at a
special council was called to consider what should be done, with the
result that from that day they took counsel to put Him to death.

Ch. xii. 10.--Their malignity was so great that they consulted whether
they should not put Lazarus to death also; because by reason of him
many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

It was all this that made them fall in so eagerly with the proposal of
Judas that he should betray Him unto them.

Now at last they had Him in their power, and their object was to
convict Him of some crime which would justify the infliction of the
severest sentence of the law. To preserve the appearance of justice,
witnesses were called to testify to some action or speech which would
involve blasphemy against their law, and, if possible, against the
Roman law as well; and it was necessary that two of them should agree
in some specific charge. The chief priests, and elders, and all the
council, Matthew tells us, sought for witness against Jesus to put Him
to death. They brought forward many, but either their charges did not
reach the required degree of criminality, or the clumsy witnesses,
brought hastily forward, undrilled beforehand, broke down so grossly in
their story that for shame's sake they had to be dismissed.

At last two witnesses appeared who seemed likely to agree on a very
momentous charge. They said they had heard Him utter, more than two
years ago, words which seemed to threaten the very existence of the
temple. But, when more closely questioned, their witness also broke
down utterly. It seemed as though Jesus was not to die, except on His
own testimony to His own supreme claims. All lesser counts failed.

All this time, as witness after witness was brought in, our Lord
maintained an unbroken silence. He seemed as though He heard not, but
was absorbed in some other scenes from those transpiring around. What
need was there for Him to interpose, when all the charges proved
abortive? He was, moreover, waiting till the Father gave Him the
signal to open His lips.

At last Caiaphas could restrain his impatience no longer; he sprang to
his feet, and with unconcealed fury fixed his eyes on Jesus and said:
"Answerest Thou nothing? Hast Thou nothing to say, no question to put,
no explanation to offer as to what these witnesses say?" Jesus quietly
returned the look, but held His peace. There are times when it is
treason to hold our peace, when God demands of us to raise ou