P1910:3, 175:4.1
At the conclusion of Jesus' last discourse in the temple, the apostles once
more were left in confusion and consternation. Before the Master began his
terrible denunciation of the Jewish rulers, Judas had returned to the temple,
so that all twelve heard this latter half of Jesus' last discourse in the
temple. It is unfortunate that Judas Iscariot could not have heard the first
and
mercy-
proffering half of this farewell address. He did not hear this last
offer of mercy to the Jewish rulers because he was still in conference with
a certain group of Sadducean relatives and friends with whom he had
lunched,
and with whom he was conferring as to the most fitting manner of
dissociating
himself from Jesus and his fellow apostles. It was while listening to the
Master's final indictment of the Jewish leaders and rulers that Judas finally
and fully made up his mind to forsake the gospel movement and wash his hands
of the whole enterprise. Nevertheless, he left the temple in company with
the twelve, went with them to Mount Olivet, where, with his fellow apostles,
he listened to that fateful discourse on the destruction of Jerusalem and
the end of the Jewish nation, and remained with them that Tuesday night at
the new camp near Gethsemane.
P1910:4, 175:4.2
The multitude who heard Jesus swing from his merciful appeal to the Jewish
leaders into that sudden and
scathing rebuke which bordered on ruthless denunciation,
were stunned and bewildered. That night, while the Sanhedrin sat in death
judgment upon Jesus, and while the Master sat with his apostles and certain
of his disciples out on the Mount of Olives foretelling the death of the Jewish
nation, all Jerusalem was given over to the serious and suppressed discussion
of just one question: "What will they do with Jesus?"
P1910:5, 175:4.3
At the home of Nicodemus more than thirty prominent Jews who were secret believers
in the kingdom met and debated what course they would pursue in case an open
break with the Sanhedrin should come. All present agreed that they would make
open acknowledgment of their allegiance to the Master in the very hour they
should hear of his arrest. And that is just what they did.
P1911:1, 175:4.4
The Sadducees, who now controlled and dominated the Sanhedrin, were desirous
of making away with Jesus for the following reasons:
P1911:2, 175:4.5
1. They feared that the increased popular favor with which the multitude regarded
him threatened to endanger the existence of the Jewish nation by possible
involvement with the Roman authorities.
P1911:3, 175:4.6
2. His zeal for temple reform struck directly at their revenues; the cleansing
of the temple affected their
pocketbooks.
P1911:4, 175:4.7
3. They felt themselves responsible for the preservation of social order,
and they feared the consequences of the further spread of Jesus' strange and
new doctrine of the brotherhood of man.
P1911:5, 175:4.8
The Pharisees had different motives for wanting to see Jesus put to death.
They feared him because:
P1911:6, 175:4.9
1. He was arrayed in telling opposition to their traditional hold upon the
people. The Pharisees were
ultraconservative, and they bitterly resented these
supposedly radical attacks upon their vested prestige as religious teachers.
P1911:7, 175:4.10
2. They held that Jesus was a lawbreaker; that he had shown utter disregard
for the Sabbath and numerous other legal and ceremonial requirements.
P1911:8, 175:4.11
3. They charged him with blasphemy because he alluded to God as his Father.
P1911:9, 175:4.12
4. And now were they thoroughly angry with him because of his last discourse
of bitter denunciation which he had this day delivered in the temple as the
concluding portion of his farewell address.
P1911:10, 175:4.13
The Sanhedrin, having formally decreed the death of Jesus and having issued
orders for his arrest, adjourned on this Tuesday near midnight, after appointing
to meet at ten o'clock the next morning at the home of Caiaphas the high priest
for the purpose of formulating the charges on which Jesus should be brought
to trial.
P1911:11, 175:4.14
A small group of the Sadducees had actually proposed to dispose of Jesus by
assassination, but the Pharisees utterly refused to countenance such a procedure.
P1911:12, 175:4.15
And this was the situation in Jerusalem and among men on this eventful day
while a vast concourse of celestial beings hovered over this momentous scene
on earth, anxious to do something to assist their beloved Sovereign but powerless
to act because they were effectively restrained by their commanding superiors.