3. Sanhedrin

Foul bitter night, the chilling air that sought
To burrow deep into the Lamb of God
And make the journey from the grove a cold
And dreary walk, without His friends with whom
He might converse for comfort. Now bereft
Of fellowship must take the path that leads
To His relentless suffering and pain,
Ill treatment, mockery and spitting vile
To be His lot until He is affixed
To Roman gibbet, greater pain by far.
Bound tight is He, the captive prize of those
Who seek His death, and jostled by the guards
On either side, behind Him and before,
Pushed, beaten, knocked about, tripped and dragged down
And roughly lifted up to continue
Along the path only to suffer yet
More of the same ill treatment as before
To make the journey like an endless dream
Of darkest nightmare, mental anguish finds
Its home inside the Lamb of God to taunt
And mock with lies originating from
The cowardly serpent who, in seeing Him
Dragged helpless, starts his vile searing tirade
From his forked tongue, the same that spoke the lies
Into the mind of Judas to betray
His Master, now spits forth his poisonous
Slanderous accusations, words that twist
And make pure truth unpalatable fare
And poured so gently into weakened mind
To cover all the mental faculties
Until all resembles a stench-filled bog
Of quicksand into which the Lamb of God
Will sink to be seen and heard of no more.
Dear gentle Lamb, now comes the hour so dark
When heavy shadows blot out sunlight’s rays
And light of life seems distant memory
When hurled into the deep abyss of death
From which there seems no possible escape
And chained forever in Hell’s dungeon black.
Walk on, walk on, bereft of majesty
And kingly stature, though this world cannot
Accord such measure to the One who came
From Paradise, eternal kingly shore
That is from the beginning, eternal
Court of the Triune God, true matchless state
As earthly temporal crowns rust in the earth
And fade from memory, such is their lot.
Walk on dear King, fulfil all righteousness
These darkest hours are numbered, they cannot
Contain your majesty by iron grip
Or whip or nails or thorns, they will pass by
Without the hope of capturing the prize
They long for, empty will their profit be.
The Lamb of God, aware that He must meet
What was foretold in ancient prophecies
To form salvation history for all
Who but would take the promise eternal
Of hope to dispel gloom of deepest night
Was brought to Annas, high priest but in name
Deposed by Roman edict and replaced
By Caiaphas of lesser years but still
Of one and the same mindset to destroy
And blot out true Messiahship, the mark
Of Him who for all humankind was sent
To save them from the darkest depths of sin
And who would bear the heavy load himself,
Did ask the Lamb before the assembled throng:
“What is your purpose, why do you stir up
The people with your teaching false, and acts
Which serve to lead astray pure simple minds
From truth which we, true elders do discern
From study and interpretation of
The sacred Torah, prophecy and of
Our glorious history, of Abraham
And Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua
Who founded and who led our people to
This holy land in which our city stands
Procuring freedom from tyrannical
Egyptian rule, being led into the land
Where milk and honey flow to satisfy
Our every need, why do you seek to take
Our destiny away from us, which God
By mighty acts transcending mortal means
To rob our birthright and our chosen state
Has given to us. Come, what say you now?”
The Lamb of God, of wisdom far beyond
The minds of those who sought his death replied:
“Why question me about my teaching and
The acts by which I demonstrate to you
And all who see them, Kingdom heavenly
Of God Almighty, who has sought to bring
Into the midst of hearts and minds of those,
Who will accept the good news of the truth
Of what I say? Eternal benefit
Of salvation will be their lot and all
Of those not of our race who listen and
In their own hearts accept my teaching true.
My message has been spoken to the world
To those with ears to listen and receive
My teaching that points to assurance of
Eternity on Paradise’s shore.
Freely have I spoken, I have not kept
A single word or work from human eyes
And hearts. Why question me? You would do well
To search out and inquire of those of whom
I have just spoken, they will surely know
And in their minds and hearts forever keep
My message of salvation which is for
The whole world. Go and ask them, I have said
All that is needful of this present hour.”
Unrighteous indignation now befell
The Lamb of God, whose answer transcended
All that the high priest Annas could command
In questioning, there came in vain attempt
To silence Him and force retraction of
The answers given, brutal force of might
About the face was rendered, vulgar act
From one of minor rank who spoke out loud:
“How speak you now, do you not realise
That you insult the one who sought to ask
About your teaching, to find out the truth
By which you may be known whether or not
You are a Son of Abraham or just
Another prophet false sent to scatter
The sheep of Israel, how dare you speak thus!”
In innocence of mind and heart, the Lamb
Of God replied to him with wisdom’s heart:
“If I in error have spoken to you
Then with pure heart and mind you would discern
What is it that does cause you great offence
And with righteous indignation would you
Say unto me and those assembled here
What I say that is deemed erroneous.
But what meaning and purpose can there be
By action violent by which you strike
My person, if I spoke nought but the truth?”
No answer came there from the one who smote
The Lamb of God, nor from those who stood by.
Wisdom divine held sway o’er human thought
Such thought spurred on by devious treachery
To bring the Lamb of God to heel, as is
The serpent who, condemned to crawl in dust
Of Eden and in byways of the earth.
Taken, still bound, away from Annas’ sight
And at the priest’s command, the Lamb of God
To Caiaphas was sent who would question
With same intent and purpose to discern
Evil intent within the mind of Him
Where love and innocence do reign within.
