And the high priest, having rent his clothes, says, What need have we any more of witnesses?
The high priest has just asked Jesus if He is the Christ, the Son of the Blessed, and Jesus has answered, "I am." Now the high priest tears his own clothes and tells the court it needs no more witnesses — so who is really on trial here?
Everything before this verse had failed. The witnesses could not agree. The leaders had their verdict already, but no legal way to reach it.
We must understand that the Lord's condemnation was already settled. The chief men of the Jews were only looking for a way to carry out wickedness and murder while keeping up the appearance of justice. They looked for witnesses against Him to put Him to death. The testimony was false, and the witnesses did not agree with each other. Many were ready to testify, but their evidence counted for nothing. The Lord had to be condemned on His own witness.
So the charge rested on what Jesus said about Himself. The court never caught Him out. He spoke, and they used His words.
The result was that Jesus was rejected, not on the false testimony of man, but on the true testimony of God. It was for His own testimony that they condemned Him. He came bearing witness to the truth, and He bore witness to it to the point of death.
The word the high priest used was not vague. The leaders had aimed this charge at Jesus before, when He claimed what belongs to God alone.
Blasphemy in Holy Scripture, while sometimes used for evil speech against man, also refers to speaking evil against God or about God. The unspoken charge of blasphemy against our Lord on this occasion came from an assumption of the scribes. They held that by pronouncing forgiveness of sins He was taking to Himself one of the attributes of Godhead. The Jews saw His claim to be the Son of God in the same way. As the Lord said to them, "Do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?"
The gesture itself was illegal. Israel's law singled out the high priest and told him never to do this.
They condemned Him on the ground of the witness He bore to Himself; and even in doing that they broke the law themselves. It was written: "The priest who is chief among his brothers … shall not … tear his clothes" (Lev. 21:10). The high priest ignored this, so shaken was he in the presence of his Victim, so carried away with anger and hatred.
Commentators read his state of mind differently. Some see real agitation; others see an act.
Such words from such lips should have brought the high priest to broken repentance. Instead he put on a shameful, unlawful show of being shocked. He tore his clothes and charged the Lord of glory with blasphemy. He had no interest in asking honestly whether it was true that Jesus was the Son of God.
Tearing the robe did more than break a rule.
In his frenzy the high priest tore his clothes. By that act he destroyed his priesthood, and he pronounced the Lord guilty of blasphemy.
Set against that ruined office stands the priesthood of the One on trial.
In Israel, tearing your clothes was a sign of mourning. Signs of mourning did not fit priestly character, because the priest draws near to God, and mourning has no place in His presence. A priest was never to tear his garments. Caiaphas did this when questioning the Lord Jesus (Matt. 26:65), an offence for which the law demanded the death penalty. For above all, the High Priest is a picture of the Lord Jesus. Will His garments of priestly dignity ever be torn? Absolutely not! That would point to some failure or fault in His priestly work. Thank God this is impossible. He remains faithful and true forever!
Everything Jesus endures in this room comes from human hands. Commentators mark a clear line between that suffering and His suffering at the hand of God.
It is a solemn thing to think about this — to consider Who He was, while men heaped all these insults on Him! But this is no part of His atoning work. Atonement was made when He suffered at the hand of God. He suffered at the hands of men for righteousness — for God. He suffered at the hand of God for sin — for us.
- No evidence. The court wanted a death sentence but could not produce one. The witnesses contradicted each other.
- His own word. What false testimony could not achieve, His truthful confession did — they condemned Him for telling them who He is.
- The charge. "Blasphemy" meant claiming what belongs to God alone. The leaders understood His answer, and refused it.
- The torn robe. The high priest broke the law he was sworn to keep. By tearing his garments he ruined the office he judged from.
- The robe that holds. Caiaphas destroyed his own priesthood. Christ's garments of priestly dignity will never be torn, because His work never fails.
Ye have heard the blasphemy; what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.
