Lucas 22
Samuel Johnson · Citado em PreceptAustin
Lucas 22
Johnson - Caiaphas was his son-in-law. He was a religious degenerate who prostituted the divine office for personal gain. And oh how many there have been down through the years who have done that. Caiaphas was a man who heaped up for himself a massive amount of money while he was serving in the priesthood. When the Romans seized Jerusalem in 70 A.D. they found a fortune of vast size stored away by him. In fact, when the British pound was worth a pound one of the commentators said that they found two and a half million pounds stored away by him which he derived from the office. (Ref) Mark 14:53-54+ adds They led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes gathered together. 54 Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire. John's Gospel fills in the gaps regarding Peter's denial... Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple (JOHN). Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the court (COURTYARD) of the high priest, 16 but Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper (OF THE COURTYARD), and brought Peter in. 17 Then the slave-girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself. (John 18:15–18+) (MATTHEW DESCRIBES THE SAME COURTYARD) - But Peter was following Him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and entered in (JOHN GOT HIM ADMITTED), and sat down with the officers to see the outcome. (Matthew 26:58+) Matthew 26:58 adds that "the scribes and the elders were gathered together" (in this context a gathering of the Sanhedrin) but their gathering was illegal for as Adam
Lucas 22
Johnson adds "Annas’ name is an interesting name. It comes from the Hebrew word hanan which means “to be gracious.” So Mr. Graciousness, Mr. Grace of God, is something like his name....Here is a priest who is a priest according to the Law of Moses, a priest according to the flesh, standing before the High Priest of God according to the Spirit. Or put in another way, the priest from Aaron and Levi stands before the Great High Priest (Heb 4:14) after the order of Melchizedek (Ps 110:4, Heb 5:6, 10, 6:20, 7:11, 17), who has neither beginning of life, nor end of days, without father, without mother, who abides an eternal priest (Heb 7:3), again the irony is excruciating. To think of this earthly priest, standing before the eternal priest, and judging the eternal priest." (Ref) The first of the three phases of the religious trials was before Annas and it is recorded only in the Gospel of John. John 18:12-14, 19-24 So the Roman cohort (AS MANY AS 600!) and the commander and the officers of the Jews (THE JEWISH TEMPLE POLICE - MAY HAVE BEEN AS MANY AS 200!), arrested Jesus and bound (SEE COMMENT BELOW) Him, 13 and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year (WHY ANNAS? ANNAS WAS THE EX-HIGH PRIEST BUT HE WAS STILL THE "POWER BEHIND THE THRONE" SO TO SPEAK). 14 Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people (SEE John 11:49-53 THIS STATEMENT INDICATES THAT IN ESSENCE THE LEADERS HAD ALREADY ARRIVED AT THEIR VERDICT REGARDING JESUS - THE DEATH SENTENCE HAD BEEN PREDETERMINED!) (Jn 18:15-18 = PETER'S DENIAL)....19 The high priest (Annas) then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching (HE WAS "FISHING" FOR A CHARGE TO INDICT JESUS AND CONVINCE THE ROMANS TO EXECUTE HIM). 20 Jesus answered him (HE DOES NOT ATTEMPT TO DEFEND HIS CONDUCT AND STATES), “I have spoken openly (boldly) to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together (in synagogues at Nazareth Lk 4:16, at Capernaum Jn 6:59, and in Galilee Mt 4:23; in the Temple, at the Feast of Tabernacles John 7:14, at the Feast of Dedication Jn 10:22-23, and on the Tuesday previous Mt. 21:23); and I spoke nothing in secret. 21 “Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them (I.E., OBTAIN EVIDENCE BY LEGAL MEANS); they know what I said.” 22 When He had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck (RHAPISMA = MEANS EITHER A BLOW WITH A ROD OR PALM OF HAND. USED ALSO Mk 14:65, Jn 19:3, Micah 5:1+) Jesus, saying, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?” 24 So Annas sent Him bound (SEE NOTE BELOW) to Caiaphas the high priest. Comment: The fact that Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb of God, was bound reminds us of two OT sacrifices that typified Christ's NT sacrifice (in fact as far as that goes, EVERY OT sacrifice was in a sense a Type of Christ. See Typology). Jesus was bound that believers might be loosed from bondage to Sin and Satan! Ps 118:27 The LORD is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. Ge 22:9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Some (MacArthur, Henry Morris) feel that this blow to Jesus (possibly by a club or rod) was a fulfillment of Micah 5:1b+ which says "With a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the cheek." Smiting an official on the cheek was a bitter insult. The irony of course is that Judge of all mankind (2 Ti 4:1+) was being unfairly judged and unfairly treated by mankind! The truth also is that one day His "judges" will have to stand before Him for their final judgment (Rev 20:11-15+)! Buss writes that "Under the Sanhedrin rules, nothing could be done without witnesses. Witnesses were of far greater importance in Jewish causes than under Roman law, or in modern European courts of justice; they were virtually the prosecutors....The guilt of the prisoner must not be assumed; but, on the contrary, his innocence: and no charge whatever can be brought against him until after the witnesses, at least two in number, had produced their evidence before the court. Jesus was entirely within His rights in reiterating His demand for the production of witnesses: “Bear witness of the evil." Below are some of the passages that governed the dispensation of justice in Israel. For more discussion of the background of the Jewish system of justice see John MacArthur's sermon "The Illegal, Unjust Trials of Jesus." See also Buss' discussion of the Mishna as it relates to Jesus' mock trials. Dt 16:18-20 You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your towns which the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 “You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. 20 “Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you. Dt 17:6“On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, (AND THEIR TESTIMONY WOULD HAVE TO BE CONSISTENT) he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. 7 “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. (ED: This means the two or three witnesses are to throw the first stones.) Dt 19:16-19 “If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, 17 then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. 18 “The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother (IF THE DEATH PENALTY WAS UNDER CONSIDERATION, THEN THE FALSE WITNESS SHOULD BE EXECUTED. THIS WOULD SERVE TO MINIMIZE THE TEMPTATION TO GIVE A FALSE WITNESS!). Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.