Matthew 26:57-68 / Mark 14:53-65…
Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. There are actually two trials, in six total parts, that Jesus would face in the last hours of His life before the crucifixion. There was a church trial and a civil trial. Here Jesus is in the second part of the church trial. He had come from the former high priest, Annas, and now was before the current high priest, Caiaphas, and the other religious leaders.
Now the chief priests and the whole Council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death. Their minds were made up, and there was all sorts of injustice and malice going on here (Deuteronomy 16:18-20, 19:15-19). Yet even among the false witnesses and twisted testimonies about Jesus’ words, they had a hard time getting their stories straight. The high priest asks Jesus to answer the charges. But Jesus remained silent (Isaiah 53:7 / Acts 8:32-35 / 1 Peter 2:23). He didn’t need to defend Himself; the opposing reports were obvious lies.
Frustrated, Caiaphas directly questions Jesus under oath, asking Him to confess whether He had claimed to be the Christ, the Messiah. Did Jesus claim deity? Jesus answered, not to defend Himself, but to proclaim the truth. Jesus was perfectly clear, informing them with Scripture (Psalm 110:1 / Daniel 7:13-14). Not only does He claim to be the Christ, the long awaited Messiah prophesied about in the Old Testament, He tells them that they are not His judge, but that He is theirs. In other words, that He is God. They understood what Jesus was claiming, but this unscrupulous crowd accuses and attacks Jesus for telling the truth (Isaiah 50:6).
You know, Jesus had said that the truth would set us free (John 8:31-32), but here it didn’t happen. What gives? Well, you see, it all depends on what you mean by being set free. The truth is that His truth will set you free from the tyranny of the temporal. The fabrications of false witnesses and the slander of Satan’s minions can only go so far (Matthew 5:11, 10:28 / 1 Peter 2:19-20, 3:14-16, 4:14). As a Christian, the crimes committed against you are a testimony to the truth in you (John 15:18-19 / 1 John 3:13).
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