NR 15
November 15
Luke 22:66 to end. The council condemn Christ.
It is probable that this examination is not the same as that of which Matthew gives an account. That examination seems to have taken place in the night, this in the day. It was a law among the Jews that no sentence pronounced in the night should stand good, and to this law Jeremiah is supposed to refer when he says, "Execute judgment in the morning." (21:12.) Accordingly, the council assembled at the dawn of day to confirm the condemnation they had pronounced during the hours of darkness. This council was called the Sanhedrin. It consisted of seventy people, of whom the high priest was the chief. The other members were priests, who had been high priests, or who were heads of the twenty-four courses— elders, or princes of the people; and scribes, or men learned in the law. They were all people whom the world revered. Priests who had a reputation for holiness; elders who boasted of noble birth, and scribes who had acquired great learning; all these combined against the Holy One, the Most High, the only wise God.
There were two members of that council who took no part in the proceedings of their brethren. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were honorable counselors and rulers in Israel. They were also disciples of Jesus, though secretly, for fear of the Jews. It is probable that they were absent when the council met to condemn the Lord, or if present, it is certain that they did not unite in pronouncing the guilty sentence.
As Jesus had already acknowledged himself to be the Son of God, no witnesses were summoned to appear against him. His own confession was enough. When he was asked, "Are you the Christ?" he showed by his answer that he would have proved his claim, had his judges been willing to listen. He said, "If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I also ask you, you will not answer me, nor let me go." On former occasions he had asked them various questions, by which he had shown he was the Christ, and that the Christ was the Son of God. This is the great truth that Jesus sealed with his own blood. By confessing it, men are saved, for John declares, "Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God." By denying this truth men are lost; for John also declares, "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is anti-Christ," (that is, the enemy of Christ,) "that denies the Father and the Son."
Do we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? If we believe it, we cannot feel indifferent on the subject. We may have believed some things, and yet we may now forget that we ever heard them; or though we may still believe them, we should not be grieved if we discovered them to be false. But we cannot feel in this manner concerning the great truth that Jesus is the Son of God. Would it make no difference to a mother whether she believed that the ship containing her only son was lost at sea, or safely arrived in the harbour?
Would not every stranger by the first glance of her countenance discover which of these tidings she had heard? Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, believe that they have a friend dearer than the dearest child, and more powerful than the mightiest monarch, ever ready, ever able to support them in time of need. They believe that he died to save them, and lives to bless them—that he will walk with them through the valley of the shadow of death, and lead them forever by living fountains of waters. When they say, "I believe that Jesus is the Son of God," their hearts burn within them, and their spirits rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.