Religious Wickedness Meets Perfect Righteousness | Matthew 26:57-68

Scripture

• Matthew 26:57–68

About this sermon

Introduction: Jesus has been arrested in the garden, and now He will endure two trials, each trial having three phases, within the span of just a few hours. Our God not only tells us that Jesus was taken through trials — He shows us WITH DETAILS that these trials were a mockery of justice and an attack on righteousness. What does He mean for us to see? Well, as we will be reminded throughout our study of these trials, the innocence of God’s Son is being demonstrated and documented. The facts are set before us that demonstrate that though He died the death of a criminal, there was no guilt in Him. As an apologetic for the gospel, as answer for unbelieving critics of Christianity, the record must be clear concerning what Jesus was charged with and what the truth was about those charges, and the gospel writers provide us with that clear record. But something else stands out at the same time. We see the wickedness of those who wanted Him dead. AND THAT WICKEDNESS WAS ON DISPLAY IN THE LIVES OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS. IT ALERTS US TO THE FACT THAT GREAT WICKEDNESS CAN EXIST IN THE RELIGIOUS REALM. IT ALSO TELLS US HOW THAT RELIGIOUS WICKEDNESS BEHAVED. IT WAS NOW RELIGIOUS WICKEDNESS THAT HAD ITS HANDS ON PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS. THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS HAD ITS HANDS ON THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. How does religious wickedness treat perfect righteousness? ESV Acts 2:23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. This is what you see in the trial that was held before Caiaphas the high priest. There are two distinct phases to the trials of Jesus prior to His condemnation and crucifixion. There is the Jewish phase, and then the Roman phase. The Jewish phase represents RELIGIOUS WICKEDNESS. The Roman phase represents CIVIL WICKEDNESS. And as we look at the Jewish phase of Christ’s trials there are five things I want us to see about religious wickedness when it is met with perfect righteousness. Now, something I want to say before we look at these five things. THE TRUE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST HAS ALWAYS KNOWN AND ACKNOWLEDGED THAT WICKEDNESS OFTEN DRESSES IN THE ROBES OF RELIGION. Lost humanity wants to group all religion together. Lost people want to believe that ALL THAT CALLS ITSELF CHRISTIANITY IS CHRISTIANITY, and that Christianity is no different than any of the world’s religions. Lost people also want to believe that Christians would defend anything and everything that is dressed in religious garb. This is not true, and it has NEVER been true. THE BIBLE IS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR FROM BEGINNING TO END THAT THERE IS TRUE RELIGION AND FALSE RELIGION. THE BIBLE IS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR THAT SATAN OFTEN COMES AS AN ANGEL OF LIGHT. THE BIBLE IS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR THAT FALSE PROFESSORS EXIST, HAVE ALWAYS EXISTED, AND JUDAS IS JUST THE MOST HEINOUS EXAMPLE OF THAT. Paul was warning churches in the first century about false Christs. ESV 2 Corinthians 11:4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. THE TRIALS OF OUR LORD DEMONSTRATE THE HATEFULNESS, THE CRUELTY, THE DISHONESTY, THE DISREGARD FOR JUSTICE, THAT CAN EXIST IN THE REALM OF PUBLIC RELIGION. What do we see in Christ’s trial before Caiaphas? I. RELIGIOUS WICKEDNESS ON DISPLAY IN THE CONDUCT OF THE TRIAL (vs.57-58) The first place where religious wickedness is on display is in the way that Christ’s trial was conducted. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT CHRIST’S JEWISH TRIAL, JUST KNOW THAT WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IS SOMETHING THE JEWS KNEW TO BE PRELIMINARY TO THE CASE THEY WOULD HAVE TO MAKE TO THE ROMANS. This, then, is more like a trial before the trial. As we noted already, this part of Christ’s trials had three phases. First, they took him before Annas. ESV John 18:12 So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. 13 First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14 It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people. Both Annas and Caiaphas are called the high priest because Annas held the office in the legitimate way (and it was lifelong), and Caiaphas was the latest of the handpicked office-holders by Rome.