The Gospel of John

The Ecclesiastical or Church Trial

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Conversations, Panels and Sermons

Lesson: 61- 70

Genre:

Track: 063

Dictation Name: RR197AH63

Location/Venue:

Year:

Let us worship God. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desires of them that fear Him, He will also hear their cry and will save them. Oh Thou that hearest prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come. Let us pray.

Oh Lord our God we give thanks unto Thee that Thou art ever near. That there is no grief nor sorrow too great for Thee to heal. Thou knowest the needs of our hearts, of our lives, of our loved ones better than Thee. Give us grace day by day to cast our every care upon Thee, to come to Thee, to rely wholly upon Thy mercies and to know that Thou dost always undertake for us. Do Thou bless us as we give ourselves to the study of Thy word, hear and answer the petitions of every heart and open us to Thy word, in Christ’s name, Amen.

Our scripture is John 18:12-27. John 18:12-27. Our subject: The Ecclesiastical or Church Trial.

“ Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,

13 And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.

14 Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.

15 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.

16 But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter.

17 Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not.

18 And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.

19 The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine.

20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.

21 Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.

22 And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?

23 Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?

24 Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.

25 And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not.

26 One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him?

27 Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.”

Our Lord was tried twice, the first trial was by the Sanhedrin, the second by the Roman civil authority. The arresting officers bound Jesus, He was arrested on capitol charges with execution likely and therefore steps were taken to prevent escape. Also given Jesus’ popularity the arrest was at night for fear of the crowds who normally followed Him. Jesus was led to Annas, a very powerful ex-high priest whose ties to Rome were so strong that he was able to get the same office for five of his sons and also for his son-in-law, Caiaphas. The name Annas in other forms is Annias, Annanas and Hanni. This family dominated the high priestly office from Annas’ term, 7-14 A.D. on. The main and critical examination was before Caiaphas who then held office but Annas was so important that Jesus was first led to him. Caiaphas, the high priest, was the man who said that it was better for one man to die than for the nation to perish. John gives less space to the trial than we would expect, and he concentrates on Peter’s denial of Christ. John was with Peter at the time, both had indicated their readiness to die with Jesus as had all the disciples, they were outside the examination room but the open door enabled them to see and hear what happened and what was said. John was related to the ruling families and was able to gain entrance for the two of them. John was no doubt inside much of the time but he went back and forth and kept in touch with Peter. A serving girl at the door seemed to recognize Peter as a disciple and questioned Him.

Peter denied that he was a follower of Jesus, there was a fire in that area where various servants and officers warmed themselves as did Peter also. Again Peter was asked if he were not a disciple and again he denied it, a third time a kinsman of Malchus whose ear Peter had severed asked the same question and this man had been one of the arresting party. Because of the darkness identification was not certain, again Peter denied Christ and immediately the cock crew. No man thus among the disciples gained credit for standing faithfully for Jesus Christ. All had to acknowledge in time that they stood only by His grace, not by their merit. This gave them no ground for presumption but only served as a motor for grateful and faithful service. Peter in his betrayal was not unique, he serves as a representative here of all the disciples. The trial of Jesus began with the demand that he give an accounting of his disciples and of his doctrine. Apparently at this point some consideration had been given to arresting and trying all the disciples if any disturbances should erupt. Furthermore they demanded an accounting of His doctrine. They were insisting that Jesus give them what they wanted for His prosecution. The evidence in hand was highly favorable to Jesus, His healing miracles and much more. The evidence against Him was miracles performed on the Sabbath day, which for them was illegal, not in terms of the law. What was avoided was the messiah-ship, a touchy subject, they never raised that question. What they had already found reprehensible in Him that He had declared Himself to be the Son of God. The religious leaders in their statement to Pilate said that we have a law and by our law He ought to die because He made Himself the Son of God.

Then as now religious leaders find this offensive. Then as now as their presupposition leaders in churches want to reduce Jesus to a totally human status. The response of Jesus was blunt, He said I spoke openly to the world, I even taught in the synagogue and in the temple, I have been open about everything, in secret have I said nothing. Ask of those who heard me and ye will get the truth if you want it. Our Lord clearly states that the truth is no concern of the religious leaders, only His condemnation. His ministry had been a very public one, they were avoiding the critical issues of His Messiah-ship and deity. When later Pilate did ask Him art Thou the king of the Jews the question was obviously uppermost in Pilate’s mind. After all, he was an informed official, he knew about Jesus, but the religious leaders were not so direct. On His refusal to answer Annas an officer of the Sanhedren slapped Jesus saying ‘answerest thou the chief priest so?’ Annas was given the title although no longer holding office as a courtesy even as ex-governors are now still called governor. Annas as I said was high priest for about seven years and then five of his sons and now his son-in-law succeeded him. Rome had found it dangerous to allow a high priest to continue as the law specified for life. The high priests in time had developed quite a system for enriching themselves. You could not bring your sacrifices you had to come and buy them at the temple, this is an occasion for much money making because if you could only buy the sacrificial animals there at the temple you had to pay their price.

