Matthew 26:57-68, 57 And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58 But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest's palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end. 59 Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; 60 But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, 61 And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. 62 And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? 63 But Jesus held his peace, And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. 65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. 66 What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. 67 Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, 68 Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?

Today we would like to consider the trial of the Lord Jesus before his own, before his own people and how they examined him. how they legally tried him out. So far, we have almost seen half the journey since it started at the Upper Room. And we have seen how the Lord Jesus has been in complete control of every step of His journey. He has never been taken by surprise. He has never been seen as a victim. And consistently, it has been seen that He is the Son of God. Irrespective of what people try to make things out of him. And this is consistently seen even in the trial. He is tried before his people and then later he is tried before the Gentiles. And this is very special because it's written, He came unto His own and His own did not receive Him. And this is what we will consider today, how His own would not receive Him.

What we'll also consider today is how so many prophecies are being fulfilled in this one incident. As Jeremiah would say, that he has been numbered or he has been valued by his people and this is the value that they would assign to him, 30 pieces of silver. And we will now try to see what that 30 pieces of silver mean in quality, in terms of morals, in terms of value. How do they look at Jesus of Nazareth? At the same time, we will maintain the balance of a God that doesn't change. And that has to be still maintained. He is the same God who at the face of sin banished Adam and Eve from His presence. He is the same God who took care of the holiness of His presence. He is His own protector. He doesn't need anyone to protect His holiness. And so, He has always taken care of how much... how far, how close, how near a sinner can come to Him.

And probably when we read this, we see all of that crumbling. We see all of that balance crumbling. The God who would not allow Moses to step one foot ahead because the ground was holy. A God who would not allow His people to come close to the mountain because He's holy unless they die, not even a beast could touch the mountain. A God who takes the life of someone who unholy holds the Ark of the Covenant, for He needs no one to protect His glory, no one to protect His honour. And we suddenly see all of that being challenged. In verse 57, they laid hold on Jesus for the first time, wicked hands have touched the Lord Jesus. They have always tried to do it, but for the first time it has happened, they laid hands on Jesus. They caught Him, they apprehended Him, they arrested Him. The Gospel of John adds a detail, they bound Him, they tied Him up.

And we have to still maintain the balance that this is still the God of the Old Testament, who wouldn't allow anyone to come close to Him, that even if He were to choose to dwell among His people, He would still allow only once a year, one person, after having offered sacrifice for his own sin, to approach him. It is with such holiness, with such fierceness, he has protected his presence, that there is no one who could ascend to the holy hill of God. Now all of that is crumbling, that hedge is crumbling, that boundary is crumbling. There is no more of difference, there is no more of separation. Unholy hands, sinful hands, have for the first time held the Lord Jesus. For the first time they have apprehended Him. For the first time they have touched Him with evil desires. For the first time they have bound Him, they have tied Him, and they are leading Him as a sheep is led to a slaughterhouse. So the first time all of that crumbles, or the first time sinful men touch a holy cord. It's important to see where the trial takes place.

It's written over here, they led him to Caiaphas. But John's Gospel adds one more detail that they first led him to Annas, and then Annas bound him and sent him to Caiaphas. So, there were two trials, in fact. First trial happened at Annas. Now, Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas. Annas was first the high priest. and then when he resigned, he allowed his son-in-law to come into that place. So, Annas was the high priest or the ex-high priest. The Lord Jesus was led first to the palace of Annas and we don't know what transpired there. The most we know is that he just went there bound and Annas delivered him to Caiaphas. And this, in a way, talks about the whole nexus of wickedness that was in the place. You see, as a high priest, a high priest can't get his hands dirty. He would be the last person to send someone to kill.

He would be the last person to send someone for blood. But there is someone else, a henchman, a person who is behind the high priest, his own father-in-law, Anas, the dirty guy who gets dirty jobs done. He is the one who is ready to get his hands dirty. Who is the one ready to do all the unholy things? and absolve the high priest. At the same time, Anas enjoys the fact that he is no longer a high priest. So he is no longer responsible. He is no longer going to be held accountable for his actions because he is no more going to be bound by the conduct of a high priest. So there is always a dirty person to get the dirty job done on behalf of the high priest. And so Anas stands behind the high priest. He is the one who directs. He is the one who actually wields power. He is the one who actually has authority. Caiaphas at the end of the day is just someone on paper. Annas is the henchman.

