Our Lord’s Trial before the Sanhedrin

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 5, 1882,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"And they all condemned Him to be guilty of death." Mark 14:64.

THIS one sentence is selected because custom demands a text. But in
reality we shall follow the entire narrative of our Lord's trial before
the High Priests. We shall see how the Sanhedrin arrived at their
unrighteous sentence and what they did afterwards, and so, in a sense,
we shall be keeping to our text. We have just been reading three
passages–John 23:12- 24; Mark 14:53-65 and Luke 22:66-71. Please carry
these in your minds while I rehearse the mournful story. The narrative
of our Lord's grief, if it is carefully studied, is harrowing in the
extreme. One cannot long think of it without tears. In fact, I have
personally known what it is to be compelled to leave my meditations
upon it from excess of emotion.

It is enough to make one's heart fully break to realize the sufferings
of such an One, so lovely in Himself and so loving toward us. Yet this
harrowing of the feelings is exceedingly useful and the after result of
it is truly admirable. After mourning for Jesus we are raised above our
mourning! There is no consolation under Heaven at all like it, for the
sorrows of Christ seem to take the sting out of our own sorrows till
they become harmless and endurable. A sympathetic contemplation of our
Lord's grief so dwarfs our griefs that they are reckoned to be but
light afflictions, too petty, too insignificant to be mentioned in the
same day. We dare not write ourselves down in the list of the sorrowful
at all when we have just seen the sharp pains of the Man of Sorrows.
The wounds of Jesus distil a balm which heals all mortal ills.

Nor is this all, though that were much in a world of woe like this, but
there is a matchless stimulus about the passion of the Lord. Though you
have been almost crushed by the sight of yours Lord's agonies, you have
risen from them strong, resolute, fervent, consecrated. Nothing stirs
our hearts' depths like His heart's anguish. Nothing is too hard for us
to attempt or to endure for One who sacrificed Himself for us. To be
reviled for His dear sake who suffered such shame for us becomes no
great affliction–even reproach, itself, when borne for Him, becomes
greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt! To suffer in body and
in mind, even unto death, for Him, were rather a privilege than an
exaction–such love so swells our hearts that we vehemently pant for
some way of expressing our indebtedness. We are grieved to think that
our best will be so little, but we are solemnly resolved to give
nothing less than our best to Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.

I believe, also, that full often careless hearts have been greatly
affected by the sufferings of Jesus. They have been disturbed in their
indifference, convinced of their ingratitude, weaned from their love of
sin and attracted to Christ by hearing what He bore on their behalf. No
loadstone can draw human hearts like the Cross of Christ. His wounds
cause even hearts of stone to bleed! His shame makes obstinacy, itself,
ashamed. Men never so plentifully fall before the great bow of God as
when its arrows are dipped in the blood of Jesus. Those darts which are
armed with His agonies cause wounds such as never can be healed except
by His own pierced hands. These are the weapons which slay the sin and
save the sinner–killing, at one stroke, both his self-confidence and
his despair–and leaving him a captive to that Conqueror whose glory it
is to make men free!

This morning I would not only preach the doctrines that come out of the
Cross, but the Cross, itself. I suppose that was one of the great
differences between the first preaching of all and the preaching after
the Reformation. After the Reformation we had clearly ringing out from
all pulpits the Doctrine of Justification by Faith and other glorious
Truths of God which I hope will be made more and more prominent. But
the first fathers of the Church set forth the same Truths in a less
theological fashion. If they dwell little upon Justification by Faith
they were wonderfully full upon the blood and its cleansing power, the
wounds and their healing efficacy, the death of Jesus and our eternal
life.

We will go back to their style for a while and preach the facts about
our Lord Jesus Christ rather than the doctrinal inferences from them.
Oh, that the Holy Spirit would so bring the sorrows of our Lord near to
each heart, that every one of us may know the fellowship of His
sufferings and possess faith in His salvation and reverent love for
Him!

