Harmony of the gospels
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CHRIST: TRIALS OF CHRIST 1. This shows how one of the two greatest forms of law of the ancient world was perverted to indict Christ. 2. Power of the Sanhedrin - the highest Courts in the land. The Sanhedrin could not pass capital punishment as the power to do so had been removed from them in 6 AD by the Romans. 3. There was a twofold indictment against the Lord: a) Destroying the Temple and building another in three days. (Matthew 27:40, Matthew 26:6 1) b) Claiming to be the Son of God. (Matthew 27:43)
a) Judge was prejudiced and had previously plotted the death of Jesus. (Matthew 26:59) b). There was to be no arrest by religious authorities that was effected by a bribe. (Exodus 23:8) c) The Courts was without jurisdiction to try a capital offence. d) The incompetence of the judges is seen by the cross examination of the judges as its purpose is self incrimination. (Matthew 26:57-67) e) The judges portrayed further prejudice by attempting to obtain testimony from false witnesses. f) There were to be no steps of criminal proceedings after sunset. g) Judges or Sanhedrin members were not allowed to participate in the arrest. h) There were to be no trials before the morning sacrifice. i) There were to be no secret trials, only public. j) Sanhedrin trials could only be conducted in the hall of judgement of the Temple compound. k) The procedure was to be first the defence and then the accusation. l) All may argue in favour of acquittal, but all may not argue in favour of conviction. m) There were to be two or three witnesses and their testimony had to agree in every detail. Deuteronomy 19:15 n) There was to be no allowance for the accused to testify against himself. o) The High Priest was forbidden to rent his garments. Leviticus 21:10 p) Charges could not originate with the judges, they could only investigate charges brought to them. q) The accusation of blasphemy was only valid if the name of God itself was pronounced. r) A person could not be condemned on the basis of his own words alone. s) The verdict could not be announced at night, only in the daytime. t) In cases of capital punishment, the trial and guilty verdict could not occur at the same time but must be separated by at least 24 hours. u) Voting for the death penalty had to be done by individual count beginning with the youngest so the young would not be influenced by the elders. v) A unanimous decision for guilt shows innocence since it is impossible for 23-71 men to agree without plotting. w) The sentence could only be pronounced three days after the guilty verdict. x) Judges were to be humane and kind. y) A person condemned to death was not to be scourged or beaten beforehand. Principle - religion destroyed the objectivity of Jewish law. 5. General principles: a) Any system of law which is bona-fide recognises a person as innocent until proven guilty. b) Guilt must be proved in a fair trial by true laws of evidence. c) In the time of Christ, two legal systems existed, Roman and Jewish law. d) Jewish law was distorted by the infiltration of manmade religion. e) Roman law was distorted by political expediency. f) In His trials Jesus was subject to the two greatest systems of law in the ancient world, but both had been distorted by man. HARMONY HEROD’S BIRTHDAY PARTY On his birthday Herod made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee. Salome, the daughter of Herodias came in, and danced before them and pleased Herod and them that sat with him. THE KINGS OFFER TO SALOME The king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he sware unto her, he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me here by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her and commanded it to be given her. JOHN IS BEHEADED And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded John in the prison, And the executioner brought John’s head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel brought it and gave it to her mother. THE DISCIPLES BURY THE BODY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and buried it by laying it in a tomb and went and told Jesus. EARLY GALILEAN MINISTRY 37 COMMENCEMENT OF CHRIST'S MINISTRY IN GALILEE MATTHEW 4:13-17 13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: 14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. KEY WORDS
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS 13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: He went first to Nazareth, his old home, but was rejected there (Luke 4:16-31). Jesus now came and dwelt in Capernaum. This was a city on the northwest corner of the Sea of Tiberias. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but is repeatedly referred to in the Gospels. Though it was once a city of renown, and the metropolis of all Galilee, the site it occupied is now uncertain. It is reported that when Mr. Fisk, an American missionary, travelled in Syria in 1823, he found 20 or 30 uninhabited Arab huts occupying what are supposed to be the ruins of the once-celebrated city of Capernaum. Capernaum was one of three locations which was cursed by the Lord in Matthew 1 1:20-24 which says “ 20. Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not. 21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgement than for you. 23. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgement than for thee. FULFILMENT God’ Judgement of Bethsaida, Capernaum and Chorazin At the time of Christ there were four cities on Lake Galilee, the three mentioned in this passage and Tiberias. History tells us that Capernaum and probably its sister cities were destroyed by an earthquake in 400 AD. Some 300 years later the king of Damascus, Albaldi, decided to build a palace at Bethsaida, overlooking the lake because of its beauty. The palace, after several years construction, was abandoned due to the death of the king. The remains of the palace gradually disintegrated over the centuries. There is little to indicate nowadays the sites of Bethsaida, Capernaum and Chorazin. This is demonstrated by the fact that the site of Bethsaida is variously placed at al-Tell or Mas'abinya, whilst Capernaum is placed either at Tell Hum or Khan Minya. The fourth city, the city of Tiberias, which was not cursed by our Lord, has been partly destroyed and rebuilt over the centuries, yet it alone is still standing and flourishing after nearly 20 centuries as testimony to the accuracy of this prophecy. In the days of our Lord however Capernaum was a large town, one of the centres of Galilean political and commercial life, a fishing market, where many Gentiles came. Here the message of the kingdom would have a better chance than in Jerusalem with its ecclesiastical prejudices or in Nazareth with its local jealousies. So Jesus “made his home” here. In Capernaum and its neighbourhood Jesus spent a significant part of the three years of his public ministry. It is called his own city in Matthew 9:1. Here he healed the nobleman’s son John 4:47, Peter’s wife’s mother Matthew 8:14, the centurion’s servant Matthew 8:5-13 and the ruler’s daughter Matthew 9:23-25.
