Persecution of Innocence
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Follow along as I read our passage today, Mark 14:53-65.
We have witnessed the betrayal of Jesus and the abandonment by His disciples. We now witness Jesus being led away to the house of the high priest to stand before the religious elite in a mock trial.
During this mock trial, Jesus will be falsely accused and condemned to death just as He prophesied earlier. The religious leaders will deny and reject Jesus’ claim to be the Christ and the Son of God. The attitudes we see in the religious leaders still exist today by many who also reject God’s gift of salvation through Jesus.
I. The Procession to the Trial (53-54)
I. The Procession to the Trial (53-54)
The opening verses set the stage for this mock trial.
In them we learn about the conspirators and the conspiracy.
A. The Conspirators (53)
A. The Conspirators (53)
These men weren’t gathered by coincidence when Jesus was brought to he house of the high priest.
The conspirators were gathered and waiting for Jesus to be brought to them. The group is made up of the important and influential Jewish religious leaders to include the high priest. The high priests council, called the Sanhedrin, consisted of the chief priests, elders and scribes. These particular individuals oversaw and directed Jewish worship and practice. Nothing was done without their knowledge and consent. They would have been the important people who make the decisions at the Presbyterian Church’s General Assembly. They were also the men who should have known the Scriptures and recognized the Messiah standing in front of them.
Instead, they have gathered to conspire against Jesus.
B. The Conspiracy (53)
B. The Conspiracy (53)
The purpose in this meeting wasn’t to have a trial. This pre-planned meeting was to condemn Jesus and piece together false evidence so that the ruling body of Jewish leaders could present an argument to the Romans that would require Jesus’ death.
14 Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people.
We know that at least two of the rulers did not agree with the group. According to John and Luke, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were among the Sanhedrin and did not agree with the conspiracy. But at least the majority agreed with Caiaphas and wanted Jesus dead.
C. The Compromise (54)
C. The Compromise (54)
We will examine the denial of Peter in our next study, but here we discover he followed the procession toward the high priest’s palace, keeping his distance.
At the time Jesus needed a friend most, those who were closest to Him had abandoned Him as well. Peter was concerned and curious, but he was also fearful and afraid.
This reveals that Peter had fallen away spiritually, following afar off. He sits by the fire of denial, keeping company with those who despised Jesus. We are often critical of Peter, but each of us have had times in our lives we have kept quite about our beliefs. Each of us have warmed ourselves by the fire of disbelief and not spoken up against those mocking Jesus.
II. The Proceedings in the Trial (55-59)
II. The Proceedings in the Trial (55-59)
Mark records enough of the trial proceedings so we are able to understand what the conspirators wanted to happen.
A. The Approach (55)
A. The Approach (55)
Besides the religious leaders who had gathered as conspirators, there were several others who supported their leaders.
The religious leaders were set on gathering evidence against Jesus that would force the Romans to put Jesus to death. They weren’t about to let truth stand in their way. Maybe there were still a few rulers who weren’t prepared to condemn this man to death or maybe they knew there wasn’t any evidence to convict Jesus but this group of conspirators would investigate any claim anyone was willing to make against Jesus.
All of us have heard some about the Mueller investigation. With a couple years of digging, no evidence against Trump has been provided, no matter which guilty witness Mueller forces to testify, none have produced any credible evidence against President Trump. However bad and illegal we think the Mueller charade is, it pales in comparison to this mock trial of Jesus.
Jesus’ trial would not end until repeated lies convicted an the only innocent man.
B. The Animosity (56)
B. The Animosity (56)
The animosity of the religious leaders was so strong they were willing to accept complete lies while ignoring the truth right in front of them. The group of men they had gathered as witnesses were so preposterous, the witnesses couldn’t even agree on what to say. However, the religious leaders were determined to murder Jesus regardless.
Sadly, this continues in our day as well. People ignore the truth concerning Jesus. They refuse to look to Him regardless of His presence and power in their lives. One can identify with God or any number of other gods, but there is a determined hatred for Jesus. There are organized groups who declare that any religion must be completely separate from any public display yet they only attack Christianity. Why? Because of their animosity toward God and Jesus.
C. The Argument (57-59)
C. The Argument (57-59)
Mark says that many gave testimony, yet Mark fastens on one particular charge.
58 “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’ ”
It is clear that none of the witnesses understood the spiritual meaning of Jesus’ teaching. We should pay attention to this particular charge. Remember, they need a charge that is worthy of murdering someone.Claiming to be able to rebuild the temple in 3 days makes Jesus sound like He is a lunatic but that isn’t a crime worthy of death.
Notice the claim is that Jesus will destroy the temple made with hands ad rebuild one without hands. Made with hands carries a meaning behind it. From the OT, that phrase means it is pagan or idolatrous.
No sane person that night would think a man could possibly destroy the temple. None of us here would believe that claim either. But this accusation stuck, even with the misunderstanding of what Jesus taught.
I believe the religious leaders caught the significance of the phrase “with hands” and “without hands.” Jesus was calling them and their old religion corrupt and idolatrous but He was re-establishing proper worship but by doing it “without hands” was a claim to deity.
