Courage - Before Caiaphas
Matthew 26:57-68; Luke 22:54-55, 63-71; John 18:13-14, 19-24
'Many witnesses told lies against Jesus but their stories did not
agree'.
At the High Priest's house, a rough sort of court hearing was going
on. Some men stood up and told lies about Jesus, misinterpreting - accidentally
or on purpose - things he had said. The crunch came when Jesus was asked if he
was the Messiah, the Son of God. 'Yes', he said, opening himself to a charge of
blasphemy. The crowd were furious. Meanwhile outside, Peter, overcome with
nerves, had told several people that he did not know Jesus. And so he fulfilled
the prophecy Jesus had made at the last supper, that Peter would deny knowing
him three times that very night.
Why did Peter
deny knowing Jesus? Would the fact that Jesus predicted this event make Peter
feel better or worse?
When Caiaphas asked Jesus if he was King of the Jews it was really a trick
question. The authorities had been against Jesus for some time. Why might that
be? You can find clues in gospel stories such as Mark 2:23-28, about picking
ears of grain on the sabbath.
© Culham
College Institute 1998
