The Court of Opinion

The Court of Opinion

Matthew 26:59-66

59 Now the chief priests, [k]the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, 60 [l]but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two [m]false witnesses came forward 61 and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ ”

62 And the high priest arose and said to Him, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?” 63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”

64 Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

65 Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! 66 What do you think?”

They answered and said, “He is deserving of death.”

It was a travesty of justice.  In even the most corrupt countries, this mockery of judgment was evident to all who saw it come to fruition.  After Jesus’ arrest at Gethsemane, the leaders of the Jewish people sought to find someone, even a false witness, to provide testimony that would condemn him.  They found two eventually, who used his words out of context to condemn Him of blasphemy, which was so idiotic and blasphemous itself that the chief priest made a mockery of the entire process through his judgment.  

It was a travesty of justice, but in the long game it was merely just a court of opinion that convicted Jesus.  The chief priests, elders, and all the council wanted Jesus dead because in their opinion, he couldn’t possibly be the Christ.  After all, He didn’t approve of their teachings or behavior, and besides, He took the spotlight off of them.  In fact, everything Jesus did was authentic, and all they did was corrupt, especially in this sham trial.  They wanted to replace truth with opinion and ignore the obvious evidence that Jesus was, indeed, the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Still today, people seek to replace truth with the court of opinion.  If enough people feel strongly about a subject, surely they are right.  They say things like, “you’re on the wrong side of history,” or “that’s not my truth.”  The honest truth is that there is only one truth, and it’s not found in the court of opinion, regardless of how many throw their feeble voices towards it.  Only Christ holds the truth, because He is truth.  His word is the only truth that matters, and all else is just opinion and false testimony.  If we want to find out the truth in life, we cannot look anywhere but Jesus.  His truth remains with us, if we are willing to receive it.  So let the court of opinion say what they want.  In the end…Jesus was raised from the dead.  Jesus raised up His church.  And in the end, Jesus will come once more from the clouds of heaven to put a period at the end of this mortal world.  Jesus is truth, and no one can ever change it.

God bless,

Michael