Every witness against Jesus had collapsed. So the court fell back on the only evidence left: His own answer about who He is. The verdict is unanimous, and it comes from the nation's religious leaders. What did they mean by "blasphemy," and why were they so sure?
The men who wanted Him dead could not build a case. So the sentence rests on what Jesus said about Himself.
Man fails in everything, except in malice against Jesus. Bribed testimony from the witnesses, judges ready to condemn — and still everything failed. The testimony did not agree. As the law required, there must be two or three witnesses in agreement; but these did not agree. The result was that Jesus was rejected, not for the false testimony of man, but on the true testimony of God. It was for His own testimony that they condemned Him. He came witnessing to the truth, and He witnessed to it to death.
The outcome was never in doubt. They only had to find a route to it.
We must understand that the Lord's condemnation was a settled thing. The chiefs of the Jews were only looking for a way to carry out wickedness and murder while keeping up the appearance of justice.
The word had a definite meaning for them, and it fastened on what He claimed about Himself.
Blasphemy in Holy Scripture, while sometimes used for evil speech against man, also refers to evil speaking against or about God. The charge of blasphemy brought against our Lord on this occasion came from an assumption of the scribes. They held that by pronouncing forgiveness of sins He was taking to Himself one of the attributes that belong to God alone. The Jews saw His claim to be the Son of God in the same way. As the Lord said to them, "Do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?"
Two things stand out here: who was really being judged, and who actually broke the law.
The prophet Micah had predicted that "the Judge of Israel" would be made subject to human judgment. This came to pass. They condemned Him on the ground of the witness He bore to Himself, and even in doing this they broke the law themselves. It was written: "The priest who is chief among his brothers … shall not … tear his clothes" (Leviticus 21:10). The high priest ignored this. He was so agitated in the presence of his Victim, so carried away with anger and hatred.
One writer weighs what that act cost the man who made it — and where their verdict was aimed.
In his frenzy the high priest tore his clothes. By that act he destroyed his priesthood, and pronounced the Lord guilty of blasphemy. Their verdict recalls the command in Deuteronomy 21 about a man put to death and hanged on a tree: "a hanged man is cursed by God." From then on they were determined that He should be hanged on a tree — the object not only of their accusations but, as they hoped, accursed of God.
The whole council agreed. And the One they sentenced answered the abuse with no resistance.
In the eyes of these leaders, blinded by unbelief, the truth appears as blasphemy. Without a single dissenting voice "they all condemned Him as deserving death." In perfect submission to the Father's will, He offers no resistance to the outrages of those who spit in His face and strike Him with their hands. Yet He is the One who will soon be exalted to the right hand of power, and come again in glory.
They proved no crime. So what drove them?
On earth there was a power strong enough to drive away all the effects of sin, for the power of God showed itself in goodness. But this only awakened the natural enmity of the human heart against Him. There was no motive for the death of Jesus; this enmity was the only cause. What took away the terrible effects of sin did not take the sin itself out of man's heart. It revealed God enough to awaken the natural enmity of the heart, and so to show what that heart is.
The sentence passed that night was not the last word spoken about Him.
Goodness in human form had been shamefully betrayed, cruelly treated and rejected. A solemn legal process, religious and civil, condemned Him as worthy of death in its most shameful form. "This is the heir. Come, let us kill him," had been the language of the leaders of the nation. But God "raised him from the dead and gave him glory," and so reversed the verdict of the world.
- Charge. They called it blasphemy because He claimed what belongs to God — the right to forgive sins, and the name Son of God.
- Court. Every witness failed. They condemned Him on His own testimony — the true testimony of God.
- Judge. Tearing his robe broke the law he judged by. In sentencing the Judge of Israel, the high priest ended his own priesthood.
- Verdict. Not one voice dissented. They aimed at a death on a tree, and the One who will sit at the right hand of power took the blows without resistance.
- Reversal. Enmity was the only motive for His death. God answered the world's sentence by raising Him and giving Him glory.