I. We will begin our narrative, this morning, by first asking you to
think of THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF OUR BLESSED LORD AND MASTER BY
THE HIGH PRIESTS. They brought in our Lord from the garden, bound, but
they also kept fast hold upon Him, for we read of, "the men that held
Him." They were evidently afraid of their prisoner, even when they had
Him entirely in their power. He was all gentleness and submission, but
conscience made cowards of them all and they, therefore, took all a
coward's care to hold Him in their grasp. As the court had not yet
gathered in sufficient numbers for a general examination, the High
Priest resolved that he would fill up the time by personally
interrogating his prisoner.

He commenced his malicious exercise. The High Priest asked Jesus
concerning His disciples. We cannot tell what were the questions, but I
suppose they were something like these–"How is it that You have
gathered about You a band of men? What did they do with You? What was
Your ultimate intention to do by their means? Who were they? Were they
not a set of fanatics, or men discontented and ready for sedition?" I
do not know how the crafty Caiaphas put his questions, but the Savior
gave no reply to this particular enquiry. What could He have said if He
had attempted to answer? Ah, Brothers and Sisters, what good could He
have said of His disciples? We may be sure He would say no ill. He
might have said, "Concerning My disciples, one of them has betrayed Me.
He has still the blood-money in his hands which you gave him as My
price. Another of them, down in the hall there, before the cock crows
will deny that he ever knew Me and add oaths and cursing to his denial.
And as for the rest, they have all forsaken Me and fled."

Therefore our Lord said nothing concerning His disciples, for He will
not become the accuser of His own, whom He came not to condemn, but to
justify. The High Priest also asked Him concerning His doctrine. I
suppose he said to Jesus, "What new teaching is this of Yours? Are we
not sufficient to teach the people–the Scribes so learned in the Law,
the Pharisees so attentive to ritual, the Sadducees so philosophical
and speculative? Why need you intrude into this domain? I suppose You
to be little more than a peasant's son–what is this strange teaching
of Yours?" To this enquiry our Lord did answer and what a triumphant
reply it was! Oh that we could always speak, when it is right to speak,
as meekly and as wisely as He!

He said, "I spoke openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue
and in the Temple, where the Jews always resort and in secret I have
said nothing. Why ask you Me? Ask them which heard Me what I have said
unto them: behold, they know what I have said." Oh, Brothers and
Sisters, no reply to slander can be compared with a blameless life!
Jesus had lived in the full blaze of day, where all could see, and yet
He was able to challenge accusation and say, "Ask them which heard Me."
Happy is the man who has no need to defend himself because his works
and words are solid testimonials to his uprightness and goodness! Our
Savior answered His interrogator very gently, but yet most effectually,
by His appeal to facts.

He stands before us the mirror of meekness and the paragon of
perfection, with slander like a wounded snake writhing at His feet.
What a delight to have this triumphant Pleader for our Advocate, to
urge His own righteousness in our defense! None can impugn His absolute
perfection and that perfection covers all His saints this day! Who
shall accuse us, now that Jesus has undertaken to plead for us? This
overwhelming answer, however, brought the Savior a blow from one of the
officers of the court who stood by. Was not this a most shocking deed?
Here was the first of a new order of assaults. Up to now we have not
heard of strokes and blows–but now it is fulfilled–"They shall smite
the Judge of Israel with a rod upon His cheek."

This was the first of a long series of assaults. I wonder who the man
was that struck the Master? I could wish that the Master's reply to him
may have influenced his heart to repentance. But if not, it is certain
that he led the van in personal assaults upon our Lord's Person–his
impious hand first struck Him. Surely if he died in impenitence, the
memory of that blow must remain as a never-dying worm within him. Today
he cries, "I was the first to smite Him! I struck Him on the mouth with
the palm of my hand." The old writers upon the Passion give us various
details of the injuries inflicted upon the Savior by that blow, but we
attach no importance to such traditions and, therefore, will not repeat
them, but simply say that there was general belief in the Church that
this blow was a very grievous one and caused the Savior much pain.

