paper 184 - before the sanhedrin court, parallel study · 1. examination by annas 184:1.1 annas,...

WORK-IN-PROGRESS (JANUARY 16, 2016) PARALLEL CHART FOR

Paper 184 — Before the Sanhedrin Court

© 2016 Matthew Block

Most endnotes and Urantia Book cross-references have been deleted to enhance readability.

Sources for Paper 184, in the order in which they appear

(1) Rev. Alfred Edersheim, M.A.Oxon, D.D., Ph.D., The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah(Volume Two) (New York: Longman, Green, & Co., Eighth Edition, Revised, 1899)

(2) David Smith, M.A., D.D., Our Lord’s Earthly Life (New York: George H. DoranCompany, 1925)

Note: This source is coded Smith2.

(3) George A. Barton, Ph.D., LL.D., Jesus of Nazareth: A Biography (New York, TheMacmillan Company, 1922)

(4) Wm. Arnold Stevens and Ernest Dewitt Burton, A Harmony of the Gospels for HistoricalStudy: An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons,1904, 1932)

(5) Charles Fiske and Burton Scott Easton, The Real Jesus: What He Taught: What He Did:Who He Was (New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1929)

(6) Walter Russell Bowie, The Master: A Life of Jesus Christ (New York: Charles Scribner’sSons, 1928)

(7) David Smith, M.A., D.D., The Days of His Flesh: The Earthly Life of Our Lord andSaviour Jesus Christ, Eighth Edition, Revised (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1910)

Note: This source is coded Smith1.

Key

(a) Green indicates where a source author first appears, or where he/she reappears.

(b) Yellow highlights most parallelisms.

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(c) Tan highlights parallelisms not occurring on the same row, or parallelisms separated byyellowed parallelisms.

(d) An underlined word or words indicates where the source and the UB writer pointedlydiffer from each other.

(e) Blue indicates UB-specific terminology and concepts. (What to highlight in this regard isdebatable. The highlights are tentative.)

Matthew Block16 January 2016

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SOURCE OR PARALLEL URANTIA PAPER 184

Work-in-progress Version 16 Jan. 2016

© 2016 Matthew BlockPAPER 184 — BEFORE

T H E S A N H E D R I N

COURT

[The Roman soldiers had evidently orders to bringJesus to the late High-Priest (Edersheim2 547).]

184:0.1 Representatives of Annas hadsecretly instructed the captain of theRoman soldiers to bring Jesus immed-iately to the palace of Annas after he hadbeen arrested. 1

The former high priest desired tomaintain his prestige as the chiefecclesiastical authority of the Jews. Healso had another purpose in detainingJesus at his house for several hours, andthat was to allow time for legally callingtogether the court of the Sanhedrin.

THE TRIAL: (I) BEFORE THESANHEDRIN (Smith2 423)

Had it been the day-time when He wasarrested, He would forthwith have beenconducted to the Hall of Hewn Stone; butit was now barely 2 A.M., and since theSanhedrin might not meet ere the time ofmorning sacrifice—

It was not lawful to convene theSanhedrin court before the time of theoffering of the morning sacrifice in thetemple,

about 3 a.m., when from the Templewatch-tower the gleam of daybreak wasdescribed on Mount Hebron—there wasstill a full hour to run (S2 423).

and this sacrifice was offered about threeo’clock in the morning.

LIX: THE EXAMINATION BEFORETHE JEWISH AUTHORITIES (Barton365)

184:0.2 Annas knew that a court ofSanhedrists was in waiting at the palaceof his son-in-law, Caiaphas.

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[The priests] had, no doubt, arranged fora quorum of the court to await during thenight, at the house of the high priest, thearrest of their victim (B 366).

Some thirty members of the Sanhedrinhad gathered at the home of the highpriest by midnight so that they would beready to sit in judgment on Jesus when hemight be brought before them.

Only those members were assembled whowere strongly and openly opposed toJesus and his teaching since

[The Sanhedrin] consisted of seventymembers, but when it sat as a court onlytwenty-three had to be present. That wasprobably the number present on thisfateful night (B 366).

it required only twenty-three to constitutea trial court.

THE TRIAL: (I) BEFORE THESANHEDRIN (Smith2 423)

184:0.3 Jesus spent about three hours atthe palace of Annas

They had not far to lead Him; for Annashad his residence on the slope of Olivetclose by the Orchard of Gethsemane ...(S2 424).

on Mount Olivet, not far from the gardenof Gethsemane, where they arrested him.

John Zebedee was free and safe in thepalace of Annas not only because of theword of the Roman captain,

No others had the right of entry, but it iswritten that John was “known to theChief Priest,” and the portress let himpass in (S2 424).

but also because he and his brother Jameswere well known to the older servants,

[See 129:2.8, re the Zebedees’ spending Passoverat Annas’s house in A.D. 22.]

having many times been guests at thepalace

[Zebedee’s wife, Salome, was a relative ofAnnas, onetime high priest at Jerusalem and still themost influential of the Sadducean group, having beendeposed only eight years previously (129:1.5).]

as the former high priest was a distantrelative of their mother, Salome.

