Matthew 26:57-61: a reflection

57Those who had taken Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. 58But Peter followed him from a distance to the court of the high priest, and entered in and sat with the officers, to see the end. 59Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death, 60and they found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward 61and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.’”

At his trial, Jesus faces a court determined to condemn him, actively seeking false testimony against him. Witness after witness comes forward with lies, and even they cannot get their stories straight, until at last two twist his words about the temple into an accusation. Through it all, the innocent one stands before a rigged tribunal, condemned on manufactured evidence, and, as the other Gospels tell us, largely silent.

Notice what Jesus endures here: the deep injustice of being falsely accused, lied about, and condemned though innocent, by people who had already decided the verdict and only needed the lies to justify it. He does not rage, does not frantically defend himself, does not return the lies. He bears the false witness with a steadiness that entrusts his cause to God, as Peter would later write, that when he was reviled, he did not revile in return, but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.

There is comfort here for anyone who has been falsely accused, lied about, condemned on manufactured charges. You follow a Savior who endured exactly that, who knows from the inside the sting of false witness and unjust condemnation. He does not stand aloof from that pain; he entered it. And he entered it for you, bearing the condemnation you deserved so that you might go free. When you face false accusation, remember the silent Christ before his accusers, entrust your cause to the God who judges justly as he did, and rest in the One who was condemned on lies to set you free.

Lord Jesus, you stood before a rigged court, lied about and condemned though innocent, and you bore it silently, entrusting yourself to the God who judges justly. When I am falsely accused and lied about, help me follow you: not raging or frantically defending myself, but entrusting my cause to the Father. And thank you that you bore that unjust condemnation for me, to set me free.