Peter follows at a distance into the courtyard and sits with the guards 58"to see the end." Inside, the council looks for testimony against Jesus. Many false witnesses come forward, and 60"they found none" that would do. At last two say that Jesus claimed he could destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. The charge twists something Jesus said, when the temple he meant was his own body (John 2:19-21). The law required careful examination of testimony and gave a false witness the penalty he sought for the accused (Deuteronomy 19:16-21). The council presses on anyway, because the verdict was settled before the witnesses were called.
The high priest stands and demands an answer: 62"Have you no answer to make?" Jesus has an answer, and he will give it at the moment of his choosing. Through all of it, 63"Jesus remained silent." Isaiah had pictured it centuries earlier: like a sheep before its shearers, he does not open his mouth (Isaiah 53:7). Jesus declines to argue with charges whose purpose is already decided.
He breaks his silence for one question. Caiaphas puts him under oath: 63"I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus answers 64"You have said so," and then he says what no one in the room expected. His answer joins two Scriptures. One is Daniel's vision of a figure like a son of man who receives everlasting dominion (Daniel 7:13-14). The other is David's psalm of the Lord seated at God's right hand (Psalm 110:1), the psalm Jesus had used against the Pharisees in the temple only days before (Matthew 22:41-46). He states plainly, to the one court with the power to kill him for it, who he is. The words from now on mean the reversal begins tonight.
The high priest tears his robes and says 65"He has uttered blasphemy." The council answers 66"He deserves death." Then they spit in his face and strike him, and some slap him, demanding 68"Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?" They ask for a party trick from the mouth that has just described the real future, including their own reckoning.
Everyone in that room believes Jesus' fate is in their hands. He tells them, under oath, that the roles will be reversed: the one they condemn will be seen seated at the right hand of Power. That would be terror for anyone in Caiaphas's place, except for what Jesus is about to do with the sentence. He takes the court's verdict willingly, so that everyone who trusts him can stand before that throne already forgiven.
Meanwhile Peter is watching from the courtyard, and the next scene will show what watching from a distance costs.
Read his answer to Caiaphas as an invitation. Run to the Son of Man now, while the one who will be judge is the one who is asking you to come.
Prayer
Father, we confess how easily we judge Christ by our own standards when we ought to tremble before his. Thank you that he stayed silent under false accusation so that our guilt could be answered. Help us take him at his word about who he is, the Son of Man seated at your right hand, and to run to him now, before we stand before him unprepared. In Jesus' name, amen.