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2005 Lenten Study Series: Matthew's Passion of Christ

The Arrest and Trial of Christ

Read: Matthew 26:47-67

“I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” ~Matthew 26:64

1. Judas’ betrayal with a kiss was emblematic of his intimacy with Jesus. How do you account for a person, who had been so close to Jesus for several years, betraying him?

2. Jesus put up no resistance, but Peter did (John 18:10). We tend to equate resistance with strength, but in this case, why was surrender a sign of strength?

3. What perspectives shaped Jesus’ strength? Can these same perspectives shape the discipline of surrender in our lives?

4. Why was Jesus an easy person to arrest and a difficult person to accuse? How does he remind us of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53)?

5. Do you think that the false accusers actually believed that Jesus was intent on destroying the building of the temple?

6. Why did Caiaphas ask Jesus if he was the Christ, the Son of God (see Psalm 2 and 2 Samuel 7:12-13)? Why didn’t he ask if he claimed to be the Son of David?

7. At this point, Jesus has absolutely none of the attributes that the religious establishment would have expected the Messiah to have. Throughout his ministry Jesus had refused to say point-blank, “I am the Messiah, the Son of God.” Why was he reluctant to admit to the title of Messiah up until now?

8. Consider the following statement by C. S. Lewis:

“Christ says that He is ‘humble and meek’ and we believe Him; not noticing that, if He were merely a man, humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we could attribute to some of His sayings. I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to” (Mere Christianity, book II, chapter 3).