ther, both chief priest and
scribes; and they led Jesus away into their council (Luke xxii. 66).
This scene had already been so well rehearsed that it probably did not
take many minutes to run through the necessary stages, according to the
precise formulae of Jewish procedure. The method that had already
proved so valuable was quickly repeated. Questioning Him first as to
His Messiahship, Caiaphas, as spokesman to the rest, said formally, "If
Thou art Christ, tell us."

It was a sorry figure that stood before them. Dishevelled and in
disarray, with disordered garments, the spittle still hanging about His
face, and the marks of the awful storm and mental anguish stamped on
every feature, the innate dignity and glory of Jesus shone out in His
every movement, and notably in His majestic answer, "What do you ask
Me? You have no real desire to know! If I tell you, ye are in no mood
to believe! And if I ask you your warrant for refusing to believe, if
I argue with you, if I adduce Scripture to support My claims, ye will
not answer; but though I read the motive of your inquiry, I will give
you all the evidence you desire. From henceforth shall the Son of Man
be seated at the right hand of God."

As to the other charge, involving His Divine nature, the admission of
which involved the crime of blasphemy, they were too eager to wait for
Caiaphas; but with swollen faces, excited gestures, and loud cries,
rising from their seats, and gesticulating with the fury of religious
frenzy, they _all_ said, "Art Thou then the Son of God?" And He said
unto them, solemnly and emphatically, "Ye say that which I am."

Then they turned to one another and said, "What further need have we of
witness? for we have heard from His own mouth." The inquiry was at an
end so far as Jesus was concerned. But they held a further council
against Him, how to construct the indictment which would compel Pilate
to inflict death; for the execution of the sentence of death was kept
resolutely by the Roman Procurator in his own hands.

Finally, as soon as they dared disturb him, they led Jesus from
Caiaphas into the Praetorium, the palace of the Roman governor, who, in
accordance with his custom, had come up from his usual residence at
Caesarea to the Jewish capital, partly to keep order amid the vast
crowds that gathered there at the feast, seething with religious
fanaticism, and partly to try the cases which awaited his decision.
The Jewish authoriti