Blasphemy and Betrayal

June: Matthew 26; Mark 14; John 13

The council of the great Sanhedrin of Jerusalem found it difficult to put Jesus to death. He never said anything that was directly seditious, and He never said anything that was blasphemous (especially since He was Jehovah, the Son of God). The sin of blasphemy was when a person reviled, despised, mocked, or cursed God. Jesus Christ never did any of those things.

The chief priest, Caiaphas, and others who were members of the council, sought devious, and dishonest means to assure Jesus’ death. Caiaphas was the high priest at the time (from 18 to 36 A.D.) and he was the son-in-law of Ananias, who had previously been high priest, but was still a man of great power and wealth. The high priest position had become more of a political rather than spiritual appointment. These men worked closely with Rome, and their interests were to keep Rome happy and their power and wealth secure. They definitely did not want Jesus to change the people’s allegiance to them. Jesus was putting their standing in the community at risk and the unrighteous traditions that assured them money, such as the money changers at the temple, would be stopped.

Unable to find witnesses, the Sanhedrin sought to find false witnesses. The council was a court of law, the highest in Jerusalem. The main function of the council was interpreting Jewish laws and the regulation of those laws in Jewish life. Blasphemy was punishable by death under Jewish law. The Romans did not allow the council to sentence people to death. So, the charge against Jesus would be changed to sedition because the Romans did not want an uprising and would put someone to death for speaking against Rome.

After Jesus was arrested by the high priest’s guard and taken to court, Caiaphas asked Him, “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.”ⁱ The irony of this statement was that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus answered Caiaphas: “Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven.”ⁱⁱ Because of this statement, Caiaphas determined that Jesus had spoken blasphemy.

The council delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate because, as the Roman governor, he could pronounce a death sentence upon Jesus. But Pilate did not want to. He knew that the council were punishing Jesus because of jealousy. During Passover, Pilate could release one prisoner who was on death row. Pilate presented both Barnabas (a zealot) and Jesus, letting the people decide who would go free and who would be crucified. The chief priests prepped the people to yell for Barnabas to be released. Even though the Romans were the ones who finally did the crucifixion, the high priest and the council were responsible in causing Christ’s death.

Nephi also saw what the Savior would go through at the end of His life: “And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him and he suffereth it; and they smite him and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.”ⁱⁱⁱ When we deal with betrayal or iniquity, we can follow the example of our Savior and react with loving kindness and long-suffering.

i Matthew 26:63

ii Matthew 26:64

iii 1 Nephi 19:9