The Passion According to St. Matthew Part V
Jesus before Caiaphas; Peter's Denial
Read: Matthew 26:57-75
As Jesus is taken before Caiaphas the High Priest, Matthew gives us a long shot of Peter following at a distance, going as far as the High Priest's courtyard. It is clear that in Peter's mind he has not given up on Jesus. There is no indication that any of the other disciples were with him or followed along. Peter is a solitary figure. His presence is ambivalent, though. On the one hand, he surely sees himself as continuing to follow Jesus, literally. On the other, he makes no show of who is he is. He is incognito, as it were. It is only when a servant girl recognizes him that he flips into self-preservation mode and denies he was with Jesus. Three times, he protests, even when he is called out for his Galilean accent. It is clear that in his own mind, he did not think he was being faithless, he was still following his master. But then the cock crowed and the arrow pierces his heart. He has done exactly what Jesus predicted he would do. And he wept bitterly.
The faithlessness of Peter can be contrasted with the faithfulness of Jesus. He is brought before Caiaphas, without guilt and above reproach. The elders look for those who might testify against him. In their plot to silence him they were willing to take false testimony, but it was difficult to find any who would testify against him. Finally a couple of individuals present themselves with evidence that would condemn him to death. He had threatened to destroy the Temple. To this charge, Jesus remained silent. Of course, we know that he was speaking in metaphorical terms when he talked about the destruction of the Temple, but he was not prepared to get into that now. Then the High Priest asked him directly if he was the Messiah, the Son of God. Messiahs were a "dime-a-dozen" breed in the Second Temple period. The authorities were used to rounding up such charlatans as insurrectionaries and disturbers of the peace. This would be an ideal charge to condemn him on, if he would admit it. But even at that, Jesus remains defiant and in typical fashion throws his words back at him, "You have said so." The High Priest must have been exasperated, but then Jesus throws him a bone and quotes a passage from Daniel with messianic overtones, "But I tell you, 'from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.'" Enraged, the High Priest believes he has caught him. He has blasphemed! The kangaroo court comes to an abrupt verdict of death when Caiaphas exclaims triumphantly, "what further need have we of witnesses?!" Jesus is then struck and mocked.
The interesting thing in all of this is that it is not quite evident that Jesus has blasphemed. If Jesus had used the name of God when quoting Daniel he would have blasphemed, but cleverly he uses the stand-in word "Power", rather than the Divine Name. Jesus is unimpeachable in his faithfulness, and yet he is still condemned.
This is the point, though. Jesus' sentence is unfair, it is unjust, it is unlawful. Back at the last supper he said that his blood would be poured out for the forgiveness of sins. It is now clear that he is the perfect sacrifice, without sin. I am reminded of the recollection of the Last Supper in the Eucharistic prayer in the Elizabethan prayer book, "Almighty God our heavenly Father, which of they tender mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ, to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption; who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the who world..." (Book of Common Prayer 1559, John Booty, ed., p. 263). The importance of Jesus' offering is clearly not to be understated! In the text of Matthew, Jesus is surrounded by faithlessness and human failing - the betrayal of Judas, the scheming and framing of him by the High Priest and Elders, false testimony, the desertion of his followers, Peter's denial. As Jesus stand faithful, without guilt in the midst of so much going wrong, we realize how much we need his faithfulness, for ours is lacking.
This is one of the simple truths that whole of the New Testament wishes to convey: God is faithful. We find this message everywhere, in the gospels, in the letters of Paul, even through to the very last verses of the Book of Revelation. God is faithful. This is not a new message, nor was it a new message for the early Christians. This was consistently proclaimed throughout the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Old Testament. When God seemed distant, voices called out in prayer for God to fulfill his promise of faithfulness. These prayers are found all of the Scriptures, old and new. Again and again, God demonstrates his faithfulness. For us, Jesus is the greatest all examples - faithful unto death.