Yet while He felt that blow and was, perhaps, half staggered by it, the
Master did not lose His composure, or exhibit the least resentment. His
reply was everything it ought to be. There is not a word too much. He
does not say, "God shall smite you, you whited wall," as did the
Apostle Paul. We will not censure the servant, but we will far more
commend the Master. He meekly said, "If I have spoken evil, bear
witness of the evil: but if well, why did you strike Me?" Enough,
surely, if there remained any tenderness in the heart of the aggressor,
to have made him turn his hand upon his own breast in penitential
grief! One would not have wondered had he cried out, "Forgive me, O You
divinely meek and gentle One, and let me, from now on, be Your
disciple!"

Thus have we seen the first part of our Lord's sufferings in the house
of the High Priest. And the lesson from it is just this–Let us be meek
and lowly in heart as the Savior was, for herein lay His strength and
dignity. You tell me I have said that before. Yes, Brothers and
Sisters, and I shall have to say it several more times before you and I
have learned the lesson well. It is hard to be meek when falsely
accused. It is difficult to be meek when roughly interrogated. It is
hard to be meek when a cunning adversary is on the catch, or when
smarting under a cruel blow which was a disgrace to a court of justice.

You have heard of the patience of Job, but it pales before the patience
of Jesus! Admire His forbearance, but do not stop at admiration–copy
His example! Write under this headline and follow every stroke. O
Spirit of God, even with Christ for an Example, we shall not learn
meekness unless You teach us! And even with You for a Teacher, we shall
not learn it unless we take His yoke upon us and learn of Him, for it
is only at His feet; and under Your Divine anointing that we shall ever
become meek and lowly of heart–and so find rest unto our souls. The
preliminary examination is therefore over and it has ended in no
success whatever for the High Priest. He has questioned Jesus and he
has struck Him, but the ordeal brings nothing to content the adversary.
The prisoner is supremely victorious, the assailant is baffled.

II. Now comes a second scene, THE SEARCH FOR WITNESSES AGAINST HIM.
"The chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus
to put Him to death; and found none." A strange court that meets with
the design to find the prisoner guilty, resolved in some way or other
to compass his death! They must proceed according to the forms of
justice and so they summon witnesses, though all the while they violate
the spirit of justice, for they ransack Jerusalem to find witnesses who
will perjure themselves to accuse the Lord!

Every man of the council is writing down somebody's name who may be
fetched in from the outside, for the people have come from all parts of
the land to keep the Passover and surely some may be hunted up who, in
one place or another, have heard Him use an objectionable mode of
speech. They fetch in, therefore, everyone that they can find of that
degraded class who will venture upon perjuring themselves if a bribe is
forthcoming. They scour Jerusalem to bring forth witnesses against
Jesus–but they had great difficulty in accomplishing their design
because they were bound to examine the witnesses separately and they
could not make them agree! Lies cannot be easily made to pair with each
other, whereas truths are cut to the same pattern.

Moreover, many sorts of witnesses that they could readily find, they
did not dare to bring forward. Witnesses were forthcoming who could
testify that Jesus had spoken against the tradition of the elders, but
in that, some who were in the council, namely, the Sadducees, were
agreed with Him to a large extent! It would never do to bring forward a
charge about which they would not be unanimous. His denunciations of
the Pharisees could not be the charge, for these pleased the Sadducees!
Neither could they allege His outcry against the Sadducees, for in this
the Pharisees were agreed with Him! You remember how Paul, when brought
before this Sanhedrin, took advantage of their division of opinion and
cried, "I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; of the hope and
resurrection of the dead I am called in question"–and in this manner
created a dissension among the conclave, which, for a time worked in
his favor.

Our Lord took higher and nobler ground and did not stoop to turn their
folly to His own benefit. Yet, they being conscious of their internal
feuds, cautiously avoided those points upon which they were not in
harmony. They might have brought forward their old grievance that the
Lord Jesus did not observe the Sabbath after their fashion, but then it
would have come out more publicly that He had healed the sick on the
Sabbath. It would not do to publish that fact, for who would think of
putting a person to death for having opened the eyes of one born blind,
or having restored a withered arm on the Sabbath? That kind of witness
was, therefore, set aside.

