Divine Blasphemer
Divine Blasphemer
Matthew 26:57-68
This one will not end well. That is a problem for me. I want a sermon to end with a challenge, with a call to faith, or with a question that will make us think. But, as I’m taking Matthew’s account a bit at a time, this one is going to be difficult. It will end on a down note. What I hope is that it will cause us to ponder the price that Jesus paid for us. It will also reveal the lengths to which the enemy will go. And with a decision to make.
You see, the truth is that we are in a war. Paul was very clear that we are not in a war against the usual sort of enemies – flesh and blood armies that we can see. Rather, we are in a war against the powers of evil, the rulers, those who set themselves up against God, the authorities and powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph 6:12). We see people, but behind the people there is the force of evil set against the things of God. When we see someone delight in the murder of infants, someone celebrate the assassination of someone like Charlie Kirk, someone who thinks it would be a good thing for the president to be murdered, someone who delights in corrupting children, we’re not looking at people; we’re looking into the abyss of Satan. We’re seeing demons at work.
And the sad thing is that many Christians today deny the very existence of demons. I noted some time back that the reason the Scriptures ban occult practices like witchcraft, mediums, and divination, is not that those things don’t work or that they are a waste of our energy. The reason God bans those things is precisely because they do work, and because they are the work of the enemy trying to divert our attention and our worship away from God. The greatest work of Satan in America today is to convince Christians that he doesn’t exist. That makes us look at people as our enemies, when the real enemy, the real adversary, the real destroyer of souls is hiding behind them. Satan is using transgender ideology, using lawlessness, using chaos, using the abortion industry. There is a satanic delusion behind them all. My son was angry with me recently for mocking the existence of transgender people. I wasn’t mocking their existence; I was mocking their delusion. But it is not the people who are our enemy. It is the satanic power behind them. The demons are showing themselves, and Christians are blind to the real enemy.
And here’s the thing we need to keep in mind as we go through these last several chapters. Rome was not the real enemy. Rome was only the manifestation of the enemy. The real enemy was the work of Satan, sin and death. Jesus did not come to spar with Rome, as Israel expected him to do; he came to defeat Satan. He came to atone for sin and defeat death. What we are seeing in these verses is the lengths to which the enemy will go – and the enemy is not Rome, and not the Jewish leaders. The enemy is, as he always does, operating behind the scenes, pulling the strings of willing puppets who are blinded to the truth. And they are willing to do anything, anything, to short-circuit the work of Christ on our behalf. Satan does not want us to have a Savior. He does not want us to take Jesus seriously.
So, however we end today, just keep in mind that it is not the end. It may feel as if Satan has won. But, just wait for the rest of the story. Let it play out.
Jesus has been arrested and hauled off to court. No, not to court. Not to the Sanhedrin, where such cases were supposed to be tried. No, not to court. Jesus was taken to the private residence of Caiaphas, the high priest. Already, we know this is illegitimate. There are elders there, and certain “teachers of the law,” but this was not open court. Even though the whole Sanhedrin is there, it is a secret proceeding, just as was planned in verse 3 of this chapter. Remember, they fear the people. They fear an uprising. They fear Roman retribution. So, they do not hold court in the usual place, where there might be witnesses.
As a side note, setting the stage for a later encounter, Matthew tells us that Peter managed to tag along, getting as far as the courtyard gate. Perhaps able to mingle with the guards, Peter sat down with them to watch what he could of the proceedings. We’ll leave Peter there for now.
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus ... Not evidence, but false evidence. They were looking for a pretense to put Jesus to death. You see, they had no real evidence. In fact, they had no basis for any accusation against him. We passed over Jesus’ comment when he was arrested, but it is revealing for us now — “Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me” (26:55). During the questioning, John quotes Jesus: “I have spoken openly to the world. ... I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who head me” (Jn 18:20-21). If there was evidence of a crime, it should be easy to find. There was nothing in Jesus’ teaching they could point to that warranted the death penalty, let alone a trial. There was not basis even for his arrest. So, since there was no real evidence, all they could hope for was some slanderer, some liar, some false witness.
But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. You see, the Law stated that no one could be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. There had to be two witnesses, at least, or three (Dt 19:16-21). The problem for Caiaphas and his cronies was that even the false witnesses had to agree. They had to actually say the same thing. And none of the false witnesses gave the same testimony. Until two came forward and declared, “This fellow said, ‘ I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” Well, that may be a fantastic claim, but it hardly amounted to a crime. At most, it would be considered bluster and boasting.
John relates a conversation that occurred when Jesus cleansed the temple. The Jews asked for a sign to prove Jesus’ authority. He replied, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (Jn 2:19). The Jews, of course, were incredulous. “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” John, writing long after the fact, notes that Jesus was talking about his body, and after the resurrection, the disciples remembered what Jesus had said (Jn 2:20-21). Jesus had not said, “I will destroy the temple.” That was the false witness part that led to further questioning. And Jesus stands silent. I imagine a bit of a bemused smile on his face, and perhaps a little shake of his head.