There are a number of prophecies involved with this passage, the prophecy of Isaiah [Esaias] and of Jacob in Genesis 49. NAPHTALI
ZEBULUN
Genesis 49:13 “Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.” 1. Zebulun means 'dwelling'. This was Leah's sixth son. She said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me because I have born him six sons (Genesis 30:20). 2. Jacob's prophecy speaks of Zebulun being related to ships and by implication trade by those ships. 3. It is of interest that in the Hebrew the word 'seas' is used rather than sea. This refers to the Mediterranean and the Sea of Galilee. 4. In Deuteronomy 33:18, 19 Moses said: And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; and, lssachar, in thy tents. They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand. FULFILMENTS 1. The land which Zebulun was allocated is given in Joshua 19:10-16. Located in the western end of the valley of Jezreel, the tribe of Zebulun was traversed by the main route from Syria to Egypt. It is also of note that one of the cities that was allocated to them was Bethlehem of Zebulun (Joshua 19:15). 2. The city of Sidon was a great Canaanite city now sited in Lebanon. Zebulun's tribal allotment was separated from Sidon by the tribe of Asher (Joshua 19:24-31). The Asherites were not able to dislodge the Canaanites from their coastal area and in later times the Zebulunites began to infiltrate into this coastal area bordering Sidon. This fulfilled Jacob's prophecy. 3. The most famous member of the tribe was Elon who judged Israel for ten years (Judges 12:11, 12). 4. The Zebulunites were brave (1 Chronicles 12:33) and were stable, unlike Reuben. 5. Jesus began his ministry in the borders of Zebulon (Matthew 4:13-14). PROPHECY
Galilee means circle. This reminds one of the altar of stones that Joshua placed at Gilgal, which also means circle. The circle represents eternal life. FULFILMENT Matthew 4:13-16 (30 AD): And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: 14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 1. Jesus spent much of his formative years in Nazareth, to fulfil the prophecy of his being a Nazarene 2. He now relocated his dwelling place to Capernaum in Galilee to fulfil the prophecy in Isaiah 9:1,2. 3. Jesus is here shown as the light of the world - which was very apparent to those who were aware of their own great darkness. That God is light is demonstrated in 1 John 1:5. 4. We should walk in the light as he is in the light (I John 1:7). The statement that “the people which sat in darkness” is an expression denoting great ignorance. As in darkness or night we can see nothing, and know not where to go, so those who are ignorant of God and their responsibilities are said to be in darkness. The instruction which removes this ignorance is called light. [John 3:19, 1 Peter 2:9, 1 John 1:5, 2:8] As ignorance is often connected with crime and vice, so darkness is sometimes used to denote sin [1 Thessalonians 5:5, Ephesians 5:11, Luke 22:53] The people are said to have seen a great light. The light from the Messiah would spring up among them. In that region he grew up, and in that region he preached a large part of his messages and performed many of his miracles. The fact that the region was said to be dark reflects the country of Galilee was especially dark with the people noted for their ignorance and stupidity. They were well known for a coarse dialect and were represented as having been poor both in morals and manners. It shows the great compassion of the Saviour, that he went to preach to such poor and despised sinners instead of seeking the rich and the learned. His mission was to enlighten the ignorant, guide the wandering, and raise up those that are in the shadow of death. In doing this, Here Jesus set an example for all his followers including us. 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The word translated repent “metanoeo” means to change your mind and is in the imperative mood which is a command from our Lord. He also says that the kingdom of heaven is at hand which is in the perfect tense showing that it has been in existence in eternity past and is available The phrases kingdom of heaven, kingdom of Christ, kingdom of God, are of frequent occurrence in the Bible. They all refer to the same thing. The expectation of such a kingdom was taken from the Old Testament, and especially from Daniel, Isaiah and Zechariah. The prophets had told of a successor to David that should sit on his throne. The Jews expected a great national deliverer. They expected that when the Messiah should appear, all the dead would be raised; that the judgement would take place; and that the enemies of the Jews would be destroyed, and that they themselves would be advanced to great national honour. The expression “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” would be best translated, “the reign of God draws near.” We do not really have the concept of a kingdom that it is movable, or that approaches. A reign may be said to be at hand; and it may be said that the time when Christ would reign was at hand. In this sense it is meant that the time when Christ should reign, or set up his kingdom, or begin his dominion on earth was about to commence. As that kingdom was one of purity, it was proper that the people should prepare themselves for it by turning from their sins and believing in the Messiah so that they could participate in His kingdom. MARK 1:15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. KEY WORDS
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