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57 (A)Those who had arrested Jesus led him away to Caiaphas[a] the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58 Peter was following him at a distance as far as the high priest’s courtyard, and going inside he sat down with the servants to see the outcome. 59 The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin[b] kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, 60 (B)but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two[c] came forward 61 who stated, “This man said, ‘I can destroy the temple of God and within three days rebuild it.’” 62 The high priest rose and addressed him, “Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you?” 63 (C)But Jesus was silent.[d] Then the high priest said to him, “I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” 64 (D)Jesus said to him in reply, “You have said so.[e] But I tell you:

From now on you will see ‘the Son of Man
    seated at the right hand of the Power’
    and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’”

65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed![f] What further need have we of witnesses? You have now heard the blasphemy; 66 what is your opinion?” They said in reply, “He deserves to die!” 67 [g](E)Then they spat in his face and struck him, while some slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy for us, Messiah: who is it that struck you?”

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Footnotes

  1. 26:57 Caiaphas: see note on Mt 26:3.
  2. 26:59 Sanhedrin: see note on Lk 22:66.
  3. 26:60–61 Two: cf. Dt 19:15. I can destroy…rebuild it: there are significant differences from the Marcan parallel (Mk 14:58). Matthew omits “made with hands” and “not made with hands” and changes Mark’s “will destroy” and “will build another” to can destroy and (can) rebuild. The charge is probably based on Jesus’ prediction of the temple’s destruction; see notes on Mt 23:37–39; 24:2; and Jn 2:19. A similar prediction by Jeremiah was considered as deserving death; cf. Jer 7:1–15; 26:1–8.
  4. 26:63 Silent: possibly an allusion to Is 53:7. I order you…living God: peculiar to Matthew; cf. Mk 14:61.
  5. 26:64 You have said so: see note on Mt 26:25. From now on…heaven: the Son of Man who is to be crucified (cf. Mt 20:19) will be seen in glorious majesty (cf. Ps 110:1) and coming on the clouds of heaven (cf. Dn 7:13). The Power: see note on Mk 14:61–62.
  6. 26:65 Blasphemed: the punishment for blasphemy was death by stoning (see Lv 24:10–16). According to the Mishnah, to be guilty of blasphemy one had to pronounce “the Name itself,” i.e., Yahweh; cf. Sanhedrin 7:4, 5. Those who judge the gospel accounts of Jesus’ trial by the later Mishnah standards point out that Jesus uses the surrogate “the Power,” and hence no Jewish court would have regarded him as guilty of blasphemy; others hold that the Mishnah’s narrow understanding of blasphemy was a later development.
  7. 26:67–68 The physical abuse, apparently done to Jesus by the members of the Sanhedrin themselves, recalls the sufferings of the Isaian Servant of the Lord; cf. Is 50:6. The mocking challenge to prophesy is probably motivated by Jesus’ prediction of his future glory (Mt 26:64).

Peter’s Denial of Jesus. 54 (A)After arresting him they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest; Peter was following at a distance.(B) 55 They lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter sat down with them.

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63 (A)The men who held Jesus in custody were ridiculing and beating him. 64 They blindfolded him and questioned him, saying, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” 65 And they reviled him in saying many other things against him.

Jesus Before the Sanhedrin.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 22:66–71 Luke recounts one daytime trial of Jesus (Lk 22:66–71) and hints at some type of preliminary nighttime investigation (Lk 22:54–65). Mark (and Matthew who follows Mark) has transferred incidents of this day into the nighttime interrogation with the result that there appear to be two Sanhedrin trials of Jesus in Mark (and Matthew); see note on Mk 14:53.

67 They said, “If you are the Messiah, tell us,” but he replied to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe,(A) 68 and if I question, you will not respond. 69 But from this time on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”(B) 70 They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?” He replied to them, “You say that I am.” 71 Then they said, “What further need have we for testimony? We have heard it from his own mouth.”

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12 (A)So the band of soldiers, the tribune, and the Jewish guards seized Jesus, bound him, 13 and brought him to Annas[a] first. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 18:13 Annas: only John mentions an inquiry before Annas; cf. Jn 18:16, 19–24; see note on Lk 3:2. It is unlikely that this nighttime interrogation before Annas is the same as the trial before Caiaphas placed by Matthew and Mark at night and by Luke in the morning.