He's the one who sends people to get Christ. Christ first comes to Annas. Annas gets him bound up and sends him to Caiaphas. Let's look at the people to which the Lord comes. In verse 57, it says that, The day that had laid hold on Jesus, led him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. And verse 59, now the chief priest and elders and all the council, is specifically the Sanhedrin. When we read the council, it means the Sanhedrin. Sanhedrin means a group of Jewish judges. They were 70 in number. That's why the name Sanhedrin. 70 judges, elders, chief priests, high priests, all of them have gathered to try the Lord Jesus. Sanhedrin were the judges of the Jewish people. They were the people that wielded power and they sat in the place of Moses. And we could add in the Pharisees, we could add in the scribes. They all come to try the Lord Jesus.

Now let's first consider the irregularities of this trial, the illegalities of this trial. How illegitimate was this trial that it was in no way just. A pure miscarriage of justice. We read that they gather at the high priest residence, the palace of the high priest. And as per rabbinic traditions, that's never the place where a court assembles. The court never assembles at the place of the high priest. The Sanhedrin never sat at the high priest home. The high priest home was not the court of the land. It was always the temple. And so we see one by one every violation of due process, where every law, every rule and regulation set by their own traditions and cultures is being disregarded for the sake of putting Christ to death. They have gathered at the wrong place. They have gathered at the wrong time because the Lord says to Peter that a cock will crow. And so the cock doesn't crow until its morning. and the cock hasn't cried out when the trial has taken place.

That simple detail tells that all of this was happening in the thick of the night. It was happening right in the middle of dark night. All of them have given up on their sleep. All of them have come and assembled a court to try the Lord Jesus. It hasn't even become dawn. It hasn't become early in the morning. It is still night at the wrong place at the wrong time. They have all gathered to try the Lord Jesus. Most importantly, what are they trying the Lord Jesus for? What is the whole purpose? They said over there in verse 59, they want to put him to death. And this was a matter on which the Sanhedrin had no locus standi. They had no authority. They were in fact trying the Lord Jesus on a matter on which they had no jurisdiction. Sanhedrin was acknowledged by the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire acknowledged the law and the power of Sanhedrin. But that was only for religious matter. It was this basically convenience.

The Romans didn't want to put their head into sensitive religious matters. So they might as well direct all those religious matters to Sanhedrin for it to be resolved. So even when they brought the Lord Jesus to Pilate, Pilate first said, you have a law, you judge him by the law. They wanted to push as much as possible to the Sanhedrin. So Sanhedrin was very much an legal authority of the land, but not in cases of life and death, not in cases of capital punishment, not in cases when they want to charge somebody of death and take somebody's life. In those matters, it was still the Roman Empire. It was still Pilate. It was still Caesar that had authority on that matter. The Sanhedrin had no jurisdiction. They had no business. They had no ethical, no legal, no moral right to try the law of Jesus. They gathered together to put the law of Jesus to death over a matter they had no authority over. They had no jurisdiction. And you see how hastily they get the job done. They're trying to put someone to death.

It's the greatest punishment you can ever give. Death is the greatest punishment law can ever give. And that's not to be given. immediately, that's not to be given just in a matter of few hours, leave alone just overnight, just in the first sitting. But in the very first sitting, they have already concluded that the Lord Jesus is worthy of death. In such haste, they're trying to put Christ to death. In fact, there's a rabbinic tradition that if you want to pronounce somebody not guilty, you could do that in the first sitting. But if you want to pronounce somebody guilty of death, you still need to wait for at least a day and do it the next day. Even their own traditions, they would not follow. They wanted to get the job done. And by the end of the sitting, even before the cock could crow, even before the early dawn could come, they had pronounced the Lord guilty of death. They were hellbound in pronouncing Christ dead and they wanted to do it so fast.