But might they not have found some witnesses to swear that He had
talked about a kingdom that He was setting up? Might not this readily
have been made to mean sedition and rebellion? Yes, but then that was
rather a charge to allege

against Him before Pilate's civil court, whereas theirs was an
ecclesiastical tribunal. Moreover, there were Herodians in the council
who were very restive under the Roman yoke and could not have had the
face to condemn anyone for being a patriot. And besides, the people
outside would have sympathized with Jesus all the more if they had
supposed that He would lead them on a rebellion against Caesar.
Therefore they could not urge that point.

They must have been greatly puzzled to know what to do! Especially when
even on those points which they decided to bring forward the witnesses,
they no sooner opened their mouths than they contradicted each other!
At last they had it. There came two whose evidence was somewhat agreed
and they asserted that on a certain occasion Jesus Christ had said, "I
will destroy this Temple that is made with hands, and within three days
I will build another made without hands." Here was blasphemy against
the holy and beautiful House of the Lord! This would serve their turn.
Now, the Savior had said something which was a little like the
testimony of these false witnesses and a misunderstanding had made it
more like it. But still their statement was a lie and none the less a
lie because a shadow of truth had fallen upon it, for the worst kind of
lie is that which is manufactured out of a truth–it does a great deal
more mischief than if it were a falsehood from stem to stern.

The Savior had not said, "I will destroy this Temple." He said,
"Destroy this Temple," that is to say, "You will destroy it and you may
destroy it." He had not referred to the Jerusalem Temple at all–this
spoke He concerning the Temple of His body which would be destroyed.
Christ has never said, "Destroy this Temple which is made with hands,
and I will build another without hands." In His language there is no
allusion to hands at all. These refinements were of their own inventing
and His language gave no color for them. He had not said, "I will build
another." He had said, "I will raise it up," which is quite a different
thing! He meant that His body, after being destroyed, would be raised
up, again, on the third day. They had altered a word here and a word
there, the mood of one verb and the form of another–and so they made
out our Lord to say what He never thought of.

Yet even on that charge they did not agree! One said one thing upon it
and another said another, so that even this paltry accusation could not
be brought against the Savior. Their patched-up falsehood was made of
such rotten stuff that the pieces would not hold together! They were
ready to swear to anything that came into their perjured imaginations,
but they could not be gotten to swear, any two of them, to the same
thing! Meanwhile the Lord Himself stands silent. Like the sheep before
her shearers, He is dumb and opens not His mouth. And I suppose the
reason was partly that He might fulfill the prophecy, partly because
the grandeur of His soul could not stoop to contend with liars, but
most of all because His innocence needed no defense!

He that is in some measure guilty, is eager to apologize and to
extenuate–his excuses usually suggest, to men of experience, the
belief that there may be some ground for the accusation. He that is
perfectly innocent is in no haste to answer his slanderers, for they
soon answer one another! Our Lord did not desire to get into a vain
jangle with them and so to lead them on to utter still more falsehoods.
If speech can do no good then, indeed, silence is wise! When the only
result would have been to provoke His enemies to add to their
iniquities, it was magnanimous compassion which led the slandered
Savior to hold His tongue.

We must not refrain from noticing the comfort which, in some degree,
had been ministered to our Lord by the accusation which came most to
the front. He stands there and He knows they are about to put Him to
death, but they, themselves, remind Him that their power over Him has
no longer lease than three days. And at the end of that short time He
will be raised up again, no more to be at their disposal! His enemies
reminded Him of the Resurrection! I say not that His memory was weak,
or that He would possibly have forgotten it and His sorrows, but yet
our Lord was human and modes of comfort which are valuable to us were
also useful to Him. When the mind is tortured with malicious falsehoods
and the whole man is tossed about by pains and griefs, it is good for
us to be reminded of the consolations of God.

We read of some who were "tortured, not accepting deliverance," and it
was the hope of Resurrection which sustained them! Our Lord knew that
His soul would not be left in the abodes of the dead and neither should
His flesh see corruption–and the false witnesses brought this vividly
before His mind. Now, indeed, could our Redeemer say, "Destroy this
Temple and in three days I will raise it up." These ravens have brought
the Savior bread and meat! In these dead lions our glorious Samson has
found honey! Sustained by the joy that was set before Him, He despises
the shame! Strange that out of the mouths of those who sought His blood
there should come the memory of one of His greatest glories!

