Deuteronomy 17:5-6 "Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die. (6) At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death."
"At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is
worthy of death be put to death." This aspect of the law was very
important to the people of Israel. That which followed this was also very
important, especially to the accused. "At the mouth of one witness
he shall not be put to death." God's law was/is just and
righteous. Paul stated that if there had been a law which could have made man
righteous, it would have been the law of God. But because we are in this
carnal flesh and have to contend with the carnal mind, we must come to the
realization that the law could never make anyone to be holy before the
Just and Holy God.
At the same time, God was merciful and in His wisdom made provision for the
innocent man who would be unjustly accused. There must be two or three
witnesses who agree on the crime that was committed before any accusation would
be heard by the Levites and the judges which would later be appointed. One
person could not bring an accusation to be heard by the counsel. All that being
said, my main point today is the law was never intended to make anyone
righteous; rather, to have a set of guidelines by which the people were to seek
to obey. If there was a transgression against the law, the common penalty
for that crime was "death." "He that is worthy of death shall be
put to death." Many people were stoned to death as a result of their
transgressions against the law.
We fast forward a few thousand years to the time of Christ. The scribes
and Pharisees were determined to rid the world of this One who they thought to
be an abominable person. They accused Him of blasphemy. They thought they were
depending upon the law of God in bringing this accusation. When Pilate brought
Jesus before the people, "The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our
law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God." (John 19:7)
There was a problem with that accusation, based upon their own usage of
the law. "At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall
he that is worthy of death be put to death."
Where were their witnesses? They had brought Jesus before the High Priest and
his counsel. "Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the
council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;
(60) But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet
found they none. At the last came two false witnesses." (Matthew 26:59-60)
Was the accusation against Jesus justified? Were there two or three
witnesses? Well, they found many witnesses, but none of them were true
and none of them agreed on the accusation. That is until there came "two
false witnesses." They had put their heads together and created a
story then came before the high priest and lied. In the 24 hours before
and including the crucifixion of Jesus, the accusers broke all 10 of the
commandments, themselves.
That being said, this was all according to the "determinate counsel"
of God. Jesus came to this earth for the very purpose of being the
sacrificial Lamb by whose blood you and I have been made free from the
condemnation of the flesh and the condemnation of the law. Jesus fulfilled the
penalty of the law which stated, "he that is worthy of death" shall
be put to death. The final word, "He that was not worthy of
death" took your place and mine on the cross of Calvary that we might be
freed from that debt. PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!