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1. EXAMINATION BY ANNAS

184:1.1 Annas, enriched by the templerevenues, his son-in-law the acting highpriest, and with his relations to theRoman authorities,

In those days the most influentialpersonage in the Jewish state was Annas,the Chief Priest emeritus (S2 423).

was indeed the most powerful singleindividual in all Jewry.

[Compare Edersheim2 547, re Caiaphas as “hasty”and “bluff”.]

He was a suave and politic planner andplotter. He desired to direct the matter ofdisposing of Jesus; he feared to trust suchan important undertaking wholly to hisbrusque and aggressive son-in-law. Annaswanted to make sure that the Master’strial was kept in the hands of theSadducees; he feared the possible sym-pathy of some of the Pharisees, seeingthat practically all of those members ofthe Sanhedrin who had espoused thecause of Jesus were Pharisees.

[See 142:0.2.] 184:1.2 Annas had not seen Jesus forseveral years, not since the time when theMaster called at his house and immed-iately left upon observing his coldnessand reserve in receiving him.

Annas had thought to presume on thisearly acquaintance and thereby attempt topersuade Jesus to abandon his claims andleave Palestine. He was reluctant toparticipate in the murder of a good manand had reasoned that Jesus might chooseto leave the country rather than to sufferdeath. But when Annas stood before thestalwart and determined Galilean, heknew at once that it would be useless tomake such proposals. Jesus was evenmore majestic and well poised thanAnnas remembered him.

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[See 129:2.7-8.] 184:1.3 When Jesus was young, Annashad taken a great interest in him,

but now his revenues were threatened bywhat Jesus had so recently done indriving the money-changers and othercommercial traders out of the temple.This act had aroused the enmity of theformer high priest far more than hadJesus’ teachings.

184:1.4 Annas entered his spaciousaudience chamber, seated himself in alarge chair, and commanded that Jesus bebrought before him. After a few momentsspent in silently surveying the Master, hesaid: “You realize that something must bedone about your teaching since you aredisturbing the peace and order of ourcountry.” As Annas looked inquiringly atJesus, the Master looked full into his eyesbut made no reply.

XXXII: FRIDAY.—THE DAY OFSUFFERING. (A Harmony of the Gospels210)

§138. THE TRIAL BEFORE THE JEWISHAUTHORITIES. Matt. 26:57—27:10. Mark 14:53-72[15:1a]. Luke 22:54-71. John 18:12-27.

John 18:19 The high priest thereforeasked Jesus of his disciples,

Again Annas spoke, “What are the namesof your disciples,

[[H]e questioned Him “regarding His disciples andregarding His teaching”—promising fields ofinquiry both. For had He not a Zealot among Hisdisciples, and might He not on this score be madeout a ringleader of sedition? (Smith2 427).]

besides Simon Zelotes, the agitator?” 2

Again Jesus looked down upon him, buthe did not answer.

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184:1.5 Annas was considerablydisturbed by Jesus’ refusal to answer hisquestions, so much so that he said to him:“Do you have no care as to whether I amfriendly to you or not? Do you have noregard for the power I have in deter-mining the issues of your coming trial?”When Jesus heard this, he said: “Annas,you know that you could have no powerover me unless it were permitted by myFather. Some would destroy the Son ofMan because they are ignorant; theyknow no better, but you, friend, knowwhat you are doing. How can you, there-fore, reject the light of God?”

184:1.6 The kindly manner in whichJesus spoke to Annas almost bewilderedhim. But he had already determined in hismind that Jesus must either leavePalestine or die; so he summoned up hiscourage and asked:

and of his teaching. “Just what is it you are trying to teach thepeople?

What do you claim to be?”

20 Jesus answered him, Jesus answered:

“You know full well that

I have spoken openly to the world; I have spoken openly to the world.

I ever taught in synagogues, and in thetemple,

I have taught in the synagogues and manytimes in the temple,

where all the Jews come together; where all the Jews and many of thegentiles have heard me.

and in secret spake I nothing. In secret I have spoken nothing;

21 Why asketh thou me? why, then, do you ask me about myteaching?

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ask them that have heard me, what I spakeunto them: these know the things which Isaid.

Why do you not summon those who haveheard me and inquire of them?

Behold, all Jerusalem has heard thatwhich I have spoken even if you have notyourself heard these teachings.”

But before Annas could make reply,

22 And when he had said this, one of theofficers standing by

the chief steward of the palace, who wasstanding near,

struck Jesus with his hand, saying, struck Jesus in the face with his hand,saying,

Answerest thou the high priest so? “How dare you answer the high priestwith such words?”

Annas spoke no words of rebuke to hissteward,

23 Jesus answered him, but Jesus addressed him, saying,

If I have spoken evil, bear witness of theevil:

“My friend, if I have spoken evil, bearwitness against the evil;

but if well, why smitest thou me? but if I have spoken the truth, why, then,should you smite me?”

184:1.7 Although Annas regretted thathis steward had struck Jesus, he was tooproud to take notice of the matter. In hisconfusion he went into another room,leaving Jesus alone with the householdattendants and the temple guards foralmost an hour.

