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1756  |  Matthew 26:54
my dis­posal more than ­twelve le­gions of an­gels?  s 54 But how then ­would the Scrip­tures be
ful­filled  t that say it must hap­pen in this ­way?”
55 In that hour ­Jesus said to the ­crowd, “Am I lead­ing a re­bel­lion, that you have come
out with ­swords and ­clubs to cap­ture me? Ev­ery day I sat in the tem­ple ­courts teach­ing,  u
and you did not ar­rest me. 56 But this has all taken ­place that the writ­ings of the proph­ets
might be ful­filled.”  v Then all the dis­ci­ples de­serted him and ­fled.
Jesus Before the Sanhedrin
26:57-68pp —​ Mk 14:53-65; Jn 18:12,13,19-24
57 Those who had ar­rested ­Jesus took him to Ca­ia­phas  w the high ­priest, ­where the teach­ers
of the law and the el­ders had as­sem­bled. 58 But Pe­ter fol­lowed him at a dis­tance, ­right up to the
court­yard of the high ­priest.  x He en­tered and sat down with the g
­ uards  y to see the ­out­come.
59  The ­chief ­priests and the ­whole San­he­drin  z were look­ing for ­false ev­i­dence ­against
Jesus so that they ­could put him to d
­ eath. 60 But they did not find any, ­though many ­false
wit­nesses  a came ­for­ward.
26:55 Am I leading a rebellion . . . ? ­Jesus asks
if he is being treated as if he were an insur-
rectionist. He notes there would have been
easier times and ways to arrest him (except
that it might have inflamed the crowds).
26:57 – 68 Several irregularities are evident in
Jesus’ appearance before the Sanhedrin: the
court was not to come to a verdict at night,
convene during the Festival, meet in the high
priest’s home, or condemn an accused person
without witnesses to testify on behalf of the
accused. But desperate leaders sometimes
ignore their own laws; some of these may
have been formulated only later; and 27:1 – 2
suggests some pretense of legality after day-
break.
26:57 Caiaphas. See note on v. 3.
26:59  Sanhedrin. See note on Mark 14:55.
looking for false evidence. Shows that the
authorities knew ­Jesus was innocent of any
true violation of their law.
26:60  false witnesses. Mark 14:56 explains
why they were initially of no use.
JERUSALEM DURING THE MINISTRY OF JESUS
N
“Garden Tomb”
(alternate
crucifixion site)
†††
Antonia Fortress
(later Praetorium?)
Herod’s Towers
Traditional
Crucifixion Site
†††
Pool of
Bethesda
Herod’s Royal Palace
Temple
Traditional
Upper
Room?
S
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26:53 s  2Ki  6:17;
Da 7:10; Mt 4:11
26:54 t  ver  24
26:55 u  Mk  12:35;
Lk 21:37;
Jn 7:14, ​28; 18:20
26:56 v  ver  24
26:57 w  ver  3
26:58 x  Jn  18:15
y   Jn  7:32, ​45, ​46
26:59 z  Mt  5:22
26:60 a  Ps 27:12; 35:11;
Ac 6:13