And of course your Greco-Roman money was tainted, therefore you had to buy a special coinage and there was a great deal of profit in selling the temple coins. In a single year any high priest from his portion of the sales of animals and monetary exchange would make far, far more than a million dollars in our money and that was when a man’s annual income would be a fraction of what it is now. So the office was dangerous to Rome, there was too much power, too much wealth concentrated in it, so they began a rotation and it became finally before the end of Jerusalem an annual rotation to prevent too powerful a man with too much money from holding office and thereby able to finance a revolution. But the only evidence admissible to this fraudulent court was evidence to convict and so our Lord for calling attention to the truth was slapped. The rules of many a court then and now are rigged against the truth because men are evil and too often now evil is behind the bench as well as before the bench. For an innocent man to be subject to an evil court is a disaster. Jesus was then sent still bound to the court of the current high priest, Caiaphas. His challenge, if I have spoken evil bear witness of the evil, had challenged Annas to bring forth any evil word or deed in His life and ministry whereby they could rightfully try and convict Him. In effect He had said produce your evidence, you know there is none.

This impossible task Annas passed on to his son-in-law, the current high priest Caiaphas. Every attempt was made to give a semblance of legality to an illegal trial. It is ironic; years ago I was a student I heard a scholar say the trial couldn’t have existed because it was illegal obviously. Since when has illegality restrained any official of state or church? The high priest as I said was to be a high priest for life, the Romans had changed that. Legally in terms of biblical law Annas was still high priest because it was an office for life. But in trying Jesus before Annas first and then Caiaphas the sticklers for the details of the law would be satisfied. So they were giving a semblance of legality. This was in the spirit of Phariseeism which infected the Sadducees as well, but! A night trial was also illegal. So on account after account the whole proceedings was evil. But in a fallen world the last thing men want is the truth. I’ve called this text the ecclesiastical or church trial and with reason. Whenever the church explicitly or implicitly departs from Christ and the holy and inscriptured word of God, the Bible, it departs from the truth and tries to put Christ and His true church on trial. Evil proceedings in church and state are going on day after day. Only yesterday I read the report of a friend, perhaps the most dedicated man in His particular church, and yet he has been threatened with lawsuits by bishops and archbishops and cardinals, why?

Because he told the truth. He has asked them to tell him where he has erred in any statement of fact and they refuse to answer him. Truth and legal procedures are often on different tracks, never more so than in the crucifixion of our Lord. His crucifixion, His trial, His sentence were a product of a total hatred for Him. He came closest to a fair trial before the Roman court, Pilate, and it was only because Pilate did not want to be pushed around by the Judeans and he knew enough of the case to know that there was no guilt; but he went along with what the religious leaders wanted. Justice is a rare commodity in a fallen world and given the fact of evil men in power injustice prevails. A system changes nothing. Evolutions have routinely worsened the conditions of men because they represent a false belief that there are arrangements will alter the status of things and usher the reign of truth, but no rearrangement of rotten eggs will ever produce a good omelet. Let us pray.

Our Father we give thanks unto Thee for Thy word. We thank Thee that for our sakes our Lord came, was tried, crucified, buried and rose again from the dead to set us free, to make us a new creation in Him. We thank Thee that now and always He is mindful of us, closer to us than we are to ourselves. Give us grace therefore our Father to turn to Him in prayer, to cast our cares upon Him, to know that His purposes for us are altogether good and holy, righteous. In His name we pray, Amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes?

[Question Unintelligible]

[Rushdoony] Yes.

[Same person continues]

[Rushdoony] Well Fredrick Niche wrote that lying was more important than telling the truth because lying was necessary for survival and therefore anyone who was not a fool would lie.

The problem with lying of course is always that people get the lie and the truth so confused they don’t remember what is real and sooner or later they begin contradicting themselves, and this is why it is dangerous for a man who has lied once to get on a stand again because the truth and the lie are so mixed up, so confused in his thinking, that the line between the two is blurred. One of the things that happens first to the habitual liar is that he begins believing his own lies and this is why historically conmen are the biggest suckers of all. They wind up being suckers for the very kind of act that they put on for others and get wiped out. Someone should write a history of the famous American conmen and how they took the vast sums they conned people out of and put them into get rich quick schemes to try and get even richer. What I do know is the difference between truth and falsehood becomes blurred in the mind of those who lie and it is an interesting and a grim fact that in Niche’s life truth and error became radically blurred, radically blurred, as did right and wrong. Yes?

[Question Unintelligible]

[Rushdoony] No.

[Question Unintelligible]

[Rushdoony] Is that the one that is about the Clintons, ostensibly, yes, all I know is that Stephanopoulos was shocked when he read it because he said there was a conversation during the campaign between himself and Clinton with no one present and it was reproduced in the book.

Well if there are no further questions let us conclude with prayer.

Our Father we give thanks unto Thee for Thy word. We give thanks unto Thee for Jesus Christ our Lord, the truth, the way, the truth and the light. Make us strong in Him that as we face an evil world we may be more than conquerors through Christ. And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost bless you and keep you guide and protect you, this day and always, Amen.