In these times, when our faith may be under profound pressure to crack, we may wish to reflect on the faithfulness of God in past times in our lives. One of the purposes of Scripture is to recount the faithfulness of God when times are trying. That is why Jews continue to celebrate the Passover and tell the story again and again. That is why Christians continue to celebrate the mystery of Easter every Sunday and in particular during this spring-time season. We must remind ourselves that God is faithful, even when the world is not, and even when we are not, and God's faithfulness is enough. It will restore us when all seems lost.
I invite you to reflect on how God has been faithful in your life, in difficult times, and look for signs of his faithfulness in the present moment. Please fell free to share you thoughts below, and share your stories of God's faithfulness with friends and family during this challenging time.
The faithlessness of Peter can be contrasted with the faithfulness of Jesus. He is brought before Caiaphas, without guilt and above reproach. The elders look for those who might testify against him. In their plot to silence him they were willing to take false testimony, but it was difficult to find any who would testify against him. Finally a couple of individuals present themselves with evidence that would condemn him to death. He had threatened to destroy the Temple. To this charge, Jesus remained silent. Of course, we know that he was speaking in metaphorical terms when he talked about the destruction of the Temple, but he was not prepared to get into that now. Then the High Priest asked him directly if he was the Messiah, the Son of God. Messiahs were a "dime-a-dozen" breed in the Second Temple period. The authorities were used to rounding up such charlatans as insurrectionaries and disturbers of the peace. This would be an ideal charge to condemn him on, if he would admit it. But even at that, Jesus remains defiant and in typical fashion throws his words back at him, "You have said so." The High Priest must have been exasperated, but then Jesus throws him a bone and quotes a passage from Daniel with messianic overtones, "But I tell you, 'from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.'" Enraged, the High Priest believes he has caught him. He has blasphemed! The kangaroo court comes to an abrupt verdict of death when Caiaphas exclaims triumphantly, "what further need have we of witnesses?!" Jesus is then struck and mocked.
The interesting thing in all of this is that it is not quite evident that Jesus has blasphemed. If Jesus had used the name of God when quoting Daniel he would have blasphemed, but cleverly he uses the stand-in word "Power", rather than the Divine Name. Jesus is unimpeachable in his faithfulness, and yet he is still condemned.
This is the point, though. Jesus' sentence is unfair, it is unjust, it is unlawful. Back at the last supper he said that his blood would be poured out for the forgiveness of sins. It is now clear that he is the perfect sacrifice, without sin. I am reminded of the recollection of the Last Supper in the Eucharistic prayer in the Elizabethan prayer book, "Almighty God our heavenly Father, which of they tender mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ, to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption; who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the who world..." (Book of Common Prayer 1559, John Booty, ed., p. 263). The importance of Jesus' offering is clearly not to be understated! In the text of Matthew, Jesus is surrounded by faithlessness and human failing - the betrayal of Judas, the scheming and framing of him by the High Priest and Elders, false testimony, the desertion of his followers, Peter's denial. As Jesus stand faithful, without guilt in the midst of so much going wrong, we realize how much we need his faithfulness, for ours is lacking.
This is one of the simple truths that whole of the New Testament wishes to convey: God is faithful. We find this message everywhere, in the gospels, in the letters of Paul, even through to the very last verses of the Book of Revelation. God is faithful. This is not a new message, nor was it a new message for the early Christians. This was consistently proclaimed throughout the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Old Testament. When God seemed distant, voices called out in prayer for God to fulfill his promise of faithfulness. These prayers are found all of the Scriptures, old and new. Again and again, God demonstrates his faithfulness. For us, Jesus is the greatest all examples - faithful unto death.
In these times, when our faith may be under profound pressure to crack, we may wish to reflect on the faithfulness of God in past times in our lives. One of the purposes of Scripture is to recount the faithfulness of God when times are trying. That is why Jews continue to celebrate the Passover and tell the story again and again. That is why Christians continue to celebrate the mystery of Easter every Sunday and in particular during this spring-time season. We must remind ourselves that God is faithful, even when the world is not, and even when we are not, and God's faithfulness is enough. It will restore us when all seems lost.
I invite you to reflect on how God has been faithful in your life, in difficult times, and look for signs of his faithfulness in the present moment. Please fell free to share you thoughts below, and share your stories of God's faithfulness with friends and family during this challenging time.
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