from the others for prayer, asking them to watch with
him. They were too heavy of heart and weary of body to stand by in his
bitter hour, and instead of being in readiness to warn him of the approach
of the hostile band, he had to awake them to their danger. The fourth
gospel reports that after the struggle Jesus bore marks of majesty which
astonished and overawed his foes when he calmly told them that he was the
one they were seeking. Their fear was overcome, however, when Judas gave
the appointed sign by kissing his Master (Mark xiv. 45). The thought for
the disciples' safety which John records (xviii. 8) is another proof that
the fight had been won, and Jesus had fully resumed the self-emptying
ministry appointed to him by his Father.

199. The band that arrested Jesus was accompanied by a Roman cohort from
the garrison of the city, but it was not needed, for the disciples offered
no appreciable resistance; on the contrary, "they all forsook him and
fled" (Mark xiv. 50). Having arrested Jesus, the band took him to Annas,
the actual leader of Jewish affairs, though not at the time the official
high-priest. He had held that office some time before, but had been
deposed by the Roman governor of Syria after being in power for nine
years. His influence continued, however, for although he was never
reinstated, he seems to have been able to secure the appointment for
members of his own family during a period of many years. Caiaphas, the
legal high-priest, was his son-in-law. Annas, as the leader of
aristocratic opinion in Jerusalem, had doubtless been foremost in the
secret counsels which led to the decision to get rid of Jesus, hence the
captive was, as a matter of course, taken first to his house. The trial by
the Jewish authorities was irregular. There seems to have been an informal
examination of Jesus and various witnesses, first before Annas, and then
before Caiaphas and a group of members of the sanhedrin, the outcome of
which was complete failure to secure evidence against Jesus from their
false witnesses, and the formulation of a charge of blasphemy in
consequence of his answer to the high-priest acknowledging himself to be
the Messiah (Mark xiv. 61-64). The early hours before the day were given
over to mockery and ill-usage of the captive Jesus. When morning was
come, the sanhedrin was convened, and he was condemned to death on the
charge of blasphemy (Mark xv. 1; Luke xxii. 66-71), and then was led in
bonds to the