So you see a complete disregard to due process. Unfortunately, whatever they are doing is a circus. It's a kangaroo court. They have no authority. So even if they do pronounce the Lord Jesus worthy of death, that has no value. It has no metal. It has no substance. It is not that just because they pronounce the Lord Jesus worthy of death that the Lord Jesus will be crucified. No, they have to bring him to Pilate. They have to do the whole thing once again before Pilate. Pilate is not going to recognize the conclusion of the Sanhedrin as matters concerning life and death. Whatever they pronounce, whatever they condemn, whatever they convict the sinner of, and they even say he is worthy of death, it's just water. It is no law. It is no judgment. Whatever they are pronouncing has no worth, no value before Pilate. Before Pilate, the next day, they have to do it all over again, start from the scratch. They have to invent the whole wheel again. Whatever they do in this night is of no use in fact. Whatever judgment they pronounce is of no use in fact. There is no gate to the judgment.

And we see again a disregard concerning the due process because they are so hell bound in finding false witness. So they have already premeditated and pre-concluded the judgment. Now they just want someone to fit in. They just want false witnesses to come in. They have already precluded that the Lord Jesus should be crucified, he should be worthy of death. And without an iota of hurt to their own conscience, where it is one of the commandments of the Lord that you should not levy false allegations against your neighbour, without even an iota of hurt to their own conscience, they are searching, that's how it's written, they are searching for false witnesses. They are in look out for false witnesses. They don't want the truth. They want falsehood. They are looking for falsehood to put Christ to death. It's again a disregard to due process because this was a one-sided trial. Did the Lord ever defend Himself? Did the Lord ever give an explanation to His side of the story? Did God have as many witnesses as He could? But did they ever get to hear it of the Lord? Did the Lord stand up to say of Himself?

In fact, they asked the Lord a question and the Lord, before answering the question, said, If I say, you will not believe and if I ask you, you will not answer, neither will you let me go. That's how the Lord looked at the trial. That I am not allowed to speak, if I were to speak, you're not going to listen. There's nothing that I'll speak that will convince you. There's nothing that I'll speak that will make you hear me. And if I were to ask you, there's nothing you're going to return in answer. This was just a one-sided discourse, a one-sided accusation, where the defense was never present. It is just basic judiciary that the worst accused should have someone to defend him. But the Psalmist says the Lord would look to his left and look to his right and there was no one. His acquaintance stood afar of. There was no one to stand for the Lord and leave alone anyone else. He himself was never allowed to speak.

It's a different matter that he stood silent, but he himself as the Lord said that if I were to say, you are not going to listen. A trial that takes place at the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong set of people, with the wrong due process being followed, with no authority and with no locus standing on the matter, with no weight of the judgements, with no legality to the process, with no defense given to the accused, where every single stuff in this whole trial is just a kangaroo court. There's nothing legal about this. Which beckons an important question over here.

Why the trial then? What was the necessity of all of this? If at the end of the day they had to redo it before pilot, if at the end of the day this was a process at wrong place, at wrong time, educating wrong powers, powers that did not exist, giving judgments that had no weight, that had no value, then why even do it? Why bring Christ? Why try the Lord Jesus? Why do it in the middle of the night? Why lose your sleep over it? Why do the Jews consider it so important to try the Lord? If at the end of the day this had absolutely zero value, why go through the pain? Why was it so important for the Jews? Why was it important that this should even happen, that the Lord should be tried among his people? Over here at the... At the background of all of this, you see great hypocrisy among the people. For they were trying to put a veneer of holiness to an evil deed.

John says it this way that the Lord Jesus was brought to Caiaphas, the same person who had prophesied that one man should die on behalf of the nation, lest the whole nation perish. So they were looking at the death of Christ as an evil necessity. They had no grounds to put him to death. But they were saying that this person should die or if he doesn't die, the nation will perish. So it was more about of an evil necessity that had to be done or ought to say in this way, there is a greater evil. The greater evil is that Romans will come and take away the power of the Jews, power of the Romans, power of the high priest. The Romans will take away the power of Jews. They will not have a place. They will not have a nation. That's the greater evil. But the lesser evil. The lesser evil that needs to take place to prevent a greater evil is the death of this person. And that's how they tampered their conscience.

