The Life of Jesus Christ - Chapter 10 - Jesus' arrest and appearance at court - Part 9
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An online Bible Study course by Barrie Wetherill about the life of Jesus. This book is in EasyEnglish Level B. Use the links below for other online Bible Study books and commentaries that will help you. Or go to the Word List, which explains words with a *star.
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The men took Jesus to Annas. Annas had been the *High Priest.
The men asked Jesus questions there. This lasted through the night. There were
no witnesses. The men were cruel, and they struck Jesus. None of this was legal,
but there was more behaviour like this to come.
Then the men took Jesus to Caiaphas. Caiaphas became the *High
Priest that year. Some Jewish leaders quickly went there (Mark 14:53-60). It was
still night. They could not accuse Jesus about anything at all. They looked for
false witnesses who would tell lies about him. Even then, the false witnesses
did not agree with each other (Mark 14:59).
The *High Priest was desperate. He should have obeyed the law
completely. But now he himself asked Jesus questions. This was not legal. But
Caiaphas' questions achieved what the men wanted. Jesus replied to Caiaphas
clearly. Jesus said that he was the Son of God. This was true. Jesus really is
the Son of God. But the Jewish leaders did not believe Jesus. They supposed that
he was just an ordinary man. So, they decided that his words were very wicked.
For the rest of the night, they hit and struck Jesus (Mark 14:65).
While this was going on, Peter had been able to get near the
court. He was outside, in the yard. He watched what was happening. First, a
servant girl came. She said to him, ‘You also were with Jesus.’ Peter denied
it. Then Peter went out to the gate. Another girl saw him, and said, ‘This man
was with Jesus.’ Peter swore and denied it. Then the people who were near him
spoke. They recognised his accent. So, they knew that he was from Galilee. Peter
denied it, and even cursed himself. At that moment, Jesus looked straight at
Peter. Peter went out and wept bitterly. He had promised to be loyal to Jesus
always. Now Peter had denied that he knew Jesus.
After Jesus came alive again, he would meet with Peter. And Jesus would forgive
Peter.
When the next day began, the Jewish leaders met together. They
approved of the events during the night, although those events had not been
legal. The Jews could have killed Jesus themselves. They could have thrown
stones at him, as they did to Stephen later. But the Jews wanted to *crucify
Jesus. Their law did not allow them to do this. Probably they wanted the Romans
to be partly responsible for the death of Jesus.
At some time early on that day, Judas
regretted what he had done. He did not *repent. Instead he killed himself.
But now, the Jewish rulers had Jesus as their prisoner.
The Jewish leaders were proud that they obeyed the law. But they
did not obey their own law when they arrested Jesus. It seems that they broke
all these laws:
·
You must not decide about a prisoner’s punishment if he is not
present – Matthew 26:3,4.
·
If you make men tell lies as witnesses, you should die – Matthew
26:59-62.
·
You must not kill a prisoner on the first day when he is in court.
·
Annas asked Jesus questions without any witnesses. This was not
legal – John 18:19-24.
·
The court should not have happened at night. This was not legal
– Matthew 27:1.
·
To go to the *High Priest was not legal – Matthew 26:63.
Everything that the Jewish leaders did was wrong.
The Jews probably
had power to kill Jesus, as they did Stephen (Acts 7). But they wanted the
Romans to share the blame. They also probably wanted Jesus to die by
*crucifixion. They did not have the power to order this. Only the Romans could
order *crucifixion.
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2002-2005, Wycliffe Associates (UK)