Jesus Before Caiphas

Commencement and preparatory prayer as usual.

Prelude 1.—Let us recall how, after our Lord had been led before Annas to satisfy his curiosity, He is dragged away to the house of Caiphas the High Priest, where the doctors and Chief Priests were assembled, though the night was far advanced, waiting for Him. On answering to the judge a question concerning His doctrine, He had received a blow on the face in the court of Annas; and on confessing Himself to be the Son of God before Caiphas, He is declared guilty of death and given in custody to a band of soldiers, who spent the night in insulting Him. Meantime, St. Peter thrice denies his Lord, but on meeting the gentle glance of Jesus, he went forth and wept bitterly.

Prelude 2.—Let us imagine ourselves present in the court of Caiphas, and later in the soldiers’ quarters.

Prelude 3.—Let us beg to know our Blessed Lord more clearly in His humiliations and in His excessive love and compassion for Peter, and grace to share this two-fold spirit.

Point 1.—When our Lord was asked about His doctrine, He replied in words full of heavenly wisdom, that there was nothing to fear from it; that He had always taught it publicly, and that all who heard Him, of whom some were present, could bear witness to His sincerity. Then a servant, before the whole assembly, gave Him an ignominious blow !—a vile creature struck the face of the Son of the living God, causing horror in the sight of Heaven and earth. The God of infinite majesty willingly submits to this gross outrage and humiliation for our sake and for our example. Let us humble ourselves to think how we lament, murmur, and complain, if by a single word, an unmannerly action, or even by an inadvertence, we conceive ourselves aggrieved. When we see our Lord thus insulted, and no one to say a word in His defence, let us try to give Him some comfort by offering ourselves to keep Him company, and by labouring earnestly to acquire something of His unshaken mildness and heroic patience. Let us accept in silence any outrage or insult which God in His wise providence may permit us to receive.

Point 2.—In order to compass their iniquitous intent of sentencing Him to death with some outward semblance of justice, they suborn false witnesses; ² but not even from these can His crafty and malicious judges extract grounds to condemn the evident and notorious innocence of our Blessed Lord. The groundless and incoherent calumnies of these perjurers, to which our Lord listens meekly and silently, served only to confound and enrage the High Priest, who started up and asked our Lord if He had nothing to say in His defence, but Jesus gives no reply. But on being adjured in the name of His Father to say whether He was the Messiah and the Son of God, then He broke silence at once, and answered fearlessly and clearly, though He knew it would cost Him His life, “I am.” Upon which the hypocritical and envious High Priest rent his garment as if in horror, and declared Him a blasphemer and worthy of death, with the unanimous approval of all the assessors. Our Lord is then given up to the rude soldiers and guards, who beguiled the hours of the night in insulting and tormenting Him, striking Him and jeering at Him. With what reason have the saints, placing this scene before themselves, offered themselves to suffer injuries, calumnies, and torments, and rejoiced to suffer even death itself to promote the cause of virtue and to war against vice. When we look upon that Divine face, blackened with blows and besmeared with spittle, and yet listen in vain for a single word of reproof or complaint, let us resolve at least to bear our trials and sufferings with patience and in silence, if we cannot do so with joy, as did the Apostles who went forth from the Council rejoicing at being found worthy to suffer for Christ every contumely. But let us learn also, when God’s glory requires it, to speak out boldly, to correct evil tongues, to combat false maxims, to admonish and to reprehend others, and also to defend the truth. After all it is a real honour to us that the world should treat us as it treated Jesus Christ.

Point 3.—It was through a want of this spirit that St. Peter fell. ³ It was in the court of Caiphas that, when accosted first by a servant-maid and afterwards by two others, he with oaths and curses denied that he even knew our Blessed Lord. He who a short time before had made such loud protestations and spoken with such courage, and had drawn his sword to oppose a whole company of soldiers, falls disgracefully at the sound of a question. Oh, the fearful frailty of man! The stoutest pillar is all in a tremble at a breath of air. ⁴

At the very time when our Lord is suffering insults and ill-usage, and hears the sentence of death passed on Him, for the glory of His Divine Father, the prince of His Apostles, chosen to promote that same enterprise, abandons and denies Him through fear of suffering. Why was all this permitted? To teach us that whoever will be a companion of our Lord must nerve himself to bear hardships and crosses, or else he will basely recoil at the first encounter. But let us also consider the remote causes of his fall. And in the first place, he had been admonished by our Lord to pray and to watch, and thus prepare himself for temptation; nevertheless, he had allowed himself to give way to sleep, though twice admonished. Again, he follows our Lord at a distance, and from a motive of curiosity, to see how the affair would end; and lastly, he mixed with the soldiers and others, and stood with them to warm himself at the fire. All these details are not mentioned by the Evangelists without special reason, and are calculated to impress three important lessons upon us, namely—that we stand in extreme need of constant prayer, without which all our fervour and good purposes will never enable us to resist the temptations of flesh and blood which we shall have to encounter; moreover, that if we begin to withdraw to a distance from our Lord by allowing less perfect or bad motives to influence us, such as temporal interest, worldly esteem, vanity, or self-indulgence in the discharge of the duties of our state of life, then we are on the high-road to ruin, and sooner or later shall fall into sin; and lastly, that we stand in great need of prudence and care in conversing with others. If we spend our time in idle conversation with others, in resorting to the houses of others to indulge in frivolous discourses, we shall soon imbibe worldly maxims and views, and, daunted by human respect, we shall be exposed to dispraise what we should approve and approve what we should denounce. Let us seriously examine ourselves on these three points, and if we find that we have not kept our word with God, let us turn ourselves to our Lord as Peter did. Let us break off all ties, withdraw from all dangerous occasions, and shed bitter tears over the life we have led heretofore; and in our colloquies let us implore the grace of keeping our resolution to imitate our Lord in bearing silently and meekly the ignominy and contempt which in His providence He may call upon us to undergo.

End with “Our Father.”

1. “And they led Him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiphas, who was the High Priest of that year. Now Caiphas was he who had given the counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. . . . The High Priest asked Jesus of His disciples and of His doctrine. Jesus answered, Why asketh thou Me? ask them who have heard what I have spoken unto them; behold they know what things I have said. And when He had said these things, one of the servants standing by gave Jesus a blow, saying, Answereth Thou the High Priest so? And Annas sent Him bound to Caiphas the High Priest.” (St. John xviii. 13—24.) ↩
2. “And the Chief Priests and the whole Council sought false witness against Jesus that they might put Him to death, and they found not, whereas many false witnesses had come in. And last of all there came two false witnesses, and they said: This Man said, I am able to destroy the Temple of God and after three days to rebuild it. And the High Priest rising up, said to Him: Answerest Thou nothing to the things which these witness against Thee? But Jesus held His peace. And the High Priest said to Him: I adjure Thee by the living God that Thou tell us if Thou be Christ the Son of God. And Jesus saith to him, Thou hast said it. . . . Then the High Priest rent his garment, saying, He hath blasphemed; what further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have heard the blasphemy; what think you? But they answering said, He is guilty of death.” (St. Matt. xxvi. 56—66.)
3. “Now when Peter was in the court below, there cometh one of the maid-servants of the High Priest; and when she had seen Peter warming himself, looking on him she saith: Thou also was with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I neither know nor understand what thou sayest. And he went forth before the court, and the cock crew. And again a maid-servant seeing him began to say to the standers-by: This is one of them. But he denied again. And after a while they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them, for thou art also a Galilean. But he began to curse and to swear, I know not this Man of whom you speak. And immediately the cock crew again.” (St. Mark xiv. 66—72.)
4. St. Augustine, tr. 113.