hand is indicative of the fact that if He were on earth today they would do little differently. Their lives are wrapped up in themselves. See what love this shows when Jesus willingly died for the rebellious hearts of men. We notice from His experience be fore Caiaphas the truth of the Mes siah. We notice also the depravity of man. But also, it emphasizes the program of Christ and what He came to do. In verse 54, it says, "How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" Christ came that He might die. When it was argued to save Him self, He says, "I could presently have more than 12 legions of an gels, if I called on the Father to do so. But, it must be fulfilled that I would die." In John 11 it speaks of Christ and His desire that He might die. He came for the pur pose of dying. We notice also the resurrection of Christ emphasized. And the accusation which the false witness brought (Ja. 6:1) said, "This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of Cod, and to build it in three days." This claim was made by Christ in John 2:19. They did not understand that He was speaking of the temple of His body, and that He was going to be raised from the grave in three days. Even in the darkness of this hour, as man was doing his worst, Christ gave the blessed promise of His return (vrs. 64). He used this as an opportunity to affirm the truth declared by Daniel that He would be the One, coming in the clouds of heaven, sitting on the right hand of power. He had the calm assur ance that the cross would be fol lowed in three days by the resur rection.
Caiaphas rejected Christ (vrs. 65). He tore His clothes signifying his utter contempt for the Lord. He accused Christ of blasphemy. Every person who has ever lived has to come to a decision as to whether Christ made a mistake or told the truth. The choice is not was Jesus a good Man. The real question is, was Christ Cod? Caia phas had a great responsibility as high priest. He was to lead the people spiritually. We, too, have a great responsibility—the respon sibility of bearing a true testimony of the cross, the resurrection, and Christ's coming again. JUDAS ISCARIOT Surrounding the cricifixtion of our Lord Jesus Christ, there were several who made very sad choic es. One of the most pronounced was Judas Iscariot. Although num bered with the Saviour'sTollowers, Calvary became his crisis. It is hard to imagine how this hypo critical character could have done what he did. His character is revealed very interestingly as the woman with the alabaster box shows her love and devotion by using the prec ious ointment to anoint the head of our Lord. Judas called it a waste, condemning her actions (Matt: 26: 6-13). Judas was not so much in terested in seeing the profit from its sale go to the poor. He wanted the money for himself! Certainly the woman had made the right choice. Because material gain was his goal, we next find Judas going to the chief priests to betray our Lord (vrs. 15). He was determined to get his money in one way or an other.
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