{He hath spoken blasphemy} (eblasph(886d)(8873)en). There was no
need of witnesses now, for Jesus had incriminated himself by
claiming under oath to be the Messiah, the Son of God. Now it
would not be blasphemy for the real Messiah to make such a claim,
but it was intolerable to admit that Jesus could be the Messiah
of Jewish hope. At the beginning of Christ's ministry he
occasionally used the word Messiah of himself, but he soon
ceased, for it was plain that it would create trouble. The people
would take it in the sense of a political revolutionist who would
throw off the Roman yoke. If he declined that role, the Pharisees
would have none of him for that was the kind of a Messiah that
they desired. But the hour has now come. At the Triumphal Entry
Jesus let the Galilean crowds hail him as Messiah, knowing what
the effect would be. Now the hour has struck. He has made his
claim and has defied the High Priest.