185. Luke 22:63-71 THE MOCKERY AND TRIAL OF JESUS BY THE JEWS Introduction: In our text last week Simon Peter denied the Lord three times. Then he wept bitterly in repentance toward God. In our text today, Jesus is mocked and beaten by the Jews and tried by the Jewish Sanhedrin Council. I. The three hearings of Jesus before the Jews In the process of bringing Jesus to trial and condemnation there were actually six separate hearings. The first three were before the Jews and the last three were before the Romans. The first hearing was held during the night as soon as the arresting party arrived back in Jerusalem with Jesus. This hearing was before Annas, the former high priest. The chief purpose of this hearing was that the older and more experienced Annas could question Jesus and try to get Jesus to say something that could be used against Him. Jesus solved that problem very easily. He just said nothing. A second purpose was to give Caiaphas, the present high priest, time to notify some of the members of the Sanhedrin Council to come to his palace for an emergency session. The second hearing was before Caiaphas the high priest and at least some of the members of the Sanhedrin Council. This hearing, too, was held long before daylight. Special messengers had to be sent to the homes to the Sanhedrin members notifying them to come immediately to the home of Caiaphas. We can be sure that no messengers were sent to the homes of Nicodemus and Joseph of Aramathia, who were Council members. Caiaphas would not want any Council members present whom he knew to be favorable toward Jesus. In this session, false witness were chosen from the temple guards and temple servants who testified against Jesus. Jesus was then questioned by Caiaphas, the high priest. When He was asked if He is the Son of God He acknowledged that He is. The Council then pronounced Him to be worthy of death on the grounds of blasphemy. They assumed that because He claimed to be the Son of God that He was guilty of blasphemy. They gave no consideration to the possibility that He just might be the Son of God. This second hearing was the hearing that was taking place during that time when Simon Peter was denying the Lord. Perhaps you will recall that in verse 59 of our text last Sunday it was said that the second denial by Simon Peter took place about an hour after the first one. That hour was but a part of the time consumed in the hearing of Jesus before the Sanhedrin Council. At any rate, the verdict of that hearing was that Jesus was worthy of death, but there was a problem. The Jews could not administer the death penalty. If they really wanted Jesus put to death, they would have to bring Jesus before the Roman governor and see if they could persuade him that Jesus was worthy of death. That would have to wait until morning and they would also have to bring Jesus again before the Sanhedrin the next morning before going to the governor. You see, even though they had already reached a verdict that Jesus was worthy of death, they could not make an official verdict in a night-time court session. They must have another hearing to make it official. So the third hearing before the Jews came very shortly after daylight. The Council members who had pronounced Him worthy of death were already present and anxious for daylight to arrive. They were anxious to get their "guilty" verdict made official so that Jesus could be carried to the Romans. This would be the third and final hearing of Jesus before the Jews. Luke says nothing about the first hearing which took place before Annas, the former high priest. Neither does he say anything about the second hearing which took place at night time. What Luke does tell us about is the terrible mockery and beating which the Jews gave Jesus after the second hearing and before the third hearing. II. The mockery and beating which followed the second hearing After the second hearing was over and Jesus was pronounced worthy of death, the officials turned Jesus over to the temple guards to keep in custody until the morning hearing. Listen to what Luke says they did to Jesus. V. 63, "And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him." This would be the temple guards and their captains. It is very likely that they were also joined by the servants of some of the priests and councilmen. Perhaps even a few of the Council members themselves joined in the mockery. . It was a cruel and torturous event. In addition to the physical pain there was the mental cruelty -- the mockery. Matthew says also that they spit in His face. You will need to remember that what these men were doing was having a good time. Luke does not give us a sound tract, and so you need to imagine their laughter and all manner of insulting remarks. When someone would hit Jesus they would all laugh. When someone would say something especially insulting, they would all laugh. V. 64, "And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?" Then they would all laugh hilariously. V. 65, "And many other things blasphemously spake they against him." Each time they would all laugh. I really do not know how long this beating and this mockery lasted, but I am convinced that it lasted until daylight and the officials sent for Jesus to be brought once again before the Sanhedrin Council. III. The third hearing before the Jews V. 66, "And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying..." Can you even begin to imagine how exhausted Jesus must have been when He entered into that third and final hearing before the Jews? You would expect Him to be confused and bewildered, but not so. He was very mentally alert and very much in charge of affairs. In this final hearing, there were no witnesses brought against Jesus. Otherwise, this hearing proceeded pretty much the same as the night session. Luke says that they questioned Jesus. Other writers say that it was Caiaphas, the high priest, who actually did the questioning. The questions were the same as those asked in the earlier session. V. 67 "Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe." According to Matthew's account in the earlier session this question about being the Christ was combined with the one about being the Son of God. In that earlier session Caiaphas asked both questions at once and Jesus answered them both at once. However, according to Luke, in this third session, Caiaphas separated his question about being the Christ from the one about being the Son of God. Therefore, there is a difference in the