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A Series of Lessons in Mystic Christianity1038
Then down toward the city they led Him—the Master of All Power, an
humble captive, non-resistant and awaiting the course of The Will. They
took Him to the palace of the Jewish High-priest, where the Sanhedrin was
assembled in secret session awaiting His coming. And there He stood erect
before these ecclesiastical tyrants to be judged—bound with the cord as a
common criminal. He, whose single effort of His will would have shattered
the whole palace to pieces and have destroyed every human being within
its walls!
And this was but the beginning. During the next eight hours He was
subjected to six separate trials, if indeed such mock proceedings might be
so designated. Subjected to blows, and all manner of low insults, the Master
remained a Master. Perjured witnesses testified, and all manner of crimes
and heresies were charged against Him. Then Caiaphas asked Him the
all-important question, “Art thou the Christ?” and Jesus broke His silence
to answer positively, “I am!” Then the High-priest cried out vehemently,
rending His sacred robes in his pious indignation, “He has blasphemed!”
From that moment there was no possible chance of escape for the Master.
He had virtually condemned Himself by His own words. There was no
retreat or reprieve. He was roughly pushed from the hall and like a common
criminal was turned over to the taunts and revilings of the mob, which
availed itself of its privileges to the full in this case. Insults, curses, revilings,
taunts, and even blows, came fast and furiously upon Him. But He stood it
all without a murmur. Already His thoughts had left earthly things behind,
and dwelt on planes of being far above the wildest dreams of men. With His
mind firmly fixed on the Real, the Unreal vanished from His consciousness.
In the early part of the day following the night of His arrest, Jesus was
taken before Pontius Pilate, the Roman official, for His trial by the civil
authorities. Pilate, in his heart, was not disposed to condemn Jesus, for he
believed that the whole trouble consisted in theological and ecclesiastical
differences with which the civil law should not concern itself. His wife had
warned him against becoming involved in the dispute, for she had a secret