That if we have to preserve our traditions, preserve this temple, preserve this holy priest, preserve the authority of the high priest, preserve this honor that we have, this person should die. It's with such wicked hearts and minds they try to put Christ to death. It's just hypocrisy all over the place. where because the high priest cannot get his hand dirty, he orders someone else to do the dirty job. and they recognize in fact that this is blood money. When Judas came with the money back to the high priests and scribes, they said this is blood money. That's their words. They recognize that this is money given for blood. It's the money they themselves give for the sake of blood. They themselves recognize that this is unholy money and they were so much concerned that this unholy money, this blood money should not end up in the temple. They were least concerned of the fact that it is blood money. They are least concerned with the fact that this blood money came from them. They are least concerned with the fact that it is them asking for blood, that it is they being murderers.

It's a fact that completely missed their eyes, but what they were more concerned with is that this money should not enter the temple. They were majoring on the minors, completely missing the majors. They were so concerned on small things. Hypocrites of the highest level, where they were so concerned that the blood money should not go to the temple. but least concerned of the fact that it is blood money in itself. And so when they bring the Lord Jesus to Pilate, they do not enter the judgment hall. They stand outside. Why? Because they want to still celebrate the Passover. It's hypocrisy at another level. They have broken all kinds of laws overnight to put Christ to death. They have followed no due process. in defending, in accusing Christ, in condemning Christ.

They have broken all kinds of laws of their own book, of their own laws, and yet they still want to maintain the Passover. Yet they still want to celebrate the Passover. What is the... what is the first, the pursuit of small things when they have fallen down so greatly before God's glory? This is a group of people that failed before God. And it is still perplexing to ask, why try the Lord Jesus? Why should they try the Lord Jesus? Why they should examine the Lord Jesus? When they had no moral, no legal reason, no authority to exact a response from the Lord, to examine the Lord, to accuse the Lord, to even pass a judgment of life and death, why still do it?

Well, here are a couple of reasons. Why they still have to do it. It's hypocrisy again, but it was nevertheless a reason for them. They knew that it is the Romans that have to put Christ to death. Nevertheless, the law says that if you accuse somebody of death, and if it is proved to be true, then the accuser, the witnesses, will be the first one to throw the stone. So if they are going to take... the Lord Jesus to pilot. They want to pacify their conscience. They want to pamper their conscience. They know their conscience will never in right sense allow something like this to happen. And the only way they're going to pacify that conscience is to try the Lord before the law of Moses where they are finding reasons to put him to death. Where they are specifically going through the law of Moses on those laws that ask for death penalty.

And if they can prove him guilty before the law of Moses, at least their conscience is taken care of. At least they can go with boldness to pilot. At least they can be assured that they are right before God. At least they can be falsely assured that they are doing service to God because this person is worthy of death. And so if you go to the law of Moses, there are very few instances when a person is worthy of death and where we read that they tried to find many false witnesses. I want to believe here that the only thing that they laid upon the Lord Jesus was not just about the temple that was destroyed in three days and could be made back in three days. That was just one of the things. They might have accused the Lord of horrible things on maybe all counts of the law of Moses that required death penalty.

Starting from adultery, starting from murder, starting from blasphemy, every single thing they might have wanted to put on him, that he's probably a false prophet that needs to be stoned. He's probably someone who has never haunted his parents that needs to be stoned. He's probably an adulterer that needs to be stoned. He's probably a murderer that needs to be stoned. He's probably someone who's against God that needs to be stoned. They might have gotten all possible counts. where it is written they tried to find many false witnesses. And this brings us to the most crucial reason why this is so necessary, though it was so useless, though it had no bearing, though it had no local standee, though it had no authority, still this was so important, it was so necessary because here is a picture of a lamb of God being brought to the high priest of the people and it is of the responsibility of the high priest to examine every sin offering, to examine every sacrifice, to introspect, to examine to the very hair and find if there is a blemish, if this sacrifice is worthy of death.

