{"id":36260,"date":"2019-08-02T11:12:01","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T15:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=36260"},"modified":"2019-08-02T11:13:03","modified_gmt":"2019-08-02T15:13:03","slug":"caiaphas-unjust-accusation-of-jesus-as-a-blasphemer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2019\/08\/caiaphas-unjust-accusation-of-jesus-as-a-blasphemer.html","title":{"rendered":"Caiaphas’ Unjust Accusation of Jesus as a Blasphemer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

At Jesus\u2019 trial, He was questioned by Caiaphas<\/a> the high priest:<\/p>\n

Matthew 26:63-66 <\/b>(RSV)\u00a0And the high priest said to him, \u201cI adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.\u201d [64] Jesus said to him, \u201cYou have said so. But I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.\u201d [65] Then the high priest tore his robes, and said, \u201cHe has uttered blasphemy. Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy. [66] What is your judgment?\u201d They answered, \u201cHe deserves death.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The rationale for blasphemy couldn\u2019t sensibly be (from the 1st century Jewish pharisaicl perspective) that Jesus was merely claiming to be the Messiah<\/em> (citing Daniel 7:13-14, a well-known messianic passage).<\/p>\n

That alone wouldn\u2019t be blasphemy (though it could very well be a serious falsehood, if the claimant was in fact not the Messiah). So why did Caiaphas charge Him with blasphemy? Perhaps it\u2019s because Jesus said \u201cyou will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power.\u201d See:<\/p>\n

Daniel 7:13<\/b>\u00a0I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.<\/p>\n

Psalm 110:1<\/b>\u00a0The LORD says to my lord: \u201cSit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But what doesn\u2019t make sense is that both passages present the Messiah in [personal] contrast to God [the Father] (as the second person of the Trinity, so we claim). There is<\/em> such a person who sits next to God, in the Hebrew Scriptures: the Messiah. Jesus claimed to be the Messiah (Christ<\/em>) in this same passage. I would love to ask Caiaphas, then, if I could: \u201cwhy do you assume<\/em> that Jesus was\u00a0not\u00a0<\/i>the Messiah? Why could He not\u00a0possibly<\/b><\/i>\u00a0be<\/i>\u00a0the Messiah? How do you\u00a0know<\/i>\u00a0that He was not? And why did you accuse Him of blasphemy?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hence,\u00a0Expositor\u2019s Greek Testament<\/i><\/a>\u00a0writes, in harmony with my reasoning:<\/p>\n

Was it blasphemy for a man to call Himself Messiah in a country where a messiah was expected? Obviously not. It might be to call oneself Messiah falsely. But that was a point for careful and deliberate examination, not to be taken for granted. The judgment of the high priest and the obsequious vote of the Sanhedrim were manifestly premature.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Likewise,\u00a0Barnes\u2019 Notes on the Bible<\/i><\/a>:<\/p>\n

If he had not been the Messiah, the charge would have been true; but the question was whether he had not given evidence that he was the Messiah, and that therefore his claims were just. This point \u2013 the only proper point of inquiry \u2013 they never examined. They assumed that he was an impostor, and that point being assumed, everything like a pretension to being the Messiah was, in their view, proof that he deserved to die.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think the odd and unjust behavior is explained by the fact that the council was already prejudiced against Him, based on false testimony, and wanted to kill Him, and would accept any pretext in order to do so. They weren\u2019t thinking rationally or fairly. Hence it says in context:<\/p>\n

Matthew 26:59-60<\/b>\u00a0Now the chief priests and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, [60] but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. . . .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

See similar passages:<\/p>\n

Matthew 27:1<\/strong>\u00a0When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death; (cf. Mk 14:55)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Luke 22:2\u00a0<\/strong>And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death; for they feared the people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

John 11:45-53<\/strong>\u00a0Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him;\u00a0[46] but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.\u00a0[47] So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council, and said, \u201cWhat are we to do? For this man performs many signs.\u00a0[48] If we let him go on thus, every one will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.\u201d\u00a0[49] But one of them, Ca\u2019iaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, \u201cYou know nothing at all;\u00a0[50] you do not understand that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish.\u201d\u00a0[51] He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation,\u00a0[52] and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.\u00a0[53] So from that day on they took counsel how to put him to death.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So when He claimed to be the Messiah and applied Daniel 7 and Psalm 110 to Himself, that was enough for Caiaphas to conclude that He was a blasphemer: either by falsely claiming to be the Messiah or God or both, or improperly expressing exclusively divine prerogatives. But in pharisaical mainstream Judaism the Messiah was not God. So it\u2019s odd that Caiphas said to Jesus: \u201ctell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.\u201d\u00a0In any event, it seems to me that He is indeed claiming to be God, and the Jews react precisely as they did in John 5 and 10:<\/p>\n

John 5:17-18<\/b>\u00a0But Jesus answered them, \u201cMy Father is working still, and I am working.\u201d [18] This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but also called God his Father, making himself equal with God.\u2026<\/p>\n

John 10:30, 33<\/b>\u00a0\u201cI and the Father are one.\u201d\u2026 [33] The Jews answered him, \u201cIt is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Jews of that time certainly seemed to think that \u201cSon of God\u201d and calling God \u201cFather\u201d \/\u00a0Abba<\/i>\u00a0was a blasphemous declaration of Godhood. But they didn\u2019t regard the Messiah as God incarnate.<\/p>\n

The whole thing doesn\u2019t add up, any way you look at it. Caiaphas and the council simply wanted to put Jesus to death, and used any pretense or false pretext in order to do it.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Photo credit:<\/strong>\u00a0Christ before Caiaphas <\/i>(early 1630s), by Matthias Stom (fl. 1615-1649)<\/span> [public domain \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a>]<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At Jesus\u2019 trial, He was questioned by Caiaphas the high priest: Matthew 26:63-66 (RSV)\u00a0And the high priest said to him, \u201cI adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.\u201d [64] Jesus said to him, \u201cYou have said so. But I tell you, hereafter you will see […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":36263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[448,172],"tags":[9131,459,1306,466,1308,3159,468,469,1310,427,3160,9128,1309,2838,1324,910],"class_list":["post-36260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jews-judaism-old-testament","category-trinitarianism-christology","tag-caiaphas","tag-christology","tag-deity-of-jesus","tag-divinity-of-jesus","tag-god-the-son","tag-godhood-of-jesus","tag-holy-trinity","tag-incarnation","tag-jesus","tag-jesus-christ","tag-jesus-is-god","tag-jesus-is-messiah","tag-jesus-of-nazareth","tag-messiah","tag-theology-proper","tag-trial-of-jesus"],"yoast_head":"\nCaiaphas' Unjust Accusation of Jesus as a Blasphemer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I would love to ask Caiaphas, if I could: "why did you assume that Jesus could\u00a0not\u00a0possibly be the Messiah? 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}