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184:1.8 When he returned, going up tothe Master’s side, he said, “Do you claimto be the Messiah, the deliverer ofIsrael?” Said Jesus: “Annas, you haveknown me from the times of my youth.You know that I claim to be nothingexcept that which my Father hasappointed, and that I have been sent to allmen, gentile as well as Jew.” Then saidAnnas: “I have been told that you haveclaimed to be the Messiah; is that true?”Jesus looked upon Annas but onlyreplied, “So you have said.”

184:1.9 About this time messengersarrived from the palace of Caiaphas toinquire what time Jesus would be broughtbefore the court of the Sanhedrin, andsince it was nearing the break of day,

24 Annas therefore sent him bound untoCaiaphas the high priest.

Annas thought best to send Jesus boundand in the custody of the temple guards toCaiaphas.

He himself followed after them shortly.

2. PETER IN THE COURT-

YARD

184:2.1 As the band of guards andsoldiers approached the entrance to thepalace of Annas, John Zebedee wasmarching by the side of the captain of theRoman soldiers. Judas had dropped somedistance behind,

Luke 22:54 And they seized him, andled him away, and brought him into thehigh priest’s house. But Peter followed afaroff.

and Simon Peter followed afar off.

John 18:[15] Now [John] was knownunto the high priest, and entered in withJesus into the court of the high priest;

After John had entered the palacecourtyard with Jesus and the guards,

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Judas came up to the gate but, seeingJesus and John, went on over to the homeof Caiaphas, where he knew the real trialof the Master would later take place.

Soon after Judas had left, Simon Peterarrived,

16 but Peter was standing at the doorwithout.

and as he stood before the gate,

John saw him just as they were about totake Jesus into the palace.

The portress who kept the gate knewJohn,

So the other disciple, who was known untothe high priest, went out and spake untoher that kept the door, and brought inPeter.

and when he spoke to her, requesting thatshe let Peter in, she gladly assented.

18 Now the servants and the officers werestanding there, having made a fire of coals[ERV mg.: Gr. a fire of charcoal]; for it wascold; and Peter also was with them, stand-ing and warming himself.

184:2.2 Peter, upon entering thecourtyard, went over to the charcoal fireand sought to warm himself, for the nightwas chilly.

[There, among the serving-men in the court, he wasin every sense ‘without.’ ...

He felt very much out of place hereamong the enemies of Jesus, and indeedhe was out of place.

The Master had not instructed him tokeep near at hand as he had admonishedJohn. Peter belonged with the otherapostles,

Was he right in having come there at all?Commentators have discussed it as involvingneglect of Christ’s warning (Edersheim2 551).] who had been specifically warned not to

endanger their lives during these times ofthe trial and crucifixion of their Master.

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[Compare: Peter, in a moment of ill-advisedheroism, went beyond his instructions and attackedJesus’ captors, then cast down his sword and fled inpanic (Fiske & Easton 172).]

184:2.3 Peter threw away his swordshortly before he came up to the palacegate so that he entered the courtyard ofAnnas unarmed.

His mind was in a whirl of confusion; hecould scarcely realize that Jesus had beenarrested. He could not grasp the reality ofthe situation—that he was here in thecourtyard of Annas, warming himselfbeside the servants of the high priest. Hewondered what the other apostles weredoing and, in turning over in his mind asto how John came to be admitted to thepalace, concluded that it was because hewas known to the servants, since he hadbidden the gate-keeper admit him.

184:2.4 Shortly after the portress letPeter in, and while he was warminghimself by the fire,

17 The maid therefore that kept the doorsaith unto Peter,

she went over to him and mischievouslysaid,

[The portress was a mischievous maid (Smith2467).]

Art thou also one of this man’s disciples? “Are you not also one of this man’sdisciples?”

Now Peter should not have been surprisedat this recognition, for it was John whohad requested that the girl let him passthrough the palace gates; but he was insuch a tense nervous state that thisidentification as a disciple threw him offhis balance, and with only one thoughtuppermost in his mind—the thought ofescaping with his life—

He saith, he promptly answered the maid’squestion by saying,

I am not. “I am not.”

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26 One of the servants of the high priest,being a kinsman of him whose ear Petercut off, saith,

184:2.5 Very soon another servantcame up to Peter and asked:

Did not I see thee in the garden with him? “Did I not see you in the garden whenthey arrested this fellow?

Are you not also one of his followers?”

Peter was now thoroughly alarmed; hesaw no way of safely escaping from theseaccusers;

[27] Peter therefore denied again: so he vehemently denied all connectionwith Jesus,

saying, “I know not this man, neither amI one of his followers.”

184:2.6 About this time the portress ofthe gate drew Peter to one side and said:“I am sure you are a disciple of this Jesus,not only because one of his followersbade me let you in the courtyard,

[Apparently she had seen him somewhere before,and recently—perhaps on one of the days whenJesus was teaching in the temple (Bowie 282-83).]

but my sister here has seen you in thetemple with this man.

Why do you deny this?”

When Peter heard the maid accuse him,

Mark 14:71 But he began to curse, and toswear,

he denied all knowledge of Jesus withmuch cursing and swearing,

again saying, “I am not this man’sfollower;

I know not this man of whom ye speak. I do not even know him;

I never heard of him before.”