Now, Brothers and Sisters, here, again, we learn the same lesson as
before, namely, let us gain meekness and by it our power to hold our
tongues. Eloquence is difficult to acquire, but silence is far more
difficult to practice. A man may much sooner learn to speak well than
learn not to speak at all. We are in such a hurry to vindicate our own
cause that we damage it by rash speech! If we were calm, gentle, quiet,
forbearing as the Savior was, our pathway to victory would be much
easier. Observe, again, the armor with which Christ was clad–see the
invulnerable shield of His holiness! His life was such that slander
could not frame an accusation against Him which would last long enough
to be repeated. So frail were the charges that, like bubbles, they
vanished as soon as they saw the light! Our Lord's enemies were utterly
baffled. They hurled their darts against Him, but, as if they fell upon
a shield of blazing diamond, every arrow was broken and consumed!

Learn, also, this other lesson that we must expect to be
misrepresented. We may reckon that our words will have other meanings
to ungracious ears than those which we intended. We may expect that
when we teach one thing which is true, they will make us out to have
stated another which is false. But let us not be overwhelmed by this
fiery trial as though it were some strange thing! Our Lord and Master
has endured it and the servants must not escape it! Therefore endure
hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ and be not afraid! Amid the
din of these lies and perjuries, I hear the still small voice of a
Truth of God most precious, for like as Jesus stood for us at the bar
and they could not cause an accusation to abide upon Him, so when we
shall stand in Him at the Last Great Day, washed in His blood and
covered with His righteousness, we, too, shall be clear!

"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" If Satan should
appear as the accuser of the Brethren, he will be met by the voice,
"The Lord rebuke you, O Satan, even the Lord that has chosen Jerusalem
rebuke you!" "Is not this a brand plucked out of the burning?" Yes,
Beloved, we, too, shall be cleared of slander. Then shall the righteous
shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father! The glorious
righteousness of Him who was falsely accused shall deliver the saints
and all iniquity shall stop her mouth!

III. But I must not dwell too long even on such themes as these and,
therefore, I pass on to THE PERSONAL INTERROGATION which followed upon
the failure to bring forward witnesses. The High Priest, too indignant
to sit still, rises and stands over the Prisoner like a lion roaring
over his prey and begins to question Him again. It was an unrighteous
thing to do. Should the judge who sits to administer law set himself to
prove the prisoner guilty? Or, what is worse, shall he try to extort a
confession from the accused which may be used against him? It was a
tacit confession that Christ had been proven innocent up till then.

The High Priest would not have needed to draw something out of the
accused One if there had been sufficient material against Him
elsewhere. The trial had been a dead failure up to that point and he
knew it! And he was red with rage. Now he attempts to bully the
Prisoner that he may extract some declaration from Him which may save
all further trouble of witnesses and end the matter. The question was
forced home by a solemn adjuration and it effected its purpose, for the
Lord Jesus did speak, though He knew that He was, thereby, furnishing a
weapon against Himself. He felt under bond to answer the High Priest of
His people when He used such adjuration, evil man as that High Priest
was. And He could not draw back from a charge so solemn lest He should
seem, by His silence, to deny the truth upon which the salvation of the
world is made to hinge.

So when the High Priest asked Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the
Blessed?" How distinctly and outspoken was the Master's reply. Though
He knew that His death would thus be compassed, He witnessed a good
confession. He plainly said, "I am," and then He added to that
declaration, "You shall see the Son of Man"–so He brings out His
humanity as well as His Deity–"sitting on the right hand of power and
coming in the clouds of Heaven." What a majestic faith! It is wonderful
to think that He should be so calm as to confront His mockers and
assert His Glory while He was in the depths of shame! He did as good as
say, "You sit as My judges, but I shall soon sit as your Judge! I seem
to you to be an insignificant peasant, but I am the Son of the Blessed!
You think that you will crush Me, but you never will, for I shall
speedily sit at the right hand of the power of God and come in the
clouds of Heaven."

