What further need do we have of witnesses?

 And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.  But Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest's courtyard.  And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.  Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none.  But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.'"  And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But Jesus kept silent.  And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God:  Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you said.  Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."  Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy!  What further need do we have of witnesses?  Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!  What do you think?"  They answered and said, "He is deserving of death."  Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, "Prophesy to us, Christ!  Who is the one who struck You?"

- Matthew 26:57-68

Yesterday, we read that while Jesus was still speaking to the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.  Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him."  Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  But Jesus said to him, "Friend, why have you come?"  Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.  And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew the sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?  How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"  In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.  But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."  Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

 And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.  But Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest's courtyard.  And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.  Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none.  But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.'"   My study suggests that the people misunderstand the words of Jesus as reported in John 2:19-21:  "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  It says, "Some Jews believed the temple would be destroyed and a new one built by the Messiah."

And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But Jesus kept silent.  And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God:  Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you said.  Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."   Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy!  What further need do we have of witnesses?  Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!  What do you think?"  They answered and said, "He is deserving of death."  Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, "Prophesy to us, Christ!  Who is the one who struck You?"   A note says that Jesus is quoting from Psalm 110 and Daniel 7:13.  It says, " Jesus confesses that He is the Messiah, both fully Man and fully God, for only a divine One could sit at the right hand of the Power, sharing authority with the Father.  This statement was clearly understood by the high priest to be a claim of equality with God the Father (v. 65).  For a mere man to claim this was punishable by death (Leviticus 24:16), but Christ is no mere man, and thus this declaration of equality is not blasphemy."

 The words "Prophesy to us, Christ!  Who is the one who struck You?" somehow give us a most chilling encounter with those who would diminish another person.  But this just isn't "any old person."  This is Jesus, the one whose ministry encompassed all kinds of healing, impossible acts of restoration, even feeding many in the wilderness.  The contempt is clear.  So is the ridicule and the defilement and abuse.  We see Christ, not just humble, but humiliated by those who actually should know better -- those who everyday witnessed Him sitting with them and teaching openly in the temple.  This is Jesus, whom the crowds called "the prophet from Nazareth."  Even in His purely human life, there is nothing about this person that warrants what is happening to Him.  It's a miscarriage of justice from every conceivable standpoint.  Even this evening trial is illegal by their own laws.  Jesus is the victim of every injustice here on so many levels.  We could look to these people willing to stoop to every means to silence Him, to kill Him -- to get rid of Him as a public rival when the people need a spiritual leader.  We could look at Judas and imagine his motives, even as he was greeted as "Friend" by Christ in the garden at His arrest.  We can imagine what has happened to His followers.  But there is more to the picture.  There is the story of Christ.  He is the King of the Universe, Lord of lords, and King of kings.   But His humiliation isn't for the sake of power and authority.  This humiliation is that of the Kingdom, that of God's power and love and mercy, all there in Christ and in His ministry.  And it's for that humiliation that we mourn for a broken world, that does not return God's love, even as it was manifest in the human Jesus.  If we don't come to terms with our capacity for such behavior, how are we truly going to know ourselves enough to follow God in obedience?  We will see from Peter's example, up ahead in the readings, why it is important to know ourselves.  We look at Christ, the humiliated and beaten prisoner, on trumped up charges, though He did good for others -- all for envy, according to John's Gospel.  Let us remember that what is attacked by this envy is His very goodness, God's love and mercy at work in the world, the true majesty of His gift to us.  If we're not aware of what is possible within us, then how can we make true choices in our own lives?  We may find ourselves humiliating the innocent.