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184:2.7 Peter left the fireside for a timewhile he walked about the courtyard. Hewould have liked to have escaped, but hefeared to attract attention to himself.Getting cold, he returned to the fireside,

Matt. 26:73 And after a little while they thatstood by came and said to Peter,

and one of the men standing near himsaid:

Of a truth thou also art one of them; “Surely you are one of this man’sdisciples.

This Jesus is a Galilean,

for thy speech bewrayeth thee. and your speech betrays you,

Mark 14:[70] for thou art a Galilæan. for you also speak as a Galilean.”

And again Peter denied all connectionwith his Master.

Matt. 26:71 And when he was gone outinto the porch,

184:2.8 Peter was so perturbed that hesought to escape contact with his accusersby going away from the fire andremaining by himself on the porch.

After more than an hour of this isolation,

another maid saw him, the gate-keeper and her sister chanced tomeet him,

and saith unto them that were there, Thisman also was with Jesus the Nazarene.

and both of them again teasingly chargedhim with being a follower of Jesus.

72 And again he denied with an oath, Iknow not the man.

And again he denied the accusation.

Just as he had once more denied allconnection with Jesus,

[74] And straightway the cock crew. the cock crowed,

[75] And Peter remembered the wordwhich Jesus had said, Before the cockcrow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

and Peter remembered the words ofwarning spoken to him by his Masterearlier that same night.

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As he stood there, heavy of heart andcrushed with the sense of guilt, the palacedoors opened,

[To complete his humiliation it chanced that Jesuswas at that moment being conducted, with Hishands pinioned behind His back, through the court-yard on His way to the judgment-hall of Caiaphas(Smith1 468).]

and the guards led Jesus past on the wayto Caiaphas.

As the Master passed Peter, he saw, bythe light of the torches, the look ofdespair on the face of his former self-confident and superficially brave apostle,

Luke 22:[61] And the Lord turned, andlooked upon Peter.

and he turned and looked upon Peter.

Peter never forgot that look as long as helived. It was such a glance of commingledpity and love as mortal man had neverbeheld in the face of the Master.3

184:2.9 After Jesus and the guardspassed out of the palace gates, Peterfollowed them, but only for a shortdistance. He could not go farther. He satdown by the side of the road

62 And he went out, and wept bitterly. and wept bitterly.

And when he had shed these tears ofagony, he turned his steps back towardthe camp, hoping to find his brother,Andrew. On arriving at the camp, hefound only David Zebedee, who sent amessenger to direct him to where hisbrother had gone to hide in Jerusalem.

184:2.10 Peter’s entire experienceoccurred in the courtyard of the palace ofAnnas on Mount Olivet. He did notfollow Jesus to the palace of the highpriest, Caiaphas.

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That Peter was brought to the realizationthat he had repeatedly denied his Masterby the crowing of a cock indicates thatthis all occurred outside of Jerusalemsince

[I]t was forbidden to keep fowls in Jerusalem, onaccount of possible Levitical defilements throughthem (Baba K. vii. 7) (Edersheim2 537, fn 1).

it was against the law to keep poultrywithin the city proper.

V, XIII: THURSDAY NIGHT—BEFOREANNAS AND CAIAPHAS—PETER AND

JESUS. (Edersheim2 546)

184:2.11 Until the crowing of the cockbrought Peter to his better senses,

He was not thinking of anything else nowthan ... how right he had been in not beingentrapped by that woman (E2 552).

he had only thought, as he walked up anddown the porch to keep warm, howcleverly he had eluded the accusations ofthe servants, and how he had frustratedtheir purpose to identify him with Jesus.

For the time being, he had onlyconsidered that

[W]hy should he incriminate himself, orperhaps Christ, by a needless confessionto those who had neither the moral northe legal right to exact it? (E2 552)

these servants had no moral or legal rightthus to question him,

and he really congratulated himself overthe manner in which he thought he hadavoided being identified and possiblysubjected to arrest and imprisonment.

Not until the cock crowed did it occur toPeter that he had denied his Master. Notuntil Jesus looked upon him, did herealize that he had failed to live up to hisprivileges as an ambassador of thekingdom.

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Peter, having started on a cowardlycourse, felt compelled to persist in it (B370).

184:2.12 Having taken the first stepalong the path of compromise and leastresistance, there was nothing apparent toPeter but to go on with the course ofconduct decided upon.

It requires a great and noble character,having started out wrong, to turn aboutand go right. All too often one’s ownmind tends to justify continuance in thepath of error when once it is enteredupon.

184:2.13 Peter never fully believed thathe could be forgiven until he met hisMaster after the resurrection and saw thathe was received just as before theexperiences of this tragic night of thedenials.

3. BEFORE THE COURT OF

SANHEDRISTS

184:3.1 It was about half past threeo’clock this Friday morning when thechief priest, Caiaphas, called theSanhedrist court of inquiry to order andasked that Jesus be brought before themfor his formal trial.

