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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Matthew 26:57 - 26:58
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The Trial before Caiaphas and the Denial of Peter.
To the house of Caiaphas:
v. 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.
v. 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.
The palace of Caiaphas, according to most investigators, lay at the extreme southwest corner of the city of Jerusalem. It was evidently built in the form of a quadrangle about an open court. On the one side of the palace lived Annas, the father-in-law, on the other Caiaphas, the families occupying the upper stories, while the servants had the apartments on the ground floor. The entrance to the palace was through an arched door and passageway, which was usually guarded by one of the servants. After a short, preliminary hearing before Annas, Joh_18:13, arranged in the interval until all the members of the council might be assembled, Jesus was led before the highest court of the Jewish Church, consisting of scribes and elders, according to their office, of Pharisees and Sadducees, according to their sectarian tendencies, but all agreed upon that one point, that this man must be removed. Peter, in the meantime, led partly by affection, partly by inquisitiveness, followed the band from a distance, and, having obtained leave to enter the courtyard of the palace, sat with the servants about a fire of coals which the cool spring night made necessary, to see the end, to find out what would happen to the Master. Many a Christian has thought himself strong enough to withstand temptation, to ignore attack and ridicule, when venturing into the midst of the children of the world, but has found out to his great sorrow that such experiments are fraught with too great danger.