He speaks boldly, as well became Him. I admire the meekness that could
be silent. I admire the meekness that could speak gently, but I still
wonder more at the meekness that could speak courageously and still be
meek! Somehow or other, when we awaken ourselves to courage, we let in
harshness in the same door, or if we shut out our anger, we are very
apt to forget our firmness. Jesus never slays one virtue to make room
for another. His Character is complete, full-

orbed, perfect, whichever way we look at it. And surely, Brothers and
Sisters, this must have brought another sweet consolation to our divine
Master's heart. While smarting under that cruel blow; while writhing
under those filthy accusations; while enduring such contradiction of
sinners against Himself, He must have felt satisfied from within in the
consciousness of His Sonship and His power–and in the prospect of His
Glory and triumph!

A well of water springs up within His soul as He foresees that He shall
sit at the right hand of God and that He shall judge the quick and the
dead and vindicate His redeemed. It is a wise thing to have these
consolations always ready to hand. The enemy may not see their
consolatory power, but we see it. To us, from beneath the altar, there
issues forth a stream whose gentle flow supplies our spirits with a
quiet gladness such as all earth's waters can never rival. Even now we
also hear the Father say, "I am your shield and your exceeding great
reward." Notice, before we pass away from this point, that,
practically, the trial and the interrogation ended in our Lord's being
condemned because of His avowal of His Deity. They said, "You have
heard the blasphemy: what do you think? And they all condemned Him to
be guilty of

death."

I cannot make out at all those people who call themselves Unitarians
and deny our Lord's Deity. Unitarians we also are, for we believe in
one God, and only one God–but they tell us that this blessed Christ,
our Master, is not God! And yet they admit that He was the most
excellent of men, the most perfect of human beings! I cannot see it
myself. He seems to me to be a blasphemer and nothing else, if He is
not God–and the Jews evidently held that opinion and treated Him
accordingly. If he had not said that God was His Father, they would not
have been so enraged against Him. They put Him to death because of the
assertion of His Deity–and the declaration that He would sit at the
right hand of power and judge the world.

Today multitudes are willing to take Christ as a teacher, but they will
not have Him as the Son of God. I do not doubt that the Christian
religion might be received in many places if it were shorn of its
Strength–if, in fact, its very soul and heart were torn out of it by
setting forth Jesus as one of the Prophets and nothing more. Hear how
our wise men talk of Him as one of a line of great reformers, such as
Moses, Samuel, Elijah–and they often add Confucius and Mohammed. Do we
give place to this? No, not for an instant! He is verily the Son of the
Blessed. He is Divine or false! The accusation of blasphemy must lie
against Him if He is not the Son of the Highest!

IV. We must now pass on and linger for a second or two over THE
CONDEMNATION. They condemned Him out of His own mouth–but this, while
it wore the semblance of justice, was really unjust. The Prisoner at
the bar has affirmed that He is the Son of God. What next? May He not
speak the truth? If it is the truth, He must not be condemned, but
adored! Justice requires that an enquiry be made as to whether He is
the Christ, the Son of the Blessed, or not. He has claimed to be the
Messiah. Very well, all those in the court are expecting the
Messiah–some of them expect Him to appear very speedily. May not this
be the Sent One of the Lord?

Let an enquiry be made into His claims! What is His lineage? Where was
He born? Have any Prophets attested Him? Has He worked miracles? Some
such enquiries are due to any man whose life is at stake! You cannot
justly condemn a man to die without examining into the truth of his
defense, for it may turn out that his statements are correct. But, no,
they will not hear the Man they hate! The mere claim condemns Him–it
is blasphemy and He must die. He says He is the Son of God. Come, then,
Caiaphas and council, call for witnesses for the defense! Enquire
whether blind eyes have been opened and the dead raised up! Ask whether
He has worked miracles such as no man ever worked in the midst of
Israel throughout all time! Why not do this? O no, He must be taken
from prison and from judgment–and none shall declare His generation.
The less enquiry the more easy to condemn Him unjustly!