And so if the Lord Jesus indeed is the Lamb of God that has to be taking away the sins of the world, it is just due process under the law where the High Priest needs to examine this Lamb. And that's what they're doing. They pull apart the pages of the law of Moses trying to find every single count. Whether true witnesses, whether false witnesses, by hook or by crook, they want to find him worthy of death. And it is just they fulfilling the pattern of the scriptures, where if a lamb has to be offered, the lamb has to be introspected, the lamb has to be tried, the lamb has to be tested, the lamb has to be verified, the lamb has to be validated that this lamb has no blemish. And that's how they put it. In fact, in verse 62, it's written, the high priest arose and said unto him, Do not answer anything. You see in that question of frustration, an absolute frustration of getting nowhere.

They have tried to harp up all kinds of false witnesses. They have tried to scorn or comb every kind of law in Moses. They have tried to examine in all possible dimensions. In fact, the allegation they brought about over here of the temple is an allegation three years old. So they went back right to the start of this ministry. They try to examine every single word. They try to pull up every single thing. And at the end of the day, the high priest rises up in frustration and says, why don't you answer anything? You see in that question of frustration, an admission, an admission in saying that here is someone who has not sinned. You see these group of people were extremely wicked. They were extremely proud. They were extremely egoistic. It was impossible for them to bring themselves up to saying that you have done nothing wrong. But in questioning like this, it is the best way, it is in fact their way of saying, you have done nothing wrong. In questioning them, in questioning Christ and asking, why you are silent?

It is an implicit admission that this case can never go ahead, that there can be no charges found, that it has come to a point where we have to let him go. where there is now no grounds, nothing found in him worthy of death, that the high priest rises up and he is asking, why don't you answer anything? You see, a high priest should be excited of the fact that there is a lamb that is no blemish but here is an high priest extremely angry, extremely frustrated at the end of his wits asking why don't you answer anything? You see, the trial was necessary because it was a mere introspection a mere verification that in Christ is no blemish, in Christ is no sin. But there was a second reason why it was also important.

Because once the High Priest of the Old Testament will try the lamb, he will introspect the lamb, he will test it, he will look at it, he will verify it, he will validate it. The next step in that whole process of the sin offering is that he will ask the sinner to lay his hands on the head of the offering and that laying of the hands on the head of the offering is a picture of imputation where this sinner has transferred his sin to the sacrifice where now all what he is guilty of has been laid upon this lamb. And that is the second part of the trial where you see the that you tell us whether you be Christ, the Son of God. I adjure you by the Living God. Over here, the high priest is forcing the Lord Jesus to open his mouth by putting him under an oath. He can no more plead the fifth as it said, he can no more be silent, he can no more just exercise silence. But now he has to answer because the high priest has put the Lord under an oath. And the question is, are you the son of God?

It is at this question, in fact, nothing else, but on this one point, on this one count, where the Lord Jesus gloriously admitted that I am the Son of God, that the reason why you find no blemish on me is because I am the Son of God. I am the Glorious One. I am the one who is the Son of Man written in the book of Daniel. I am the one coming in the right hand of power. I am the one that will come in the clouds of heaven. I am the one that will sit in the right hand of power of God. It is in this admission that He was found worthy of death. And what an irony! What an irony! Because in putting Christ to death or in condemning Christ to death, they were condemning themselves. Because the sin is not that Christ is God, but the sin is that they can't accept Him as God. It is so symbolic as to how the person puts his hand on the head of the sacrifice and transfers his sin to Him. It is in the same vein where the sin is theirs. The sin is their hard-heartedness. The sin is their rebellion. The sin is their unbelief.

It is their unbelief that they can't admit. that they can't believe, that they can't accept. And because it is their sin and because they can't bring themselves up to admit their own sin, they pass on the sin to the Saviour. They pass on the sin to the Sacrifices. He has sacrificed. You are the sinner. You being the Son of God, that is your mistake. And all the while it was their mistake to not admit, their mistake to not believe, their mistake to not accept Him, their mistake to not submit. It was their sin from the start. But sidelining all of their sin, they put the sin on Christ and said, It is now your sin. It is your mistake. You have found guilty of law because you have called yourself the Son of God. You see how such a useless trial, how such a powerless trial, had such great bearing and impressions of the Old Testament necessity of a sacrifice, that the sacrifice had to be had to be checked, had to be tested, had to be verified. And before the sacrifice could be offered, all the elders of the people, when they have sinned, all the elders will come and put their hands on the head of the sacrifice and transfer their sin to Him. It is in this beautiful fulfillment that we see the necessity of such a worthless, such a useless trial that had absolutely no bearing.

