Matthew 26:57-75

Matthew 26:57-75 NIV

Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome. 
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’ ”
Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
“He is worthy of death,” they answered. Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”
Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said. But he denied it before them all.
“I donʼt know what youʼre talking about,” he said. Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
He denied it again, with an oath: “I donʼt know the man!”
After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”
Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I donʼt know the man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It seems odd to be writing about the passion of Christ during the season of advent, but then isn't advent about waiting expectantly for the king? The cross of Jesus is the ironic coronation of the king of the Jews, the acknowledgement that Jesus odd the Christ. As I write there is Christmas music playing and a festive feeling in the air. That night in the courtyard of Caiphas the atmosphere was anything but festive. A dark and foul evil hung overhead as the chief priests and scribes assembled to judge Jesus as a heretic. Peter followed Caiphas' men who arrested Jesus, all the way into the courtyard of the high priest's home.

While Peter waited with the guards to learn the outcome of the trial, inside the Sanhedrin looked for evidence against Jesus worthy of a death sentence. They could not find any, until two witnesses said Jesus claimed He'd destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. What Jesus said about rebuilding the temple was a symbolic reference to His resurrection. The high priest charged Jesus to speak to the allegation, but Jesus remained silent. Angered, the high priest asked Jesus, "Are you the messiah or not?" Jesus spoke up saying, more or less, "You just said so yourself." Then Jesus referenced a Daniel prophecy about the messiah.

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13-14 NIV

The reference about seeing the Son of Man riding on the clouds implies the whole passage, which is a way of saying that Jesus is the Son of Man, the One chosen by God to rule forever. At this the high priest charged Jesus with blasphemy against God, and so did the rest. They spit in Jesus' face, struck Him with their fists and ridiculed Him.

Meanwhile in the courtyard Peter is approached three times about being a follower of Jesus. In fear for His life Peter denied it. The third time he even called down curses upon himself as proof that he was not lying. A contemporary version of this might be saying something like, "I swear on my mother's grave, I'm not lying." Or perhaps one might say, "May God strike me dead if I'm not telling the truth." Whatever the nature of his cursing, it wasn't simple profanity. It was a means to convince his accusers of his innocence. Peter wanted desperately for them to believe he had nothing to do with Jesus of Nazareth.

Then the rooster crowed and Peter broke down crying out in the street, because he realized he had just denied Christ exactly as Jesus predicted. How did Jesus know? The only answer is that Jesus has insight into the future, that He understood the weakness of human character. It feels like Peter and Judas and the scattered disciples are all playing a part in this passion play, performing roles they didn't rehearse or choose. Yet somehow they play into what God has planned, the redemption of Israel and the world through the death and resurrection of His Son. Even the teachers of the law, the chief priests and elders of Israel play their role as antagonists. Did they have a choice or was this all preordained? I'd like to think we all have a choice to choose good over evil, but even though our spirits are willing our flesh is weak.

The film Seven, starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Stacey, gives an incredible example of freedom of will and our slavery to fleshly passions. Brad Pitt's character is a hot head. It gets the best of him often. The serial killer used his knowledge of the young detective's rage issues against him. He predicted how he would behave under certain circumstances and, as if some unseen force was controlling him, the overwhelmed detective did exactly as the killer foresaw.

The truth is that God had chosen this path for Jesus and no one was going to stop it. In some ways Jesus seems to willingly seal His own fate in obedience to the plan. The rest of the cast of characters play out their roles as God has foreseen, according His knowledge of them. And God knows each of us intimately, better than we know ourselves.

I wonder what role I'm playing in God's plan for the world. I look at my journey through life so far and I wonder how much is a result of my choices and how much was preordained by divine will. For certain I've denied Christ by my sinful choices and I've blessed His name by obedience and worship. I think of the following passage from John's gospel.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last...
John 15:16a NIV

Paul told the church that we were chosen from the very beginning.

For he chose us in Him (Christ) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
Ephesians 1:4 NIV

God's election of those who will believe is preordained. It's a difficult concept because God is eternal, the One who is, who was, and who is to come. Time bound, we do not experience life the way an eternal being does. If we knew the consequences of our choices ahead of time, we might make different choices, but not necessarily so. We know overeating leads to poor health. We know smoking and drinking and sexual promiscuity has proven consequences, and yet we continue, like suicidal lemmings, to march to our doom. We have freedom to choose, but we are not fully free from our weaknesses.

That night at Caiphas' home the will of God and the will of men collide. There are consequences and casualties. Freedom and imprisonment is revealed in strange ways. Jesus is the One in chains and on trial... or is He? Peter is imprisoned by his fear of death. The elders of the Sanhedrin are imprisoned by their blindness and deafness to who Jesus is. Only Jesus seems to be free to choose, and He chooses His Father's will.

We may weep bitterly over our sins and failures. We may gnash our teeth out of frustration at our opponents. But Christ is Savior of us all and there is deliverance from our prisons because He chose the cross.

Hallelujah!