[Compare 168:3.3, 173:2.2, 175:3.1.] On three previous occasions theSanhedrin, by a large majority vote, haddecreed the death of Jesus, had decidedthat he was worthy of death on informalcharges of law-breaking, blasphemy, andflouting the traditions of the fathers ofIsrael.

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V, XIII: THURSDAY NIGHT—BEFOREANNAS AND CAIAPHAS—PETER AND

JESUS. (Edersheim2 546)

But whatever view be taken, thismuch at least is certain, that it was noformal, regular meeting of the Sanhedrin(E2 553).

184:3.2 This was not a regularly calledmeeting of the Sanhedrin

and was not held in the usual place,

[The Sanhedrin] met first in one of theTemple-Chambers, the so-called LishkathhaGazith—or Chamber of HewnStones—and at the time of which wewrite in ‘the booths of the sons of Annas’(E2 554).

the chamber of hewn stone in the temple.

This was a special trial court of somethirty Sanhedrists and was convened inthe palace of the high priest. JohnZebedee was present with Jesus through-out this so-called trial.

184:3.3 How these chief priests,scribes, Sadducees, and some of thePharisees flattered themselves that Jesus,the disturber of their position and thechallenger of their authority, was nowsecurely in their hands! And they wereresolved that he should never live toescape their vengeful clutches.

[With a humane sense of the value of humanlife the Jewish law had laid down a very completecode of regulations for the conduct of capital trials.[Etc.] (Smith1 469)]

184:3.4 Ordinarily, the Jews, whentrying a man on a capital charge, pro-ceeded with great caution and providedevery safeguard of fairness in theselection of witnesses and the entireconduct of the trial.

[See Wilson 280.] But on this occasion, Caiaphas was moreof a prosecutor than an unbiased judge.

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184:3.5 Jesus appeared before thiscourt clothed in his usual garments andwith his hands bound together behind hisback. The entire court was startled andsomewhat confused by his majesticappearance. Never had they gazed uponsuch a prisoner nor witnessed suchcomposure in a man on trial for his life.

[[A]t least two witnesses must agree in testifying tothe crime alleged (Fiske & Easton 180).]

184:3.6 The Jewish law required that atleast two witnesses must agree upon anypoint before a charge could be laidagainst the prisoner.

[The priests could not employ Judas Iscariot as awitness,

Judas could not be used as a witnessagainst Jesus

for their rules forbade the condemnation of a manon the evidence of a traitor, and, in this matter, theyabode by their rules of procedure (Barton 367).]

because the Jewish law specificallyforbade the testimony of a traitor.

More than a score of false witnesses wereon hand to testify against Jesus,

[See 184:3.8, left column, below.]but their testimony was so contradictoryand so evidently trumped up that theSanhedrists themselves were very muchashamed of the performance.

Jesus stood there, looking down benignlyupon these perjurers, and his verycountenance disconcerted the lyingwitnesses. Throughout all this falsetestimony the Master never said a word;he made no reply to their many falseaccusations.


184:3.7 The first time any two of theirwitnesses approached even the semblanceof an agreement was when

Matt. 26:[60] But afterward came two, [61]and said,

two men testified that

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Mark 14:58 We heard him say, they had heard Jesus say

in the course of one of his templediscourses that

I will destroy this temple that is made withhands, and in three days I will build anothermade without hands.

he would “destroy this temple made withhands and in three days make anothertemple without hands.”

59 And not even so did their witness agreetogether.

That was not exactly what Jesus said,regardless of the fact that he pointed tohis own body when he made the remarkreferred to.

60 And the high priest stood up in themidst, and asked Jesus, saying,

184:3.8 Although the high priestshouted at Jesus,

Answereth thou nothing? what is it whichthese witness against thee?

“Do you not answer any of thesecharges?”

[61] But he held his peace, and answerednothing.

Jesus opened not his mouth.

He stood there in silence while all ofthese false witnesses gave theirtestimony.

V, XIII: THURSDAY NIGHT—BEFOREANNAS AND CAIAPHAS—PETER AND JESUS.

(Edersheim2 546)

Hatred, fanaticism, and unscrupulousEastern exaggeration would readilymisrepresent and distort certain sayings ofChrist, or falsely impute others to Him.

Hatred, fanaticism, and unscrupulousexaggeration so characterized the wordsof these perjurers

But it was altogether too hasty and excitedan assemblage, and the witnesses contra-dicted themselves so grossly, or theirtestimony so notoriously broke down, thatfor very shame such trumped-up chargeshad to be abandoned.

that their testimony fell in its ownentanglements.

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The very best refutation of their falseaccusations was

And to this result the majestic calm ofChrist’s silence must have greatlycontributed (E2 558).

the Master’s calm and majestic silence.

184:3.9 Shortly after the beginning ofthe testimony of the false witnesses,Annas arrived and took his seat besideCaiaphas. Annas now arose and arguedthat this threat of Jesus to destroy thetemple was sufficient to warrant threecharges against him:

Dexterously manipulated, the testi-mony of these witnesses might lead up totwo charges. It would show that Christ wasa dangerous seducer of the people,

1. That he was a dangerous traducerof the people.

That he taught them impossible thingsand otherwise deceived them.