He has said He is the Christ and the Son of God–He is therefore guilty
of death. Alas, how many there are who condemn Christ's doctrine
without making due enquiries into it–condemn it on the most trivial
grounds! They come to hear a sermon and perhaps find fault with the
mannerism of the preacher, as if that were sufficient reason for
denying the Truth of God which he preaches! Or else they say, "This is
so strange–we cannot believe it." Why not? Are not strange things
sometimes true and is not many a truth wondrously strange until you get
familiar with it? These men will not condescend to hear Christ's proof
of claim–they will make no enquiry! In this, like the Jewish priests,
they practically cry, "Away with Him! Away with Him!"

He is condemned to die and the High Priest tears his clothes. I do not
know whether he wore, at that time, the robes in which he ministered,
but doubtless he wore some garb peculiar to his sacerdotal office–and
this he tore. Oh, how

significant! The house of Aaron and the tribe of Levi had their
garments torn and the Temple, within a few hours, tore its veil from
the top to the bottom–for priests and temple were, alike, abolished!
They little knew it, but in all they did there was a singular
significance–those torn garments were an index of the fact that now
the Aaronic priesthood was forever torn–and the great Melchisedec
priesthood had come in, for the true Melchisidec, then and there, stood
before them in all the majesty of His patience!

Observe that they were all agreed. There was no dissention–they had
taken care, I have no doubt–not to let Nico-demus and Joseph of
Arimathaea know anything about this meeting of theirs. They held it in
the night and they only rehearsed it in the early morning for the sake
of keeping their old Rabbinical Law that they must try prisoners by
daylight. They hurried up the trial and any that might have spoken
against their bloodthirsty sentence were kept out of the way. The
assembly was unanimous! Alas for the unanimity of ungodly hearts
against Christ! It is amazing that there should be such quarrels among
Christ's friends and such unity among His foes, when the point is to
put Him to death! I never heard of quarrels among devils, nor did I
ever read of sects or denominations in Hell–they are all one in their
hatred of the Christ and of God!

But here are we split up into sections and parties and often at war
with one another. O Lord of Love, forgive us! King of Concord, come and
reign over us and bring us into a perfect unity around Yourself. The
sentence was "death." I say nothing of it but this. Death was the
sentence due to me, the sentence due to you–and they laid it upon our
Substitute. "Worthy of death"–they said–all of them. All hands were
held up. All voices said, "Yes, yes" to the verdict. Yet there was no
fault in Him! Say rather, there was every excellence in Him! As I hear
Jesus condemned to die, my soul falls at His feet and cries, "Blessed
Lord, now have You taken my condemnation. There is, therefore, none for
me. Now have You taken my cup of death to drink, and from now on it is
dry to me. Glory be to Your blessed name, from now on and forever."

V. I am almost glad that my time is so far advanced, for I must set
before you the fifth and most painful scene. No sooner have these evil
men of the Sanhedrin pronounced Him guilty of death, than the servants,
the guards and those that kept the High Priests' hall, eager to please
their masters, and all touched with the same brute-like spirit which
was in them, straightway began to abuse the Infinite Majesty of our
Lord. Consider THE ABUSE. Let me read the words– "Some began to spit
on Him." "Began to spit on Him!" Thus was contempt expressed more
effectively than by words. Be astonished, O heavens, and be horribly
afraid! His face is the Light of the universe! His Person is the Glory
of Heaven– and they "began to spit on Him!"

' Alas, my God, that man should be so base! Some went further and they,
"covered His face." It is an Eastern custom to cover the face of the
condemned, as if they were not fit to see the light, nor fit to behold
their fellow men. I know not whether, for this reason, or in pure
mockery, they covered His face so that they could not see it, and He
could not see them. How could they thus put out the sun and shut up
bliss? Then when all was dark to Him, we read that they began to say,
"Prophesy, Who is he that struck You?" Then another did the same and
many were the cruel cuffs they laid about His blessed face. The
mediaeval writers delighted to talk about the teeth that were broken,
the bruises on the checks, the blood which flowed, the flesh that was
bruised and blackened–but we dare not thus imagine.

