The sin of the Chief Priests and elders was very great; they _sought_ for false witnesses: unhappily, there never is any difficulty in finding men who care so little for what is right, that for a bribe or reward they are ready to tell lies; but if liars are the children of the Devil, what must those be who _encourage_ them, and almost force them to speak untruly? "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour," is one of the commandments: let us be very careful not to break this commandment, even unintentionally. We may not _mean_ to say what is _not_ true, and we may not _mean_ to make mischief; but we shall certainly do both, unless we are very careful always to repeat _exactly_ what we see or hear, _adding_ nothing, and _leaving out nothing_. Even the manner or tone of voice in which anything is said or done, makes a difference. For instance, things may be done or said in fun, and there may be no harm in them; but if you repeat them, as if they were done or said in earnest, they may appear very wrong; and so you will cause people to be blamed, and thought ill of, when they do not deserve it. There is, perhaps, no commandment which we all break more frequently than the ninth--not wilfully; few, it is to be hoped, would act so wickedly as to do that; but from carelessness: by chattering about other peoples' concerns; repeating things when we are not _sure_ they are true; telling tales; and so on. Our God is a God of truth: we are told that He loves truth in the inward parts, that is, in the heart; and therefore if we love Him, we shall always speak the truth from the heart, and be very careful to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, even in the smallest matters. The perfect truth that God requires, forbids deceit of all kinds. We may deceive others by our actions, and even by our silence; but let us ever remember, that all deception is in the eyes of God as the sin of lying, that sin which is an abomination to the Lord. Chapter XXXVI.--JESUS CONDEMNED BY CAIAPHAS. "At the last came two false witnesses." They did not mean to speak the truth; all that they wished was to please the Priests, who, far from desiring them to speak truly, only wanted something to be said, which would give them an excuse for having Jesus put to death. The two witnesses who now came before them, furnished them with the pretence they sought for: these men "bare false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands."