Jesus in the High Priest's court
Tests for Jesus at night
The High Priest 's court did not obey the Jewish law
The men took Jesus to Annas. Annas had been the
Jesus and Caiaphas
Then the men took Jesus to Caiaphas. Caiaphas became the
The
Peter denies Jesus
While this was going on, Peter had been able to get near the court. He was outside, in the yard. He watched what was happening. First, a servant girl came. She said to him, ’You also were with Jesus.‘ Peter denied it. Then Peter went out to the gate. Another girl saw him, and said, ’This man was with Jesus.‘ Peter swore and denied it. Then the people who were near him spoke. They recognised his accent. So, they knew that he was from Galilee. Peter denied it, and even cursed himself. At that moment, Jesus looked straight at Peter. Peter went out and wept bitterly. He had promised to be loyal to Jesus always. Now Peter had denied that he knew Jesus. After Jesus came alive again, he would meet with Peter. And Jesus would forgive Peter.
The meeting of the Jewish leaders
When the next day began, the Jewish leaders met together. They approved of the events during the night, although those events had not been legal. The Jews could have killed Jesus themselves. They could have thrown stones at him, as they did to Stephen later. But the Jews wanted to
The death of Judas
At some time early on that day, Judas regretted what he had done. He did not
But now, the Jewish rulers had Jesus as their prisoner.
Laws that the High Priest 's court did not obey
The Jewish leaders were proud that they obeyed the law. But they did not obey their own law when they arrested Jesus. It seems that they broke all these laws:
- You must not decide about a prisoner‘s punishment if he is not present – Matthew 26:3-4.
- If you make men tell lies as witnesses, you should die – Matthew 26:59-62.
- You must not kill a prisoner on the first day when he is in court.
- Annas asked Jesus questions without any witnesses. This was not legal – John 18:19-24.
- The court should not have happened at night. This was not legal – Matthew 27:1.
- To go to the
High Priest was not legal – Matthew 26:63.
Everything that the Jewish leaders did was wrong.
The Jews probably had power to kill Jesus, as they did Stephen (Acts 7). But they wanted the Romans to share the blame. They also probably wanted Jesus to die by crucifixion. They did not have the power to order this. Only the Romans could order crucifixion.