James Nisbet Commentary - Matthew 26:63 - 26:63

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James Nisbet Commentary - Matthew 26:63 - 26:63


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THE HIGH PRIEST’S QUESTION

‘And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God.’

Mat_26:63

It was quite in keeping with the character of Caiaphas, that he would ignore all the decencies of a judicial investigation. The false witnesses having failed to agree, Caiaphas felt sure that if Christ were solemnly appealed to on the point of His Divine pretensions, He would speak out unhesitatingly, and the result, of course, would be immediately fatal to Him.

I. The high priest’s question.—Caiaphas, therefore, rises from his seat, and coming forward, drawing himself up to his full height, begins to examine the Prisoner at the bar. He seems to have two questions. First, was He the Christ? This was a comparatively innocuous inquiry. The Jewish people were expecting a Christ. Well, to this inquiry the Saviour replied that it was useless for Him to speak on the subject, seeing that they—His judges—had, to His certain knowledge, pre-judged the question. Then the second and more awful question is put, and we observe that the area of it is widened—that there is something added to the conception of the Christ, in order that the Answerer may be brought within sweep of the charge of blasphemy. ‘In the name of God, tell us who you are?’ or, in the exact words of Scripture, ‘I adjure Thee, by the Living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God.’

II. Christ’s reply.—What does this mysterious Man say about Himself? He accepts the title. He announces that He is the Son of God; and He is immediately condemned to death by the unanimous vote of the Sanhedrists on the charge of blasphemy—aye, and He deserved the condemnation, if He be not the eternal Son of God! And if He be, what are we to expect for those who reject and disown Him!

III. The Godhead of Jesus Christ lies at the very foundation of character; and without it the whole edifice is a rotten structure and collapses at a touch. And the Godhead of Jesus Christ runs like a golden thread throughout the Scriptures, from the beginning of the Old Testament—where it appears in the doctrine of the angel of the covenant—down to the very last chapter of the New. And if we wish to find a passage in which is concentrated the most striking, the most emphatic, and the most convincing teaching on the subject, we cannot do better than to repeatedly study with thankfulness and prayer the narrative of the trial of Jesus Christ before the Sanhedrists of Jerusalem.

Prebendary Gordon Calthrop.

Illustration

‘If the Godhead of Jesus Christ be a mere fiction, as some affirm it to be; if it is only the outcome of human admiration for the most remarkable character that ever appeared upon earth, what an opportunity is now presented to the Lord, of stating the truth about Himself, and stating it so clearly, so distinctly, so emphatically, so conclusively, that there shall never be any more doubt whatever resting upon the subject. Were He no more than man, He might have said so—nay, He was bound to say so, if only to save you and me, and the millions of those who have professed faith in His name from the curse of idolatrous worship into which we have fallen; for idolatrous we assuredly are, if Jesus be not God from God, Light of Light, the Only-Begotten of the Father.’