response which Jesus gave. When Caiaphas asked, "Are you the Christ?" Jesus did not at directly answer either "Yes" or "No." Instead, He said, "If I tell you, ye will not believe." This implies that if He were to answer, He would say "Yes." How true! John the Baptist had told them plainly that Jesus is the Christ and they did not believe John. Jesus, Himself, had told them earlier in the second hearing that He is the Christ, and they did not believe Him then. If He should tell them again, they still would not believe Him. V. 68, "And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go." Jesus said, "You are asking me questions and you expect me to answer you. If I were to turn the tide and start asking you questions, you would not answer me. Neither would you let me go." But then He does answer them indirectly. V. 69, "Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God." The term, Son of man, is a term which the Jews frequently used with reference to the Christ. Let me paraphrase what Jesus said to them. He said, "You are going to see for yourselves one of these days if I am the Christ. You are going to see the Christ as He sits at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. You refuse now to believe that I am the Christ. You will see for yourselves and then you will know for a certainty whether or not I am the Christ." But the questioning continues. His statement about sitting on the right hand of God led them to believe that He was inferring that He is not only the Christ, but also the very Son of God. So they pursue this point with a question. V. 70, "Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God?..." Caiaphas probably worded this question, but they all chimed in urging Him to answer. They had all heard His answer to this same question in the unofficial hearing before daylight, but that was unofficial. What they wanted was for Him to lay claim once more to being the Son of God in this official hearing. This would be all they would want. They must have been on pins and needles waiting for His answer. If He again stated that He is the Son of God, they would have Him just where they wanted Him. -----Well, almost. They would at least be able to pronounce the death penalty upon Him under a charge that almost all Jews would accept and they would not be in hot water with the multitudes. (V. 70), "...And he said unto them, Ye say that I am." Don't let the old English trip you up right here. Jesus is not saying, "You are the ones who claim I am the Son of God." That would have been contrary to truth. They did not claim that He is the Son of God. To the contrary, they denied that He is the Son of God. What Jesus is saying here is: "You said it right. That is just exactly what I am. I am the Son of God." V. 71, "And they said, What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth." They had not only heard Him claim to be the Messiah, the Christ, which they most certainly did not believe. But now they had also heard Him lay claim to being the Son of God. They considered this to be the very worst kind of blasphemy. Now what I want you to see is that this was not simply a matter of mistaken judgment on their part. It was not merely a matter making a mistake and failing to understand that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. It was a matter of refusing to believe that He is the Christ, the Son of God. The life and ministry of John the Baptist plus the life and ministry of Jesus, plus the fulfilled prophecies of the Old Testament, was much more than enough to convince any honest thinker. But the problem with these men was a willful rejection of the truth. It was a refusal to believe the truth though it had been convincingly presented to them. Jesus had now appeared before the Jewish Sanhedrin Council two times. On each occasion they have reached the same verdict. Their verdict both times was that Jesus is not the Christ as He claims to be. According to them Jesus is not the Son of God as He claims to be, but is a blasphemer and is worthy of death. IV. The verdict that each man must make Yet try as they may, the Sanhedrin Council cannot make the decision for all men. They cannot make the decision for me and they cannot make it for you. This is a decision that each man, woman, boy and girl must make. What do you think about Jesus? Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ of God or do you believe that He is a blasphemer and worthy of death? Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God as He claims to be, or do you believe that He is a blasphemer? Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior of men as the Bible claims Him to be, or do you believe that He is a fake, a hoax, a blasphemer? But let me point this out to you. If you reject the idea that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, you will also have to reject the Bible, because the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Let me tell you what I believe. From my earlier childhood I accepted the idea that Jesus is the Christ. I heard it from my elders and I believed it to be the truth. Likewise, I accepted the idea that Jesus is the Son of God. I heard it preached from the Bible, I was told that it was true, and I accepted it as the truth. I never challenged that idea. However, it was not until I was sixteen years old that I accepted the idea that Jesus could save my soul and keep me out of hell. To be frank with you, I had trouble believing that. I had grown up with the idea that you had to work your way to heaven. So I had trouble believing that I could just simply call on Jesus and ask Him to be my Savior and He would save me. But anyway, I finally believed it and I finally called on Him and asked Him to keep me out of hell and take me to heaven. When I trusted Jesus, He saved my soul and I can truly saved that Jesus Christ is my Savior. But just as the Sanhedrin Council cannot make the decision for you, neither can I. The choice is up to you. What verdict will you reach? Will you believe the Bible? Will you believe the word of God? Will you believe Jesus Himself? Conclusion: If you truly believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of men, then why not call Him and trust Him to save your soul? Why not call on Him right now and ask Him to keep you out of the fires of hell? Why not call on Him and ask Him to take you to heaven when you die? We are going to have an invitation hymn and I am going to ask you to come and place your faith in Jesus Christ.