17/03/2026
Matthew 26:65
Mark 14:63–64..high priest tore his robes...
ἱμάτιον [hi-MA-ti-on] cloak, outer garment (Matthew)
χιτών [chi-TON] tunic, inner garment (Mark)
Consequently, his action of tearing his High Priestly garment may have been “an ironic foreshadowing of the rending of the veil of the temple he serves.” The parallel account in Mk 14:63 employs the word chitōnas which is the word used in the Septuagint at Exodus 28:4 and Leviticus 16:4. Thus, the Gospels mention both the tearing of the High Priest’s robe and the temple’s veil in the events surrounding Jesus’ death—whose death justifies God’s judgment on Israel (Rev 1:7).
--Kenneth Gentry, Navigating the Book of Revelation
..need any more witnesses...
μάρτυς [MAR-tus] witness, testifier
Jesus testified, and became a martyr.
Acts 1:8 You will be my witnesses (martyrs).
This fate happened many times. Historians report that the first 32 popes died as martyrs.
..”blasphemy”...
Caiaphas understood the scripture and Jesus' claim instantly, then rejected it.
Daniel 2:34, 44 The supernatural stone that crushed world kingdoms.
Daniel 7:9-13 The Messiah who would rule the eternal kingdom, the second great power in heaven, YHWH.
To claim to be God would indeed be blasphemous, unless the statement were true. They certainly did not accept his testimony. Who would dare to be disrespectful to God? Jesus gave them what they hoped to hear, and they took his bait.
Q: What did Jesus say that equaled blasphemy to the priests?
The false witnesses’ testimony about the temple was rejected, and had nothing to do with the outcome
Matthew 26:64 Jesus openly claimed to be the Messiah. (Mark 14:62, Luke 22:70) Many had claimed this; no problem.
When Jesus quoted Daniel 7:13, Caiaphas understood that Jesus was claiming to be that son of man, and therefore, deity.
Blasphemy was the preferred charge to justify the ex*****on of Jesus.
When Caiaphas needed a different excuse as leverage to force Pilate to carry it out, he would come up with one.
“Let him that blasphemes God (Greek blasphēmēsas theon) be stoned, then hung for a day, and buried ignominiously and in obscurity.” --Josephus, Antiquities, 4.202
Q: Did Caiaphas realize what would happen if Jesus really were the Messiah?
I wonder if any of the priests’ hair was standing on end?
But the personal consequences to Caiaphas and his family were hardly less distasteful. We do not know what changes in the Constitution of the Sanhedrin would have taken place under a truly Messianic regime. They would probably have been very considerable. But one thing is certain: the supreme ascendancy of the high priest, as the arbiter of the national fortunes, would have suffered eclipse. Whatever aspects of its ancient and historic form the Hebrew Constitution might have retained, the real dynast would have been the Messiah.
--Frank Morison, Who Moved the Stone?
But that was only an excuse to justify killing Jesus.
The Jewish officials did not kill Jesus for going around preaching “love one another” or for healing the sick or for performing miracles. They killed him because he had taken their honor—a limited resource.
First, Jesus’ conflict with the Jewish leadership begins in the previous chapter: “Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him” (Mt 21:23). The questions are posed in the most important public place in all of Israel. There couldn’t be any higher stakes in the honor game.
The second point Matthew makes is at the end of the conflict story: “No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions” (Matthew 22:46).
Jesus won. The leaders then decide to kill Jesus. Honor is at stake here. They cannot just go down to the assassin’s booth at the market. Sticking a knife in Jesus in some Jerusalem alley would make him a martyr. They need to publicly disgrace Jesus in order to get their honor back. They need him executed as a criminal.
--Randy Richards
See just how mean-spirited these Jews were: Note at Matthew 27:22.
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