Caiphas, the High Priest of that year. Annas questioned[1] Jesus concerning His disciples and His doctrine. Jesus calmly told him that He had spoken openly[2], and he might question those who had heard Him. Then one of the servants who stood by gave Jesus a blow[3], saying: “Answerest thou the High Priest so?” Jesus meekly[4] replied: “If I have spoken ill, give testimony of the evil; but if well, why strikest thou Me?”
Annas sent Jesus bound to Caiphas[5], who had meanwhile assembled the Great Council of the Jews. Now he and the whole council would willingly have found some pretext for putting Jesus to death; but they could find none, although many false witnesses[6] had appeared against Him.
At last there came two false witnesses who affirmed that they had heard Jesus saying He would destroy the Temple, and after three days build it up again. But they still contradicting each
- ↑ Questioned. Although he had no authority to put the questions. His interrogation was, moreover, superfluous, as both the disciples and doctrine of Jesus must have been well known to him.
- ↑ Openly. Our Blessed Lord attempted no defence; He merely appealed to the many impartial witnesses before whom He had openly preached.
- ↑ A blow. Annas, who hated our Lord, allowed this man’s brutal conduct to pass without even reproof.
- ↑ Meekly. In order to bring the ruffian to a sense of his injustice.
- ↑ To Caiphas. Annas was in a great dilemma, for he could not answer our Lord’s calm words; and, moreover, he had no authority to pass sentence on Him. The only thing he could do was to have our Blessed Lord’s bonds replaced, and send Him to Caiphas, at whose house part of the Sanhedrin had assembled as soon as the news of the capture of Jesus had reached its members. It was now about three o’clock in the morning, yet the chief priests and Pharisees were but too willing to give up their night’s rest in order to gratify their hatred of Jesus.
- ↑ False witnesses. They had already made up their minds to put Jesus to death, but they called witnesses in order to preserve some appearance of justice, and to enable them to pass a legal sentence; for, by the Jewish law, sentence of death might not be pronounced unless the offence of the accused were proved by the unanimous testimony of at least two witnesses. If the testimony of witnesses did not agree, the evidence was adjudged false (see the story of Susanna, Old Test. LXXVI).