Scripture has cast a veil and there let it abide. Yet it must have been
an awful sight to see the Lord of Glory with His face stained by their
accursed spit and bruised with their cruel fists. Here insult and
cruelty were combined–ridicule of His prophetic claims and dishonor to
His Divine Person. Nothing was thought bad enough. They invented all
they could of shame and scorn–and He stood patient–though a single
flash of His eyes would have consumed them in a moment! Brothers,
Sisters, this is what our sin deserved! A shameful thing are you, O
Sin! You deserve to be spit upon! This is what sin is constantly doing
to Christ! Whenever you and I sin, we do, as it were, spit in His face.
We also hide His eyes by trying to forget that He sees us and we also
hit Him whenever we transgress and grieve His Spirit.

Talk not of cruel Jews. Let us think of ourselves and let us be humbled
by the thought! This is what the ungodly world is always doing to our
blessed Master. They also would hide His eyes which are the Light of
the world. They also despise His Gospel and spit upon it as an utterly
worn out and worthless thing. They also do despite to the members of
His body through His poor afflicted saints who have to bear slander and
abuse for His dear sake. And yet over all this I seem to see a light
most blessed. Christ must be spit upon, for He has taken our sin.
Christ must be tortured, for He is standing in our place. Who is to be
the executioner of all this grief? Who shall take upon himself the
office of putting

Christ to shame? Our redemption was being worked out this way–who
shall be the judge to perform this miserable work?

Fling in the clusters richer than the grapes of Eshcol! Fling them in,
but who shall tread them out and laboriously extract the wine, the
generous wine which cheers God and man? The feet shall be the willing
feet of Christ's own adver-saries–they shall extort from Him that
which shall redeem us and destroy all evil! I rejoice to see Satan
outwitted and his malice made to be the means of his own overthrow! He
thinks to destroy Christ and by that deed he destroys himself! He pulls
down evil upon his own head and falls into the pit which he has dug.
Thus shall all evil always work for the good of the Lord's people! Yes,
their greatest good shall often come out of that which threatened their
ruin and worked in them the utmost anguish. Three days must the Christ
suffer and die and lie in the grave. But after that He must bruise the
serpent's head and lead captivity captive! And that by the means of the
very suffering and shame which He is now enduring! In the same manner
shall it happen to His mystical body and Satan shall be bruised under
our feet shortly.

I leave this subject, hoping that you will pursue it in your
meditations, Here are three observations. First, how ready should we be
to bear slander and ridicule for Jesus' sake. Do not get into a huff
and think it a bad thing that people should mock you. Who are you, dear
Brothers and Sisters? Who are you? What can you be if compared with
Christ? If they spat upon Him, why should they not spit upon you? If
they buffeted Him, why should they not buffet you? Shall your Master
have all the rough of it? Shall He have all the bitter and you all the
sweet? A pretty soldier, you, to demand better fare than your Captain!

How earnestly, next, ought we to honor our dear Lord. If men were so
eager to put Him to shame, let us be 10 times more earnest to bring Him
glory! Is there anything we can do, today, by which He may be honored?
Let us set about it! Can we make any sacrifice? Can we perform any
difficult task which would glorify Him? Let us not deliberate, but at
once do it with all our might! Let us be inventive in modes of
glorifying Him, even as His adversaries were ingenious in the methods
of His shame.

Lastly, how surely and how sweetly may all who believe in Him come and
rest their souls in His hands. Surely know that He who suffered this,
since He was verily the Son of the Blessed, must have ability to save
us! Such griefs must be a full atonement for our transgressions! Glory
be to God, that spit on His face means a clear, bright face for me!
Those false accusations on His Character mean no condemnation for me!
That putting Him to death proves the certainty of our text last Sunday
morning, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believes on Me has
everlasting life."

Let us sweetly rest in Jesus and if ever our faith is agitated, let us
get away to the hall of Caiaphas and see the Just standing for the
unjust, the Faultless One bearing condemnation for sinners! Let us, in
the High Priest's hall, judge and condemn every sin and every
doubt–and come forth glorying that the Christ has conquered for
us–and that we now wait with delight for His appearing! God bless you,
Brothers and Sisters, for Christ's sake. Amen.
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Our Lord's First Appearance before Pilate