. There wasn’t. This trial, God on the stand, was part of the path of suffering Jesus endured to fulfill the Scriptures and save us from our sins. But the trial was not a six-inch putt.

TWO WITNESSES

According to Jewish law, the Sanhedrin needed multiple witnesses to agree about the defendants’ grave infraction. Deuteronomy demands:

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. If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. (Deuteronomy 19:15–21, ESV)

This means that if the assembly cared about the retention of Mosaic Law, then by proxy, they were risking their own lives to accuse Jesus of a damnable crime by lies.

VERSE 26

Jump back to chapter 26, starting at verse 60. What transgression would they try to stick on him?

“At last two came forward and said, ‘This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’ ’ ” (Matthew 26:60b–61, ESV).

The council thought they had what they needed. Jesus proposed an act of terrorism. Did he? Not exactly. John recorded the exact words in his 2nd chapter:

So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. (John 2:18–21, ESV)

Jesus was not saying he would destroy the temple. Someone else would. Although General Titus demolished the temple in A.D. 70, a few decades after Jesus made this statement, it didn’t get rebuilt in three days. Two thousand years later, it still hasn’t been rebuilt. But that was not what Jesus was getting at. He used it as a metaphor to talk about them killing him and his resurrection. John understood Jesus in retrospect.

High PRIEST

At hearing this accusation, Ciaphas pressed forward. Look back at Matthew 26, verses 62:

“And the high priest stood up and said, ‘Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?’ ” (Matthew 26:62, ESV).

How did Jesus respond? He said nothing. This reminds me of the book of Isaiah, written 700 years before and chapter 53. Which says:

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. (Isaiah 53:7, ESV)

Jesus was not going to get a fair trial. Why should he defend himself? He knew what would happen. And he knew that God had a greater good that would result from this persecution. Thus, he was as gentle as a farm animal without any idea of its demise.

High Priest Reaction

How did the high priest react to the defendant’s unwillingness? Caiaphas wanted a response. He upped the ante and demanded an answer, like Tom Cruise saying, “I want the TRUTH!” Go to verse 63. Picture what he was saying in your mind’s eye.

“I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God” (Matthew 26:63, ESV).

Caiaphas, point blank, asked Jesus about his identity. Matthew recorded that Jesus arrived in Jerusalem riding on a donkey at the beginning of the week, with pomp and circumstance. People were quoting Psalm 118, calling him Hosanna and Messiah. Jesus was healing the sick and teaching in the temple. He even cleared out commerce in the worship area because the currency exchangers and salespeople were price gouging those on pilgrimage to celebrate the holiday. His teaching had an edge. He called into question the character of those shepherding God’s people. And rightly so, they were hypocrites and leeches, and the gurus, in return, tried to make Jesus look bad and trap him with his words but failed.

JESUS

How did Jesus respond to Caiaphs’ interrogation? Was he silent again? No. He said:

“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” (Matthew 26:64, ESV).

Jesus referenced part of Daniel chapter 7, which states:

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.

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. (Daniel 7:13–14, ESV)

He went beyond Daniel. He put himself on the seat right next to God. This assertion gave the high priest what he thought he needed as a justification for the death penalty. With that, he tore his robes and said,

“He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?” (Matthew 26:65–66a, ESV).

Aside note: I found it interesting that priests were prohibited from tearing their robes in the Old Testament. Caiaphas ignored this. He considered what Jesus said offensive, and everyone was a witness enough to rationalize his emotional outrage.

BLASPHEMY

How was what Jesus said blasphemy? When I use the word blasphemy, I generally think of someone saying something against God or claiming to be God. One commentary stated:

Jesus’ “blasphemy” consisted not in a formal misuse of God’s name but in claiming for himself a unique association with God, sitting at his right hand. While a claim to be the Messiah was not in itself blasphemous, what Jesus said in response to the high priest went far beyond that claim: he was not only Messiah and Son of God but also, as the Son of Man predicted in Dan[iel] 7:13–14, he was now to share God’s throne. (R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co., 2007), 1020–1021.)

So, what was the judgment of the council? Did they change their minds? Were they now going to worship and follow Jesus as Lord and Savior? Verse 66 tells us,

“They answered, ‘He deserves death’ ” (Matthew 26:66b, ESV).

