Note 41 — Part I

This was a trial for heredoxy under the Jewish law upon two charges, one for blasphemy of the temple, the other for blasphemy of God. Either, if proved, would warrant a sentence of death. The first was very near the truth. The charge was, "I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days." Jesus' exact words were, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John II:19). The Jews did not understand His hidden meaning that He meant the death of His body and its resurrection in three days (John II:20, 21). The other charge was in one sense true, for Jesus had spoken of Himself as the Son of God. But He had not used these words in the sense attributed to Him by the Pharisees, that He was himself God, or the equal of God. But, coupled with His failure to deny these charges, they formed a sufficient legal basis, under the Jewish law, for His conviction and sentence.