Tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God

It had been a long sleepless night for the Saviour. He had fulfilled his desire to keep the Passover with His disciples, and we know that night had fallen when Judas left the upper room. In the darkness of Gethsemane the Lord had gazed into the cup that He must drink and, though the night was cold, the ground where He lay in agony was saturated with sweat. Luke tells us that ‘there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him’, Luke 22. 43, He would need every ounce of that strength to face the hours that lay before Him, as into that darkness came the traitor with those carrying lanterns and torches to arrest the Light of the world!

The hurried assembly in the palace of the high priest bore no resemblance to a trial; it was at best an arraignment. The only qualification considered necessary of the witnesses was that they were false! Caiaphas had already determined the sentence and would consider his thirty pieces of silver well spent, as the Saviour, seemingly helpless, stood before him. The Lord’s prophetic words regarding ‘the temple of his body’ were spoken right at the commencement of His public ministry, John 2. 19.

For over three years vindictive minds had retained His words to use against Him when occasion arose. The refusal of the Lord to offer any word of defence incensed the high priest, causing him to demand a response, under oath, ‘whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God’. The reply was in the affirmative, ‘Thou hast said’, Matt. 26. 63-64. The rending of the high priest’s garments, contrary to the Mosaic law, had particular significance in marking the imminent end of the Aaronic priesthood. What Caiaphas did not know was that the bound and beaten man standing in his courtyard that day would shortly take His place ‘sitting on the right hand of power’, the great High Priest of a higher and more noble order.

The Gospel writers all record Peter’s denial of the Lord. We do well to consider, without a critical spirit, the steps which led Peter to lie, to curse and finally to weep bitterly, mindful of the warning, ‘Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall’, 1 Cor. 10. 12.