Why would someone deserve death for such a claim? We hold to freedom of speech here in America, but that is not so in other parts of the world or at different times in history. There are places where if you say something bad about a political leader or religious figure, your livelihood and even life could be in jeopardy. Jesus’s words similarly upset his audience. Talking to Pastor Mike helped me understand the danger here. If Jesus was blaspheming, then the leaders were correct in their fury. If Jesus was blaspheming, he was lying. If Jesus was lying, consider the ramifications after two thousand years. That would make him the biggest scammer ever. Billions of people would have been led astray. Think of all the martyrs and money. That would be tragic and evil If Jesus was a blasphemer. God has little tolerance for people who are fakes and frauds. He even has less tolerance for those who slander his name. According to Leviticus 24, God’s Word states:

Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. (Leviticus 24:13–16, ESV)

But we know Jesus was not blaspheming. Why? Because he was and is the Son of God, Son of Man, King of kings, and Lord of lords, currently seated at the right hand of God the Father but here in the person of the Spirit of Christ called the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, his accusers were blind to the truth. Matthew 26, verses 67 and 68, tells us what they thought of Jesus by what they did next:

“Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, ‘Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?’ ” (Matthew 26:67–68, ESV).

Imagine someone hocking up a loogie in their throat and then spitting in the face of God. That is disgusting!
What would it have been like for God to be blindfolded and hit? Who would dare abuse the Creator of the Universe?
They also ridiculed the Maker of everything, the living, almighty God.

How would you respond if you were him? I would be furious and fight back. What did Jesus do? He could order a legion of angels and obliterate all his enemies. With a snap or a wink, he could issue a command to decimate the temple and home of these vile parasites who called themselves priests and spiritual scholars, rulers, and teachers. He could stop a storm, feed thousands, cast out demons, heal the sick, and raise the dead. He was more than a prophet. And as powerful as these leaders were, they still had to go through Rome to get a punishment. Jesus was more powerful than his enemies and Rome. He will conquer death and have all authority in heaven and earth given to him.

APPLICATION

In conclusion, what do we do with God on trial? How does this impact us? Here are three things:

LOOK TO CHRIST AS AN EXAMPLE — Some of you suffer injustice. You long for the righting of wrongs. We can look to Christ as an example. He took his licks. He knew the truth and what was what. He knew who was in control. The derelict spiritual authorities would get their comeuppance. They would be thrown into the fiery furnace of God’s wrath, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth forever (unless they repent before death). We can take courage with Jesus, follow his example of humble obedience to the Father, and trust his will. No matter what. We don’t have to fear those who seek our harm. We may fear. It is natural. But we can turn to our God, who is greater than any threat, and trust him. Is there a particular area in your life where you need to surrender to Christ’s authority and trust his plan? Will you trust in God, our Father? He is good.
LOOK TO CAIAPHAS AS A WARNING — We don’t want to be like the religious community that was blinded by groupthink. They were convinced they were right but dead wrong. How do we avoid something that we are blind to? How do we know what is true? God reveals his truth through his Word. That is why we, as a church, love going through the Scriptures verse by verse and getting the context. That is why we love Sunday School, exegetical preaching, and small group gatherings that point each other back to what God has revealed. Are you committed to studying God’s Word diligently to avoid being misled by false teachings? Let me encourage you to dip in and dig in often. Don’t be feeble Christians starved of God’s daily bread, the Bible. Find the power and the value of the Scripture for yourself.
LOOK TO KING JESUS IN WORSHIP — He did the hard thing, the hardest thing in obedience to the Father’s will. If you want to know the extent of his love, look at what he endured. Let us turn our hearts to worship the Godman who willingly subjected himself to his people’s lies, twisting of words, a death sentence of a tortuous nature, spitting, smacking, and being the butt of everyone’s jokes. He endured all of that because he loves you.

In summary,

Look to Christ as an example,
Look to Caiaphas as a warning,
and Look to King Jesus in worship.

Let’s pray.

Dear God, we need you. Help us to follow you where you lead. Protect us from inadvertently opposing you and advertently. We trust you and love you, and where we fall short of that, where we doubt and hurt, help us and hold us. Open our eyes, ears, and hearts to see your love and follow you into your kingdom, in Jesus’s name, amen.