"The hand of the
witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the
hand of all the people. So you shall
purge the evil from your midst" (Deut. 17:7).
Hey Gang: The High
Priest, who is the key influence, is the one who condemned Jesus when he said, “It is more expedient for one to die than
for Him to shake up our world, no matter how very corrupt it is" (Hainley
Rendition). The High Priest was not
permitted to express an opinion or interrogate the witness of the accused; he had to remain silent. He would also cast the last ballot, so as to
not influence the rest of the voters.
Once he voted he could not change his vote, unless it was from guilty to
not guilty.
The ballots were submitted from the youngest to the oldest, and those who believed the person was innocent
voted first.
Very Interesting Point
of Law: If the vote was unanimous,
that the person was guilty, then by law, the trial was declared a mistrial and
the accused was set free. Why? According to the Talmud the rule was that a
man must have at least two votes in his favor, if not - they must set him
free. That certainly is a good
definition of a "hung jury".
As mentioned before, a day of soul searching followed the
first day of trial, to seek God's guidance; if no changes were made, the
verdict was rendered and due process had to take place immediately, or before
the sun went down. The officers of the
Sanhedrin did not perform the execution.
It was dictated by Mosaic Law that the witnesses must be the first to
lay hands on the condemned. If the
accused was still alive after the witnesses had cast their vote of wrath
(usually stoning), the people who had cause were invited to complete the
execution. I emphasize, once again,
that up to this point nothing they did at the trial of Jesus was legal!
The witnesses were the key players in any legal trial. Therefore,
since Judas identified Jesus, he should have been considered the arresting
officer and should have cast the first stone.
Sooooo now we turn our attention to the crucifixion. After Annas third degree, Jesus was sent to
Caiaphas. We are not told if the
Sanhedrin was called into session, to hear the interrogation of Caiaphas but it
is strongly suggested that the court that night was a stacked group of
Pharisees, mostly kin folks of Annas.
It was after midnight when the third degree began. Jesus knew what they were doing was wrong and
remained mute.
Matthew gives us this
account, "But Jesus kept silent,
And the high priest said to Him, "I
adjure You by the living God, that You tell as whether You are the Christ, the
Son of God" Matt. 26:63).
At this point, Jesus broke His silence because He could not
deny who He really was, "Jesus said
to him, "You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you
will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the
clouds of heaven" (Matt; 26:64)
Then Caiaphas, the High Priest, committed yet another
illegal act by declaring Jesus guilty of blasphemy!
"The high priest
tore his robes and said, "He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of
witnesses? Behold you have now heard the
blasphemy" (Matt. 26:65; Mark 14:63-64; Luke 22:71).
That is a good place to stop for today - tomorrow we will
look at the last chapter of this grisly smudge on history.
Blessings,
Gramps
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