CHAPTER 25

From a distance Peter and John followed the guards who took Jesus to the palace of Annas. Annas was the high priest from AD 6 through AD 15 and remained the patriarch of the high priesthood. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas the high priest that year. Because John knew the workers at the palace, he went into the courtyard, but Peter stayed outside the gate. John spoke to the servant girl guarding the gate, came back, and brought Peter inside the courtyard.

It was late in the night, and Annas interrogated Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. Standing his ground, Jesus said to Annas, “I continually taught in Jerusalem’s synagogues and in the temple courts. I did not teach anything in secret. Why are you questioning me? Ask the people who heard my teaching. Surely they know what I taught.” When Jesus said this, one of the officers of the high priest standing there hit him in the face. He demanded, “Stop speaking to the high priest that way!” Jesus said, “Tell me what I said wrong; I spoke the truth, why did you hit me?” After being interrogated by Annas, the guards bound Jesus and took him to the palace of the high priest Caiaphas, for the Jewish religious council had gathered together.

Peter followed Jesus from a distance to the palace’s courtyard of Caiaphas. When the temple guards arrived at the palace, they started a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together. Peter walkedinto the courtyard and sat down with the guards and began warming himself by the fire because it was cold. He was watching to see what would happen. At that time one of the servant girls of the high priest walked by and saw Peter. She looked him in the face and said, “You were with Jesus the Nazarene from Galilee! This man was with Jesus! Aren’t you one of Jesus’ disciples?” But Peter denied it saying, “No, I am not one of his disciples. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Woman, I don’t know Jesus!”

Then Peter got up and walked out to the courtyard’s gate. A little later at the gate another servant girl saw Peter and said to those standing around, “This man is one of the followers of Jesus of Nazareth.” Peter again denied it and said, “I do not know this man Jesus!”

After about a hour those standing nearby said to Peter, “Yes, you are one of the followers of Jesus! You are from Galilee, for you talk like a Galilean.” Then one of the high priest’s servants who was standing alongside Peter—a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off—said to him, “Yes, I saw you in Gethsemane with Jesus?” Again Peter denied it. Then Peter began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man Jesus that you’re talking about!”

Immediately, while he was speaking the rooster crowed. Now being held in the courtyard, Jesus turned and looked straight in Peter’s eyes, and he remembered what Jesus had told him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny that you know me three times.” And then Peter went outside, broke down, and cried bitterly.

The Jewish religious council was looking for evidence against Jesus from false witnesses, so they could have him crucified by the Romans. Although many false witnesses came forward, they could not find any crime with which to condemn Jesus to death. They brought in many false witnesses, but their statements contradicted each other. Then two false witnesses came forward and lied saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy our temple made with human hands and in three days I will build another one not made with hands.’”

Frustrated, the high priest Caiaphas confronted Jesus saying, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One? Aren’t you going to answer these charges? What are you going to say against the testimony of these men?”

Jesus did not say anything.

Then Caiaphas stood up and said to Jesus, “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God!” Jesus said, “Yes, as you have said. As it is written in Psalm 110:1, from now on you will see the Son of Man enthroned in authority at the right hand of the Mighty God, and com- ing on the clouds of heaven.” In disgust, Caiaphas tore his clothes and yelled “We do not need any more witnesses! Everyone has heard him. He speaks blasphemy against God! Caiaphas asked the other religious leaders, “What should we do?”

They condemned Jesus and said, “He is guilty! He deserves to be put to death.”

Then the guards took Jesus and began mocking and beating him. They spit in his face. They blindfolded him, hit him with their fists, and slapped him. They said to Jesus, “Prophesy to us Messiah! Who hit you?” They shouted insults at Jesus over and over again.

At sunrise on Friday morning, the religious council met again, and had Jesus brought before them. They said to him, “Tell us, are you the Messiah?” Jesus said, “Even if I tell you, you will not believe me. As I told you, from now on the Son of Man will be enthroned in authority at the right hand of the power of God.” They confronted Jesus, “So, are you claiming to be the Son of God?” Jesus said, “Yes, as you say that I am.”

The religious leaders said, “We do not need any more evidence. We have heard him say it.” So they made plans to have Jesus put to death.

When Judas Iscariot saw that Jesus was condemned to death, he was overcome with remorse and gave the 30 silver coins back to the re- ligious leaders. Judas said to them, “I have sinned, for I have betrayed an innocent man.” They replied, “We do not care what you did, that’s your problem not ours.” So Judas threw the money into the temple and went away and hanged himself. Then the religious leaders picked up the coins and said, “It is against Jewish law to put this blood money into the temple treasury.” So they used the money to buy a potter’s field to serve as a burial place for foreigners.

That is why the location of Judas’ suicide was called the “Field of Blood.”