The religious leaders were happy that the majority of people missed Jesus’ teaching. The religious leaders wanted to condemn Jesus because His teaching, His presence was a condemnation against them.
Even with a collusion of false testimony, panic started to grip the religious leaders.
III. The Panic during the Trial (60-61)
III. The Panic during the Trial (60-61)
As the trial progressed, Caiaphas the high priest began to panic. Their pre-planned trial wasn’t going according to their script.
A. The Temper of Caiaphas (60)
A. The Temper of Caiaphas (60)
Jesus stood condemned and Caiaphas sat waiting for the evidence to support the decision.
Caiaphas had heard enough to know they had nothing to support the pre-determined verdict of guilty and sentence of death. I believe most of the Sanhedrin thought Jesus would panic with so many willing to speak against Him and in an attempt to defend Himself would actually incriminate Himself. With a self incrimination, no other witnesses would be needed.
Yet, Jesus stood silently and allowed them to show their own guilt. Caiaphas knew his plans were falling apart and began to lose his temper.
We witness this still today. Whenever someone is confronted with the truth of them being guilty of sin, they become angry and attack Jesus.
B. The Tactics of Caiaphas (61)
B. The Tactics of Caiaphas (61)
We see Caiaphas’ tactic in police movies all the time.
The cop drags someone into the interrogation room. He will bully and berate the accused until the accused starts talking and incriminates themselves. This is why we have the Miranda Rights so that a person can’t be made to incriminate themselves, especially an innocent man.
Why do people respond so angrily when the truth of Christ is presented to them? Because we know we are all guilty. We were all created in the image of God and part of that means that inside, we understand there is a right and a wrong. And each of us have done wrong.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
IV. The Pinnacle of the Trial (62-65)
IV. The Pinnacle of the Trial (62-65)
Caiaphas question in verse 61 brings us to the pinnacle.
Even when we read through the Bible or the Gospels, each of us have this question on our lips. There isn’t one of us who don’t want the question answered. Even if it is just to confirm what we know.
A. The Confirmation of Christ (62)
A. The Confirmation of Christ (62)
One excuse people give for not accepting Jesus as the Christ is that He never personally said He was the Christ.
I have heard it used by a Muslim Chaplain. He grew up in a religious family, attended church and raised to be a Christian. However, he claims that once he started reading the Bible, he discovered that Jesus never claimed to be the Christ, it was just man who gave Him that title.
Let me put this excuse to rest. When Caiaphas angrily asked Jesus to His face if He was the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus didn’t back down. Instead He doubled down.
Are you the Christ? I am.
But He didn’t stop there.
62 And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
Caiaphas wanted to know if Jesus was the Christ the Jews thought was coming. Jesus said I am more than the Christ of your hopes. I am the Christ, I am sent by God, I am God the Son.
Jesus said that He wasn’t just a man who was to be king but that He was God who is the King.
B. The Condemnation of the Crowd (63-64)
B. The Condemnation of the Crowd (63-64)
Caiaphas became enraged at Jesus blatant claim of being both the Christ and God.
Our text tells us that Caiaphas tore his clothes at Jesus claim. This isn’t something we do today though we know it was a custom during that time. However, there is more we need to grasp.
According to Mosaic Law, the high priest wasn’t allowed to uncover his head or tear his clothes. Caiaphas became so enraged that he tore his clothes, disqualifying himself from the office of high priest.
Do you see the irony in this? The man who held the position of high priest disqualified himself from that position in front of the Great High Priest.
According to the Law, Caiaphas was no longer qualified to fulfill the position. By following the Law, Jesus is qualified to be the only High Priest we need.
The crowd of people witnessing the confrontation had a choice to make. Which one would they follow, Caiaphas or Jesus. Caiaphas gave everyone the ultimatum, which way do you vote? Our text says they all condemned Jesus.
C. The Cruelness of the Council (65)
C. The Cruelness of the Council (65)
The enraged crowd universally condemned Jesus and began to beat beat Jesus.
We can easily get angry at this council of religious leaders. All of them should know who Jesus is. He even confirmed He was the Christ. They didn’t need to wonder if He was. Yet they chose to spit on Him, to mock Him and to beat Him.
Reading about this injustice can make us angry. However, I also think part of why we become angry is because we know inside we have done the same. We know Jesus was innocent and that we were guilty. We know the reason Jesus hung on the cross was because of our guilt and that internal struggle can lead to our own anger.
But we need to put aside this anger and ask ourselves the important question. Do we believe that Jesus is the Christ.
For this past year, we have been looking at the evidence and today we have the testimony of Jesus Himself. All the evidence supports that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus Himself stated plainly that He is both the Christ and God the Son.
So I ask you, is Jesus truly who He claims. Paul says in Hebrews 4, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”
If you haven’t made your decision, today is the day. Today, allow Jesus to become your salvation.
If He is your salvation then today is the day to allow Him to be your Lord.
Let’s pray.