2. That he was a fanatical revol-utionist in that he advocated

Whose claims might have led those whobelieved them to lay violent hands on theTemple,

laying violent hands on the sacred temple,else how could he destroy it?

while the supposed assertion, that Hewould or was able to build the Templeagain within three days, might be made toimply Divine or magical pretensions (E2559).

3. That he taught magic inasmuch ashe promised to build a new temple, andthat without hands.

184:3.10 Already had the full Sanhedrinagreed that Jesus was guilty of death-deserving transgressions of the Jewishlaws,

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But ... the purpose of the High-Priest wasnot to formulate a capital charge in JewishLaw, ... but to formulate a charge whichwould tell before the Roman Procurator(E2 559).

but they were now more concerned withdeveloping charges regarding his conductand teachings which would justify Pilatein pronouncing the death sentence upontheir prisoner.

They knew that they must secure theconsent of the Roman governor beforeJesus could legally be put to death. AndAnnas was minded to proceed along theline of making it appear that Jesus was adangerous teacher to be abroad among thepeople.

184:3.11 But Caiaphas could not longerendure the sight of the Master standingthere in perfect composure and unbrokensilence. He thought he knew at least oneway in which the prisoner might beinduced to speak.


Accordingly, he rushed over to the side ofJesus and, shaking his accusing finger inthe Master’s face,

Matt. 26:63 And the high priest said untohim,

said:

I adjure thee by the living God, “I adjure you, in the name of the livingGod,

that thou tell us whether thou art the Son ofGod.

that you tell us whether you are theDeliverer, the Son of God.”

Mark 14:62 And Jesus said, Jesus answered Caiaphas:

I am: “I am.

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Soon I go to the Father,

and ye shall see the Son of man sitting at theright hand of Power,

and presently shall the Son of Man beclothed with power

and coming with the clouds of heaven. and once more reign over the hosts ofheaven.”

184:3.12 When the high priest heardJesus utter these words, he wasexceedingly angry,

Matt. 26:65 Then the high priest rent hisgarments, saying,

and rending his outer garments, heexclaimed:

He hath spoken blasphemy: what furtherneed have we of witnesses?

“What further need have we of witnesses?

Behold, now ye have heard the blasphemy: Behold, now have you all heard thisman’s blasphemy.

66 what think ye? What do you now think should be donewith this lawbreaker and blasphemer?”

They answered and said, And they all answered in unison,

He is worthy of death. “He is worthy of death;

let him be crucified.”

184:3.13 Jesus manifested no interest inany question asked him when beforeAnnas or the Sanhedrists except the onequestion relative to his bestowal mission.When asked if he were the Son of God,he instantly and unequivocally answeredin the affirmative.

184:3.14 Annas desired that the trialproceed further, and that charges of adefinite nature regarding Jesus’ relationto the Roman law and Roman institutionsbe formulated for subsequent presentationto Pilate.

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[See 182:2.9.]

The councilors were anxious to carrythese matters to a speedy termination, notonly because it was the preparation dayfor the Passover and no secular workshould be done after noon,

[Immediately after the feast Pilate might be returningto Cæsarea (Bowie 291).]

but also because they feared Pilate mightany time return to the Roman capital ofJudea, Caesarea, since he was inJerusalem only for the Passovercelebration.

184:3.15 But Annas did not succeed inkeeping control of the court. After Jesushad so unexpectedly answered Caiaphas,the high priest stepped forward and smotehim in the face with his hand.

Annas was truly shocked as the othermembers of the court, in passing out ofthe room,

Matt. 26:67 Then did they spit in hisface and buffet him:

spit in Jesus’ face,

and some smote him with the palms of theirhands,

and many of them mockingly slapped himwith the palms of their hands.

And thus in disorder and with suchunheard-of confusion this first session ofthe Sanhedrist trial of Jesus ended at halfpast four o’clock.4


(Edersheim2 546)

This Man, alone so calm and majesticamong those impassioned false judges andfalse witnesses;

184:3.16 Thirty prejudiced andtradition-blinded false judges, with theirfalse witnesses,

are presuming to sit in judgment on therighteous Creator of a universe.

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And these impassioned accusers areexasperated by

majestic in His silence, the majestic silence and superb bearing ofthis God-man.

His silence is terrible to endure;

majestic in His speech; his speech is fearlessly defiant.

unmoved by threats to speak, He is unmoved by their threats

undaunted by threats when He spoke; Whosaw it all—the end from the beginning; theJudge among His judges, the Witnessbefore His witnesses: which was He—theChrist or a blaspheming impostor? Lethistory decide; let the heart and conscienceof mankind give answer (E2 562).

and undaunted by their assaults.

Man sits in judgment on God, but eventhen he loves them and would save themif he could.

4 . T H E H O U R O F

HUMILIATION


Jewish procedure ... required that,when a man was condemned to death bythe Sanhedrin,

184:4.1 The Jewish law required that,in the matter of passing the deathsentence,

there should be two sessions of the court.

the sentence was not valid until it had beenagain voted by the judges at a meeting helda day later (B 368).

This second session was to be held on theday following the first,

[[T]he judges must pass the rest of the day inmourning and fasting (Smith2 432).]

and the intervening time was to be spentin fasting and mourning by the membersof the court.

