| 在彼拉多最終下令將祂釘十架之前，基督面對了五至六次審訊。祂在客西馬尼園被捉拿後，首先被帶到曾當大祭司的亞那面前。亞那因為違抗羅馬的法律而被罷免；雖他還在幕後操控大權，但他在審問基督時並沒有太離譜。 接著，基督被帶到現任大祭司該亞法那裡 （約十八24）。有兩個人來作假見證控告基督，但兩人的見證卻不相合。大祭司最終用了一個詭計來使基督開口，要祂用立誓的方式來回答，說祂是基督、是神的兒子。這是歷史中最關鍵的一刻，基督大可以作出妥協，就可能逃過一死，法庭寂靜無聲。但基督回答說：「是的，你說的是。」祭司們認為這是「褻瀆」神，一致同意祂該當死刑。時約破曉，猶太人公會開會決議要把基督處死（可十五1）。他們把祂解到羅馬巡撫彼拉多那裡 。 祭司們知道，單是控告基督褻瀆，不足以判祂死刑；於是，他們便毀謗祂違抗凱撒的命令，這是嚴重的罪行。彼拉多找不出祂有任何罪行，為了避免作決定，便將基督送到希律那裡；但希律也查不出基督任何罪狀，又把祂送回彼拉多處。 彼拉多不得不作出判決，他下令釋放巴拿巴，卻判基督釘十字架。基督是完全無罪和無辜的，卻要被判死刑。我們當然知道是何原因：祂是為了代替我們，祂承受這一切，以致我們可以得蒙赦罪。正如彼得所言：「祂被掛在木頭上，親身擔當了我們的罪。」（彼前二24）為此，我們今天只要接受祂為我們所做的一切，便可與神和好。這正是神在永恒中所定的計劃，再按著祂所定的時間推行出來。約翰福音三章16節表述了整個救恩計劃，何不安靜地、敬虔地反復閱讀這節經文，為著神所作的重大犧牲，衷心地感謝祂。 |
| Christ faced about five or six trials before Pilate finally gave the order for Him to be crucified. When He was brought from the Garden under arrest, He was firstly taken to Annas who previously had been the High Priest. He had been deposed because of his defiance of Roman law. However, even though he was still the power behind the scenes, he did not get very far in his interview with Christ. Then Christ was taken to Caiaphas, the reigning High Priest (John 18:24). Here two false witnesses spoke against Christ but somehow their evidence did not agree. Finally the High Priest used a strategy to make Christ speak. He put Him on oath to answer and say that He was the Christ, the Son of God. It was one of the greatest moments in history. Christ could have compromised and possibly escaped death. The court was silent. Then Christ spoke, "Yes, it is as you say." The priests called that "blasphemy" and agreed He was worthy of death. Around daybreak, the whole council, or Sanhedrin of the Jews, met and condemned Christ to death (Mark 15:1). They took Him bound to Pilate, the Roman Governor. Here the blasphemy charge was insufficient so they said He was setting Himself up against Caesar, a serious crime. Pilate could find no fault in Him and tried to avoid a decision by sending Christ to Herod. But Herod also could get nowhere with Christ and sent Him back to Pilate. When Pilate could no longer avoid a decision, he released Barabbas and sent Christ away to be crucified. Christ was sinless and innocent, yet was condemned to die. We know why, of course. He took our place. He went through all of this so that we could be forgiven. As Peter said "He bore our sins in His body on the tree" and today we can become reconciled to God by accepting what He did for us. It was all in God's plan - thought out in eternity and carried out in time. John 3:16 says it all. Could you quietly, reverently repeat that verse just now and thank God for His great sacrifice? |
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