His silence, his expression, his poise in the moment only serves to enrage Caiaphas. He hasn’t yet got what he needs. He needs something real, something that will actually merit a charge of blasphemy and a sentence of death. And so far, nothing.
Exasperated, Caiaphas places Jesus under oath. “I charge you under oath by the Living God.” Matthew is the only one of the four to relate this, and we remember Matthew’s purpose - to prove Jesus is the Messiah and Davidic king of Israel. “Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Caiaphas now demands that Jesus answer one question under oath. Remember, “son of God” is not really a problem because the Jews considered themselves all to be sons of God. But, coupled with “Messiah” is another matter altogether. Remember, also, the Romans are watching. No, they’re not in the room, but any hint of a real Messiah appearing, rousing the people, would bring down the force of Rome to stamp out any rebellion. Caiaphas owed his position to the Romans, and did not want anything to disrupt the rather tenuous relationship between them. A real Messiah was an existential threat. If Jesus were the Messiah, he was an immediate threat to Caiaphas.
For Jesus’ answer, we need to go back to Daniel 7. Beginning in verse 9, Daniel relates a vision of thrones begin set in place and the Ancient of Days taking his place on one of them. Surrounding him were the living beasts, the myriads of angels, and people coming to be judged. Daniel, entranced, continues to watch. “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion was an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (Dan 7:13-14).
Key words there: son of man, coming in the clouds, given glory and sovereignty, worshiped, and given an everlasting kingdom. Now look at Jesus answer to Caiaphas. “You have said so,” Jesus replied, “But I say to you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Jesus lays claim to the prophecy of Daniel. He tells Caiaphas, “I am the one Daniel spoke about. I am the Son of Man, given authority and an eternal kingdom, and will be worshiped by the whole world.” With this statement, Jesus lays claim, not just to Messiahship, but to deity. Only God was to be worshiped, and by calling himself the Son of Man in this context, Jesus is laying claim to the place of God – that he should be worshiped.
That tears it for Caiaphas. This blatant claim to be worthy of worship, to be in God’s place, is more than he can stand. Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses?” I have a footnote that reads, “People tore their clothes for mourning, and in Jewish tradition hearing blasphemy was a mandatory cause for mourning in this way.” Note the phrase “in Jewish tradition.” Jewish law required something else of the high priest. Look first at Exodus 28:32. The robe of the ephod had this particular feature – There shall be a woven edge like a collar around this opening, so that it will not tear. The outer garment the high priest wore was to be made with a collar that could not tear. Now look at Leviticus 10:6. This is the law for the priests, and especially for the high priest – Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become unkempt and do not tear your clothes, or you will die and the LORD will be angry with the whole community.” The law forbade the high priest from tearing his clothes. There was guilt attached that would affect the entire nation. So, in his rage, Caiaphas violated the law of the high priest, bringing guilt upon himself and wrath on Israel. So intent on his own position and power, Caiaphas violates the law himself.
“Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
Here is the moment of decision. Either we have heard blasphemy, as Caiaphas has declared, or we have heard the very Messiah himself. Every single person in the room must decide. It is the same for us. When we are confronted with the claims of Jesus about himself, we must decide whether we believe him or not. In that moment, we decide, as C. S. Lewis challenged, whether we think Jesus was lunatic, or liar, or Lord. And here’s the problem for us: The Sanhedrin, and Caiaphas, in that moment, do not dismiss Jesus as insane. We do not hear them wave him off and remand him to an asylum. We also do not hear them suggesting that he is a liar. No one shouts at him, “You lie!” The problem for us is that they felt they had to eliminate him, not because he was harmless, but because in all likelihood, he was exactly what he claimed to be.
If Jesus were indeed the Son of Man coming on the clouds, he was an existential threat to Caiaphas’ power and position, as I said earlier. If Jesus was who he said he was, he stood to upset the delicate balance between the Jewish political class and Rome. If Jesus was who he said he was, he would be the cause of open rebellion and war with Rome that Judea did not want. Oh, yes, they wanted freedom from Rome. But they wanted it decisively, one strike, and done – Rome destroyed by an angelic host. They were not equipped to overthrow Rome as it was, and a revolt now could result in the complete annihilation of the nation of Israel. Jesus was a destabilizing force, and they knew it. They took Jesus at his word and decided that he had to die.
After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, there was a hastily-called meeting of the Sanhedrin. Pharisees were worried, “If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.” Caiaphas declared, “It is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish” (Jn 11:47-50).
They recognized who Jesus was and decided he had to die. But the question comes to us. Who is Jesus? And what will you do about it? They knew Jesus was their Messiah and decided they had to kill him. Jesus is your Messiah, come to atone for your sin and defeat death for you. How will you respond? Reject him, as they did? Or accept him?