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But these men could not await the nextday for the confirmation of their decisionthat Jesus must die. They waited only onehour.

[We have seen that, when Caiaphas and theSanhedrists quitted the audience-chamber, Jesus wasleft to the unrestrained licence of the attendants(Edersheim2 563).]

In the meantime Jesus was left in theaudience chamber in the custody of thetemple guards,

The guards now regarded Jesus as acondemned prisoner and they amusedthemselves by abusing him (B 369).

who, with the servants of the high priest,amused themselves by heaping every sortof indignity upon the Son of Man.


Luke 22:63 And the men that held Jesusmocked him and beat him.

They mocked him,

Matt. 26:67 Then did they spit in hisface and buffet him:

spit upon him, and cruelly buffeted him.

And some smote him with the palms oftheir hands [ERV mg.: Or, with rods],

They would strike him in the face with arod

68 saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ: and then say, “Prophesy to us, you theDeliverer,

who is he that struck thee? who it was that struck you.”

And thus they went on for one full hour,

Luke 22:65 And many other things spakethey against him, reviling him. reviling and mistreating this unresisting

man of Galilee.

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184:4.2 During this tragic hour ofsuffering and mock trials before theignorant and unfeeling guards andservants, John Zebedee waited in lonelyterror in an adjoining room. When theseabuses first started, Jesus indicated toJohn, by a nod of his head, that he shouldretire. The Master well knew that, if hepermitted his apostle to remain in theroom to witness these indignities, John’sresentment would be so aroused as toproduce such an outbreak of protestingindignation as would probably result inhis death.

184:4.3 Throughout this awful hourJesus uttered no word.

[We can all imagine what a sensitive, pure personwould suffer under such circumstances, and Christwas the most sensitive and pure of all who have everlived (Barton 369).]

To this gentle and sensitive soul ofhumankind,

joined in personality relationship with theGod of all this universe, there was nomore bitter portion of his cup of humil-iation than this terrible hour at the mercyof these ignorant and cruel guards andservants, who had been stimulated toabuse him by the example of the membersof this so-called Sanhedrist court.5

184:4.4 The human heart cannotpossibly conceive of the shudder ofindignation that swept out over a vastuniverse as the celestial intelligenceswitnessed this sight of their belovedSovereign submitting himself to the willof his ignorant and misguided creatureson the sin-darkened sphere of unfortunateUrantia.

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(Edersheim2 546)

All now rose in combined rebellion againstthe Perfect Man: the abject servility of theEast, which delighted in insults on OneWhom it could never have vanquished, andhad not even dared to attack; ... thebrutality of the worse than animal in man(since in him it is not under the guidanceof Divine instinct),

184:4.5 What is this trait of the animalin man which leads him to want to insultand physically assault that which hecannot spiritually attain or intellectuallyachieve?

In the half-civilized man there still lurksan evil brutality which seeks to vent itselfupon those who are superior in wisdomand spiritual attainment.

and which, when unchained, seems tointensify in coarseness and ferocity; Witness the evil coarseness and the brutal

ferocity of these supposedly civilized men

and the profanity and devilry which arewont to apply the ... blows of tyrannicalusurpation of power to all that is higherand better, ... before the shadows of which,when cast by superstition, they cower andtremble in abject fear!

as they derived a certain form of animalpleasure from this physical attack uponthe unresisting Son of Man.

And yet these insults, taunts, and blowswhich fell upon that lonely Sufferer,

As these insults, taunts, and blows fellupon Jesus,

not defenceless, but undefending, he was undefending but not defenseless.

not vanquished, but uncontending, nothelpless, but majestic in voluntary self-submission for the highest purpose oflove—

Jesus was not vanquished, merelyuncontending in the material sense.

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have not only exhibited the curse ofhumanity, but also removed it by letting itdescend on Him, the Perfect Man, theChrist, the Son of God (E2 562).

184:4.6 These are the moments of theMaster’s greatest victories in all his longand eventful career as maker, upholder,and savior of a vast and far-flunguniverse. Having lived to the full a life ofrevealing God to man, Jesus is nowengaged in making a new and un-precedented revelation of man to God.Jesus is now revealing to the worlds thefinal triumph over all fears of creaturepersonality isolation. The Son of Man hasfinally achieved the realization of identityas the Son of God. Jesus does not hesitateto assert that he and the Father are one;and on the basis of the fact and truth ofthat supreme and supernal experience, headmonishes every kingdom believer tobecome one with him even as he and hisFather are one. The living experience inthe religion of Jesus thus becomes thesure and certain technique whereby thespiritually isolated and cosmically lonelymortals of earth are enabled to escapepersonality isolation, with all its con-sequences of fear and associated feelingsof helplessness. In the fraternal realitiesof the kingdom of heaven the faith sonsof God find final deliverance from theisolation of the self, both personal andplanetary. The God-knowing believerincreasingly experiences the ecstasy andgrandeur of spiritual socialization on auniverse scale—citizenship on high inassociation with the eternal realization ofthe divine destiny of perfectionattainment.