Into the nest of vipers save that of
Joseph of Arimathea and the one
Who came to him by night, Nicodemus,
The Lamb of God surrounded by that brood
Still reeling from the criticism giv’n
About the Law of Moses and how they
Interpreted it by their own thinking
Ignoring mercy, love, tenderness, sense
Forbearance, kindness, gentleness and peace
And in their place a rigid adherence
To minute detail, rules inflexible
Replacing godly worship from the heart,
Keeping the nation enslaved in their grip
To suffocate, entangle and control.
Now stood He before them in their intent
To bring about His death, to them was He
A threat to their notion of governance
And their interpretation of the One
Who was to free them from the tyranny
Of Rome and other nations who would seek
To beat them into submission and rule.
Intent were they to find some evidence
Some mere excuse to put the Lamb of God
To death, to salvage their own righteousness
Which as Isaiah said was likened to
Mere filthy rags, compared with the divine
Wisdom and righteousness of Yahweh God.
One after one, false witnesses did bear
Their testimonies to try and secure
The condemnation of the Lamb of God,
And endless train of jumbled words and thought
Which by their disagreement were shown up
For what they were, a web of rancid lies
And arguments which bore no relation
To Jesus’ wisdom, teaching spiritual
Transcending human thought and reasoning
And pointing to establishing the rule
Of Heaven’s kingdom set in human hearts
Wherein the Trinity would make their home.
And Caiaphas, in former argument
Had prophesied that Jesus would be put
To death for the sake of the people for
It would be better for one man to die
Than for the entire nation to perish.
This was so that the Hebrew nation would
Be spared, along with all the children of
Yahweh who were scattered to bring them home
And make them one, yet could not reconcile
Or recognise the Lamb of God to be
The Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One
Lest he too became victim of the wrath
And dark manipulation by those who
Sought Jesus’ death, yet his own prophecy
Would bring about all that he sought to halt:
Establishing in human minds and hearts
God’s kingdom with new laws and commandments.
Jesus as Saviour cancelling the Fall
Of humankind, and consequences of
Sin which leaves human lives untouched by God
In a state of darkness perpetual
Incurring wrath and judgement at the last.
False testimony, evident thus far,
Was spoken by two of the people there
And boldly did they speak: “This fellow said:
‘I, by my hand, am able to destroy
God’s temple and rebuild it in three days.’”
To which similar testimony came
By others who were standing there. They said:
“We heard from his own lips these deranged words:
‘This man-made temple, it will be destroyed
By my own hand, and then another will
Be built by me, but one not made by man.’”
Despite the similarities of these
Testimonies that were offered, yet still
Agreement that was sought eluded them.
A meaningless and pointless web of lies,
A hopeless chasing after the wind that
Always would keep its distance from such talk,
Monstrous irrelevance and waste of breath.
Then Caiaphas, before the multitude,
Stood up and asked Jesus, the Lamb of God:
“Have you no answer that you wish to make?
Many have come forward to testify
Against you, they would not do so unless
They had good reason to, why won’t you speak
Up to defend yourself, if you believe
That you are sent from God to show the way
That leads to our enlightenment and those
Who are but strangers come within our gates?
Tell me, and tell us all, what are all these
Testimonies that have been brought against
Your person, are they true or are they false?
Speak wisdom to us that we may believe
The words that you would want us all to hear.
We will have no reason to doubt all that
You state about yourself, if it is true.”
The Lamb of God, on listening to all
The contradictions of all that was said
Against Him, and in spite of all that had
Been said by Caiaphas, His silence kept.
Despite all efforts to elicit some
Response to all the questions put before
The Lamb of God, and which had no effect,
The high priest, in one final attempt to
Bring the long meeting to its conclusion,
Summoned all of his strength and boldness to
Ask this question, a challenge to the mind
And heart of any soul who dared to ask.
He asked the Lamb of God: “I ask you now,
Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
From every corner of the room there came
Loud gasps of shock, amazement and surprise.
Never before had anyone dared to ask
Such a question about the actual
Presence of Yahweh in a mortal being
Which dared affirmative answer to be
Made in the sight of all now gathered there.
With confidence and boldness that only
Could come from lips where truth had made its home,
The Lamb of God to Caiaphas replied:
“I am. And you will see the Son of Man
Sitting at the right hand of Yahweh God,
The Mighty One, and coming on the clouds
Of Heaven Blest, which is Our Paradise.”
The cries of shock that greeted His answer
Were greater sevenfold than those which came
When Caiaphas his question he did put
Unto the Lamb of God. Then stood he up
And in the presence of the multitude
Did tear his clothes in anger and outrage
At such an answer that befell his ears
And those present, who could contain themselves
No longer. Then did Caiaphas declare
In voice upraised and mixed with hostile rage:
“Why do we need any more witnesses?
His blasphemy has now been heard by all
Here present in this room. What do you think?”
With one accord, they all condemned him thus:
“We condemn him as worthy of nothing
Save that of death, the only punishment.
A tongue that dares to speak such blasphemy
Is only fit for serpents who do crawl
Upon the earth and wallow in the dirt!
Away with him, away and let him be
The subject of our laws which say he must
Be put to death, there is no other way
By which we can be cleansed of this foul speech!”
The Lamb of God, now victim of their hate,
Was subject to all manner of abuse
That rained down on him, punching, spitting with
A blindfold being put upon him to
Prophecy who had hit him and when next
Another punch or shower of spit would come
Upon him, such was their revulsion of
The answer that He gave to Caiaphas.
The violence continued more and more
Until the temple guards took him away
And meted out their own beatings upon
The Lamb of God, long was the road that He
Would walk upon, and all to show His love
For fallen humankind so that we may
Choose life and have it more abundantly.