After a while Jesus walked away from the little group.But three of the disciples who were closest to him,followed at a distance.
He turned around and bade them wait and watch while he prayed.
The time had come for a final decision.Escape was still possible,but escape would mean a silent confession of guilt and defeat for his ideas.
He was alone among the silent trees and fought his last great battle.
He was a man in the fullness of his years.
Life still held a great promise.
Death,once his enemies captured him,would come in a most terrible form.
He made his choice.
He stayed.
He went back to his friends.
And behold!They were fast asleep.
A moment later,the whole garden was in an uproar.
Led by Judas,the guards of the Sanhedrin rushed upon the prophet.
Judas was at their head.
He threw his arms around his master and kissed him.
That was the sign for which the soldiers had waited.
At that moment,Peter realized what was happening.
He grabbed the sword from the hand of one of the assailants and fiercely he hacked at him.He hit him on the side of the head and the blood spurted from a ghastly wound.
Jesus put his hand upon Peter's arm.
There must be no violence.
The soldier was only doing his duty.
One blow would only lead to another,and ideas were not fought with daggers and spears.
Jesus was handcuffed and through the dark streets of Jerusalem he was taken to the house of Annas,who together with Caiaphas,his son-in-law,was acting as High Priest.
They shouted with joy.
Their enemy was at their mercy.
The questioning began at once.
Why had Jesus been teaching those pernicious doctrines?
What did he mean by his attacks upon the old ceremonies?
Who had given him the right to speak the way he did?
Jesus answered quietly that it was useless to reply.The priests knew the answer to their own questions.He had never hidden anything from any one.Why waste time upon further talk?
One of the guards,who had never heard a prisoner speak in that fashion to a member of the Sanhedrin,hit Jesus a terrible blow.Then the others took him and bound him even tighter than before and they dragged him to the house of Caiaphas,where he was to spend the night.
It was too late to call the Great Council together.
But as soon as the excited Pharisees and the much-disturbed Sadducees heard of the arrest,they left their beds,and through the dark rushed to the room where Jesus sat,peacefully waiting for what was to happen next.
Suddenly there was a rumour near the door.The guards had got hold of one of the disciples.One of the maids,so they explained,had just told them that this fisherman was a great friend of Jesus and had often been seen with him when they came to town.
Poor Peter was struck by panic.
The lights and the noise and the curses filled his heart with terror.
Tremblingly he denied that he had ever known Jesus.
Angrily the disappointed guards kicked him out of the room.
Jesus once more was alone with his enemies.
In this rough and tumble fashion the night was spent,but the next morning,as early as possible,the Great Council convened,and without examining the evidence or listening to any witnesses,they condemned the Nazarene to death.
According to tradition,it was Friday,April the seventh.
The main purpose had been accomplished.The Pharisees had rid their city of a great menace.
But their work remained as yet only half done.
There came insistent messengers from Roman headquarters.
Pilate wished to know what this commotion meant.
He was told.
No doubt all this was very interesting,but might he remind the Jews that neither their King nor their Council had the right to execute a man without a hearing before the Roman governor of the district?
Much against their will,the Sanhedrin let go of their victim and Jesus was conducted to the royal palace,where Pilate was staying,to be questioned.
The pious Pharisees remained outside.It was the time of Passover,when no Jew should touch anything belonging to the heathen.
Pilate was greatly annoyed.Ever since he had been in Judaea,there had been trouble.Some one was for ever bothering him with questions which he did not understand and which seemed utterly absurd and futile.
He gave orders that Jesus be taken into his private rooms.
There he talked with him.
A few minutes’conversation convinced him that here was no cause for a death-warrant.
The charges were absurd.
Jesus ought to be set free.
Pilate sent for the spokesman of the Council and informed him bluntly that he had not been able to find Jesus guilty of anything known to Roman law.
That was a terrible blow to the Pharisees.
It looked as if their victim might escape.
They pleaded with the governor.They told him that Jesus had been stirring up trouble all the way from Judaea to Galilee.
That gave Pilate an idea.
“Is this man a Galilean or a Judaea subject?”he asked.