Let's come to the response of the Lord in the midst of the trial. It's important to see how the Lord responded. And over here we see a beautiful picture of the glory of Christ in His response. In the Gospel of John, we read of an additional information, where additional question, where how the trial started, and the trial started with a question where they asked the Lord Jesus, where they asked the Lord Jesus about His doctrine and about His disciples. They asked, that's how it started, they asked this question about his doctrine and about his disciples. And the Lord Jesus gave a very wise answer. He in fact answered in a way in saying, why do you ask me? Everything that I've said, I've said in open. You can ask those that have heard of me. And for this one very legitimate answer, he was given a big blow. But if you come back to that answer, why did the Lord say it? You see in that answer such innocence, such blamelessness. Because if you know you are standing in a trial where people out there are going to get you, they are ensnaring you, they are going to put you to death, you would so want to answer.

You would so want to explain yourself. You would so want to give a reason. You would so want to defend yourself. The last thing you would say is, go ask those that heard me, because those that heard him are the ones that put him to death, are the ones that have arrested him and brought him to trial. The last thing you would want is that those who accuse you to defend you. You see, this is not a picture of someone who's guilty. Someone who's guilty will try hands and legs to prove himself innocent, but someone who has nothing to prove, no sins to prove. who is so pure, so innocent, he's passing the buck on and saying, you ask my accusers. Someone who is so much in control of his trial, because imagine if he actually told, imagine if he actually answered, imagine actually if he laid out his doctrines once again, then this trial would have never ended. It has happened before.

They have always questioned the Lord Jesus and always the Lord gave answers in such a way that they would dare not ask any more questions that would probably be the way where this trial also would have ended. If the Lord had spoken his doctrine, if the Lord had answered that question, if the Lord had explained his stand, if the Lord had defended himself, there would be no way he would end up in the cross. But the Lord is in complete control of his own trial, where he is saying, you go after witnesses. You go and ask those, let them be the witnesses. And the next thing we know in the other gospels which we read in Matthew is, they are actually looking for witnesses. You see the Lord who is in complete control of his own trial to the extent where he himself directs it. Where he himself decides how the trial should end. He himself decides what should be the next course of his trial. He is directing the high priest and saying, you go after witnesses and they do go after witnesses.

He is directing his own trial. Someone who is so much in control where we see, I have the power to lay down my life. It will be in his own terms, in his own terms that he will put his self to death. It will be in his own power and authority where he will allow himself to be crucified. You see someone who refuses to answer and in this you see a picture of a lamb, a lamb that is silent. A lamb where everyone is trying to shear the lamb, but the lamb will be dumb before the shearers. It's a picture of how the Psalmist says that I was deaf. Not that he was deaf, but I acted deaf and I was dumb and there was no responses in my mouth in Psalm 38. And this is the picture of the Lord Jesus, a picture of a majestic, silent lamb, where everyone is after Him, where everyone wants His hair, everyone trying to show Him. But He answers not a single word. He explains not Himself. He remains silent, in which we see a beautiful glory of grace, of peace, of mercy, where this lamp is readily offering Himself to be led by His own creation.

But we also see a picture of a shepherd. And that's our lamb. Our lamb, where the Lord Jesus in Revelation 7 is said to be that the lamb who is the shepherd, our shepherd is in fact a lamb. He has become a shepherd because he knows what it means to be a lamb. A shepherd who has become a lamb makes a whole lot of difference in shepherding because he knows what the lamb goes through. And that is our Lord. A Lord who is a lamb that is a shepherd and you see a person in the midst of all the buffeting, in midst of all the mocking, in where he is being blindfolded, where he is being spat upon, where his beard is being pulled apart, where he is being mocked with rods and with palms. In the midst of it, he acts like a glorious shepherd for Peter, where he looks at Peter. He looks at Peter. That's how it was written. He looked at Peter and then Peter remembered the words of the Lord. Peter was that sheep going astray, one after the other, falling again and again, so callously, with much impunity, again and again denying the Lord, without considering what he is saying.

