Missing evidence

 

Matthew 26:59-61

Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus, so they could put him to death. 60 But even though they found many who agreed to give false witness, they could not use anyone’s testimony. Finally, two men came forward 61 who declared, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the Temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

The Sanhedrin, the highest court of law who decided on internal legal and religious affairs for the Jews during Jesus’ time, faced a dilemma. They desperately wanted to get rid of Jesus, but they could not for the life of them find the necessary witness agreement to be able to make a case against Him. They were bound by law to heed God’s instruction in Deut 17:6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness., and this turned out to be a monumental problem – even though there were many men who were very willing to come and testify before them, no two persons’ testimonies agreed with one another. This is not surprising as they were all lying, so their stories did not reflect the truth and therefore could not match up.

Until at last they found two men saying the same thing, and this must have made quite an impression because Mark also recorded it in his gospel (Mark 14:58). I find it very interesting that this particular piece of evidence would grab the Sanhedrin’s attention, because it was so relevant to what was about to happen! The men quoted Jesus as saying that if they destroyed the temple, He would rebuild it in three days.

Which is the explanation of what happened a few days later – Jesus rose after three days in the tomb, His body being the true temple of God where God resides and meets humanity.

This saying of Jesus must have been well known and remembered among the Jews of the time, because we see in Matthew 27:40 that people passing by Jesus on the cross jeered at Him, saying “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

This knowledge, in conjunction with all the supernatural signs happening around the crucifixion, leads me to conclude that many scholars and rabbis of the time - men of great learning, schooled and experienced in linking spiritual facts from different sources together - must have come to the realisation that Jesus truly was the Messiah, and that everything He had said must be true.

Pearls to ponder:

If you had been one of those rabbis who started understanding that Jesus is Who He said He was, what would you have done? Would you have kept this secret like the majority of them did, because proclaiming the truth would adversely affect your status in the community, as you would certainly be ostracized, ridiculed, and lose everything you had worked so hard to achieve? What about your own faith - can you stand up and boldly proclaim Jesus as the Truth, even though your family and friends will ridicule you?

Confidence