At last, the religious officials thought, they had captured Jesus and could interrogate Him in private. But Jesus taught the crowds in public, consistently telling them the truth from God. What more could His interrogators learn? But when Jesus told them to find evidence against Him they took offence, hitting Him in the face.
 
Instead of them judging Jesus, He gave them a lesson in justice. Jesus reminded them that justice is all about the truth. If you cannot demonstrate guilt then the prisoner must be declared innocent. Speaking the truth was natural to Jesus because He is the Truth. Truth is part of His nature, the nature of God. But His captors were not interested in truth; they just wanted Jesus to be removed from their lives, for ever. Like that, they could pretend that they were true and He was not.
 
Many people still believe that Jesus does not matter, that they do not need His help or advice: they are wrong, and especially so when they refuse to submit to His authority. God can never be cross-questioned as though His future depends on the verdict of human beings - neither can He be accused without evidence; and there never is anything to demonstrate that God is anything other than good all the time. So to be angry at God, to blame Him or even to question His actions or motives, is foolish: not only because God is always true to His Word but because He easily exposes where we are false. It is time to repent!