He is again and again saying, I do not know the man. He is reducing the Lord Jesus to just a man. I do not know him. A man who is so hell-bent in denying him. And all the while the Lord is answering, all the while the Lord is looking, all the while the Lord is knowing all things. And when Peter denies the Lord three times, the Lord just looks again silent as a lamb. He doesn't say a word. He doesn't reprimand Peter. He doesn't speak to Peter. But it was that one look that melted the heart of Peter. What a beautiful shepherd. What a beautiful shepherd that with one look, he could remind the sheep of his own words. He could make that sheep repent. To the point where Peter wept bitterly. In the midst of all what they are inflicting to him, he is still the one who is sustaining all things by the word of his power. He is still that shepherd, so much in concern of his own.

In fact, when the Pharisees asked him, what about your disciples and what about your doctrine? The Lord answered only the second part of the question. He answered nothing about his disciples. He did not want them to get their hands on the disciples. In fact, he told in the garden, you have me, now let them go. A shepherd who is protecting his sheep, and in the midst of his own suffering, in the midst of his own afflictions, he looks at Peter and corrects Peter with just a mere look. Over here, you have a picture of a silent lamb, but also you have a picture of a roaring lion. In one hand you have him majestically silent. He is not someone who is defenseless but chooses to be undefended. He is not someone who is weak but restrains his strength. He is not someone who is guilty but allows himself to be accused. Here is someone who is at the same time in the midst of Him being a silent lamb. He is also the lion of the tribe of Judah. He is also the King that is going to come back.

In verse 63, it says, Jesus held His peace and that's the Lamb of God, a One who is silent. But in verse 64, you see, you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power. And that's a lion. And that's the King. That's the one who has dominion, who has kingdom, who has glory. He is the son of man that they and Daniel spoke of will be brought before the ancient of days and to him will be given glory, dominion and kingdom. And all people and languages and nations will come to worship him. And his law of first dominion, it will be from everlasting to everlasting. The Lord quotes the very passage of Daniel and says, I am that son of man who's going to come in the cloud of heavens. And he says, I am the one sitting at the right hand of power that takes us back to Psalm 110, where we see a Lord sitting at the right hand of the Lord. A one who is sitting at the same level, at the same rank, at the same position, of the same authority of God Himself. You see a silent lamb and a roaring lion.

You see a one who is freshly slain, but a one who has his vision of being the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, the one who will triumph. When people try to mock him and when they try to triumph over a victory that is not, here is someone who's truly triumphing over their own scorns, over their own mockings. You see, this brings us back to the prayer of the Lord, which he taught us to pray, where he said, your name be hallowed, your kingdom come and your will be done. And you see all these three things coming together in the sufferings of the Lord. Where before he was arrested, he told the disciples, he prayed to the father, I have given them your name. That he is going to raise up a people that will hallow the name of God, that will revere the name of God, that will separate the name of God. And when his name was degraded at Gethsemane, when they asked, are you Jesus of Nazareth in a most derogatory way?

He says, I am, because that's his name. He said that name, I am, and people fell down to the ground. Here was the Lord in a mission to hallow the name of God in the midst of the sinful world, where there will be people that will call upon the name of the Lord, where there will be one name given under the heaven for man to be saved, one name to access all of God. And here is someone hallowing that name on our behalf. Here is someone talking of this kingdom come, where he talks of legions of angels at his disposal. where he tells Pilate that if I am born for this reason and my kingdom is not of this world, if it were of this world my servant should fight for me.

Here is someone bringing his kingdom to this world where even the thief on the cross recognizes and says, when you come into your kingdom, remember me that your kingdom is coming. And the only explanation to all of the sufferings is where he says, let your will be done. Where he admits that it is God's will that is in heaven, that is predetermined before the world was made, this will has to be brought to pass. Here is the Lord answering the prayer that He has so beautifully taught us to pray. May the Lord's name be glorified.