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5. THE SECOND MEETING OF

THE COURT

184:5.1 At five-thirty o’clock the courtreassembled, and Jesus was led into theadjoining room, where John was waiting.Here the Roman soldier and the templeguards watched over Jesus while the courtbegan the formulation of the chargeswhich were to be presented to Pilate.Annas made it clear to his associates thatthe charge of blasphemy would carry noweight with Pilate. Judas was presentduring this second meeting of the court,but he gave no testimony.

[This second meeting was probably brief (Barton371).]

184:5.2 This session of the court lastedonly a half hour,

and when they adjourned to go beforePilate, they had drawn up the indictmentof Jesus, as being worthy of death, underthree heads:

[See 185:2.10ff.] 1. That he was a perverter of theJewish nation; he deceived the people andincited them to rebellion.

2. That he taught the people to refuseto pay tribute to Caesar.

3. That, by claiming to be a king andthe founder of a new sort of kingdom, heincited treason against the emperor.

184:5.3 This entire procedure wasirregular and wholly contrary to theJewish laws. No two witnesses hadagreed on any matter except those whotestified regarding Jesus’ statement aboutdestroying the temple and raising it againin three days. And even concerning thatpoint, no witnesses spoke for the defense,and neither was Jesus asked to explain hisintended meaning.

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184:5.4 The only point the court couldhave consistently judged him on was thatof blasphemy, and that would have restedentirely on his own testimony. Even6

concerning blasphemy, they failed to casta formal ballot for the death sentence.

184:5.5 And now they presumed toformulate three charges, with which to gobefore Pilate, on which no witnesses hadbeen heard, and which were agreed uponwhile the accused prisoner was absent.When this was done, three of thePharisees took their leave; they wanted tosee Jesus destroyed, but they would notformulate charges against him withoutwitnesses and in his absence.

184:5.6 Jesus did not again appearbefore the Sanhedrist court. They did notwant again to look upon his face as theysat in judgment upon his innocent life.Jesus did not know (as a man) of theirformal charges until he heard themrecited by Pilate.


184:5.7 While Jesus was in the roomwith John and the guards,

Luke 22:66 And as soon as it was day,the assembly of the elders of the people wasgathered together, both chief priests andscribes;

and while the court was in its secondsession,

some of the women about the highpriest’s palace, together with theirfriends, came to look upon the strangeprisoner, and one of them asked him,

and they led him away into their council,saying, 67 If thou art the Christ, tell us. “Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?”

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1. Compare: 183:5.1 The captain of the temple guards gave orders that [Jesus] should be taken to Caiaphas, the acting

high priest. The captain of the Roman soldiers directed that Jesus be taken to the palace of Annas, the former high priest

and father-in-law of Caiaphas. And this he did because the Romans were in the habit of dealing directly with Annas in all

matters having to do with the enforcement of the Jewish ecclesiastical laws.

2. Note: Where was John Zebedee during this interview? In 183:5.4 we read:

And this explains why John Zebedee was permitted to remain near Jesus all the way through his trying

experiences this night and the next day. The Jews feared to say aught to John or to molest him in any way because he

had something of the status of a Roman counselor designated to act as observer of the transactions of the Jewish ecclesi-

astical court.

According to the UB, John and his brother James were well-known to Annas, having been guests at his house many

times. The UB’s lack of mention of where John was, why he apparently didn’t meet Annas, and why he was not

acknowledged as a close follower of Jesus, is a curious omission.

3. Compare: In that gentle countenance [Peter] read deep pity and sorrow, but there was no anger there (Ellen G.

White, The Desire of Ages [1898],) p. 713.

4. Compare: Mt. and Mk. make it plain that the mockery was done by the Sanhedrists. Lk., perhaps deeming this

incredible, has put the incident before the meeting of Sanhedrin and attributed the brutality to “the men that held

Jesus” (Smith2 472, footnote).

5. Note: Why was it worse than the later scourging and the crucifixion itself?

But he said unto them, And Jesus answered:

If I tell you, ye will not believe: “If I tell you, you will not believe me;

68 and if I ask you, ye will not answer. and if I ask you, you will not answer.”

XXXI: FRIDAY.—THE DAY OFSUFFERING. (A Harmony of the Gospels 210)

§139. THE TRIAL BEFORE PILATE. Matt.27:[2] 11-31. Mark 15:1-20. Luke 23:1-25. John18:28—19:16a.

184:5.8 At six o’clock that morning

John 18:[28] They lead Jesus thereforefrom Caiaphas into the Prætorium:

Jesus was led forth from the home ofCaiaphas to appear before Pilate

for confirmation of the sentence of deathwhich this Sanhedrist court had sounjustly and irregularly decreed.

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6. Compare: Unless somebody is injured, there can be no crime; and to prove a crime, there must be evidence other

than the prisoner’s own (Wilson 280).

Compare also: The Roman officers declared that the Jews in pronouncing condemnation upon Jesus were infringing

upon the Roman power, and that it was even against the Jewish law to condemn a man to death upon his own

testimony (Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages [1898], p. 715).

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paper 184 - before the sanhedrin court, parallel study · 1. examination by annas 184:1.1 annas,...

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