For years, I’ve hated this man.  All he does is stir up trouble for me.  He tries to make light of my laws.  He tries to tell my people that they don’t need to fast…that they don’t need to follow the regulations for the Sabbath.  He’s even called some of my closest friends HYPOCRITES and VIPERS and SNAKES.  Who does this guy think he is?

And then the straw that broke the camel’s back - in front of hundreds of my Jewish people, he raised a man named Lazarus from the dead.  Do you know what something like that could do to us?  And not only us, but our nation?  If we lose control, the Romans will notice.  If we can no longer regulate their actions with our set of laws, the Romans will take over and we can kiss our power good-by.  I’ll certainly lose any political prowess I might have gained.

So as you can see something needed to be done.  Something needed to be done to stop this guy.  Enough tip-toeing around already!  Let’s get this guy out of the picture before we have a real problem on our hands, a problem that could easily get too big to solve.  Better that one man die than a whole nation perish!  That’s what I figured anyways.

And so after doing a little persuading, I got the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders all on my side, that is, all except Joseph and Nicodemus anyway.  I just don’t know what’s gotten into those guys.  But the rest of us put together a mob to go and capture this scoundrel.  And I was happy to hear they followed my most pertinent advice – Get this guy at night…so no one knows about it.  We want to keep this as quiet as possible.  Pay the mob well so they keep their mouths shut.  We’ll handle the situation and move on with our lives.

And that’s exactly what happened.  The mob, led by Judas Iscariot, one of his former disciples, went to arrest this Jesus of Nazareth.  They found him just east of the city, south of the Mount, in the Garden of Gethsemane.  I’m told that his followers ran like cowards when they arrested Jesus.  That really doesn’t surprise me.  You should have seen the men he picked for his disciples (laughter…smile)…man, low-lives!  I’d be surprised if any of them could even recite the Torah.  What kind of “Teacher” was he, anyway?

But forget that, let’s get back to the story.  Everything was going exactly as planned.  And rather than risking the possibility that too many people find out about this, I thought it best to hold the trial right away. 

Now, now I know what you’re thinking, “Caiaphas, you’re a man of rules.  I thought that a legal trial needed to be held during the day.  And not only one trial was needed, but two, in order to justly condemn a man.”  Yes, yes, yes, true.  But my friends, there’s also POLITICS involved with being the high priest.  And in this job, the end always justifies the means.  So sometimes you have to compromise a bit…compromise your core values…your morals.  You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?  You must do that sometimes too, right?  You see I was driven by one goal:  Get rid of this guy before he gets rid of me!

In order to do this, we brought in a few witnesses to, I guess you would say, stretch the truth a bit…like I said – compromises.  But you know, these idiots just couldn’t get it straight.  One would come in and say one thing about him, and then another would screw it all up and say something completely different.

I was feeling that the mood in the room was starting to change.  Not only were we missing a number of the 71 who were members of the Sanhedrin, but some of the members who were present were starting to get up and leave.  This was turning into a fiasco!  I seriously never even considered the possibility that we couldn’t accuse this guy of anything!

And so I had to put it all on the line.  I didn’t care if it was out of place or not. (short pause)  I stood up.  And I asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer?  What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?”

(Softer…slower) Calmly, undisturbed in any way, Jesus looked at me with clear eyes. (long pause) And he looked. (long pause) And he looked.  The silence grew more and more intense.  This guy was looking right through me.  Nothing needed to be said in his defense.  He wasn’t guilty of anything these witnesses claimed.  The only guilty party was me!  I was the one committing the illegal acts!  I knew this…AND IT INFURIATED ME!  HIS SILENCE, HIS PERFECTION, INFURIATED ME!

So forget these witnesses.  Forget that what we’re doing is illegal.  Let’s get to the main point here Jesus.  The reason that we have a problem with you is because you are claiming to be the Messiah, the Son of God. 

And so I got up in his face and asked him in front of all those witnesses, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”  Eye to eye.  Nose to nose.  Me and Jesus. (pause)

“I am,” said Jesus.  “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

(pause) My jaw dropped.  My heart beat faster than it ever has before.  My eyes got big, huge, but my vision became blurry.  I swallowed hard.  Shook my head.  Are you kidding me!?  You are looking me in the eye and telling me point blank that you are the Son of God!?  And that you’re going to come back with the authority to judge the living and the dead?  You’re the one we’re waiting for!?  I didn’t believe it.  I just didn’t believe it.  I just wouldn’t believe it.

And so I ripped my clothes, and I threw them to the ground, and yelled, “Why do we need anymore witnesses?  You have heard the blasphemy.  Forget the vote!  What do you think?”

And then, just as I thought, in unison they all shook their heads and condemned him worthy of death.  “Let’s get him off to Pilate,” I said.  “Let’s finish what we’ve started.”

I suppose you all look down on me, don’t you?  You wonder how I could be so calloused that the Son of God could stand before me, and tell me straight to my face that he was the Christ, yet I wouldn’t believe him?  And yet, when I look around in this day and age, I see people doing the same thing.

I see God speaking to people through his Word, telling them as straight forward as he told me that he is the Christ, yet they won’t believe him.  You’ve probably seen that too.  You’ve told someone about Christ…who Christ is and what he has done for them…and they’ve laughed you out of the room…or maybe just ignored you…or at least waited till you weren’t around to make fun of you.

And if you’re completely honest, like I have been with you today, you’ll probably admit that although you haven’t rejected God to his face, although you haven’t outright called him a liar, you’ve had your doubts.  You’ve had your doubts whether or not coming to church was worth it.  You’ve had your doubts whether all these stories in the Bible are really true.  You’ve had your doubts whether your beliefs are the right ones when there are so many different ideas out there.  You’ve had your doubts, haven’t you?

But let me tell you – whether people believe it or not, whether they doubt or not, truth is still truth!  No matter what you’ll hear, there is such a thing as absolute truth. (long pause) And it was spoken directly to me.  (short pause) I heard it firsthand.  You might think you’ve found truth in Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Mormonism, Post-Modernism, or Atheism…But no matter what you believe the truth is, that doesn’t make it true.  The truth is that this man whom I condemned, Jesus of Nazareth, is the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One.

The man I hated more than anything.  The man I used whatever power I had to condemn.  The man I scorned all the way to Golgotha.  This was the same man that I watched bleeding on the cross.  The same man that I heard proclaim to me, (short pause) and to you, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Whatever doubts you’ve had.  Whatever sins you’ve committed.  He’s inviting you to place your guilt there, at the foot of the cross.  And listen to his words, “Father, forgive them.”