The Identity of Jesus on Trial (Mark 14:53-65) - The PursueGOD Truth Podcast

Jesus is the most controversial figure in human history. Everyone has an opinion about him, for better or worse. Today we look at the sham trial of Jesus, and all of the irony it contains. The trial of Jesus shows us how people in every generation can get Jesus wrong. Both the religious and irreligious can misjudge the Judge of all.

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Q. How has the world misjudged Jesus?

• Famous atheists (irreligious) who did it:
• Bertrand Russell (Philosopher and Mathematician): "Historically, it is quite doubtful whether Christ ever existed at all, and if He did, we do not know anything about Him."
• Christopher Hitchens (Author and Journalist): "The teachings of Jesus are not the Sermon on the Mount, where he behaves in an exalted and wise manner. It's the idea of the prodigal son, where he says that if you're really, really sorry, if you're genuinely sorry, if you really ask for forgiveness, you can be forgiven. It's a horrible idea."
• Richard Dawkins (Biologist and Author): "The alternative to the God hypothesis is not the hypothesis that Jesus was God incarnate. It is the hypothesis that Jesus was a zealot, executed for sedition, whose followers perpetuated his cult by deifying him."
• from Dawkins' book "The God Delusion," in which he argues against the existence of a personal god and criticizes religious beliefs, including those related to Jesus.
• The God Hypothesis: the idea that there exists a supernatural creator who is responsible for the universe and everything in it. Dawkins argues that this hypothesis is not supported by evidence and should be rejected.

Irony: Jesus is the Judge!

• John 5:22-23 (NLT) …the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.

Today we’ll see Jesus on trial. Can you imagine it? The Judge of all, the Creator, in court being judged by his creations!? We’ll see that misjudging Jesus is nothing new. But when it happened 2000 years ago for the first time, it was not a group of atheists making such offensive statements. It was the religious elite themselves. Let’s get to the text…

Mark 14:53-54 (NLT) They took Jesus to the high priest’s home where the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law had gathered. Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance and went right into the high priest’s courtyard. There he sat with the guards, warming himself by the fire.

the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law

• This was the Sanhedrin, the “influencers” in Jesus’ day
• The Sanhedrin was a Jewish council that existed during the time of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. It was made up of 71 members and served as the highest religious and legal authority among the Jews in ancient Israel. The Sanhedrin was responsible for interpreting Jewish law, settling disputes, and making decisions on religious and legal matters. It played a significant role in the governance of the Jewish people and the preservation of Jewish traditions and customs.

Peter followed him at a distance

• The disciples were supposed to be testifying FOR Jesus: Mark 13:9 (NLT) “When these things begin to happen, watch out! You will be handed over to the local councils and beaten in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell them about me.”
• But Peter is following at a distance. (Pillar New Testament Commentary) Peter has forsaken a discipleship of costly following (8:34) for one of safe observation.
• Peter had even more reason to hide on the fringe. He had cut off the servant to the high priest’s ear. Now, as they came to the home of the high priest, the risk of the servant reporting what Peter had done to him was real. Jesus’ healing of the servant’s ear was not only merciful to the servant, it was merciful to Peter as now there would be no evidence against him.
• As much as we’re disappointed in Peter’s cowardice to deny Jesus, it took courage for him to even be here. We set ourselves up for failure when we follow him at a distance. We need to be in close, intimate relationship with him to experience his power in our lives. Are you following Jesus at a distance? Do people know you’re a follower? Is there evidence in your life?

Mark 14:55-59 (NLT) Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council were trying to find evidence against Jesus, so they could put him to death. But they couldn’t find any. Many false witnesses spoke against him, but they contradicted each other. Finally, some men stood up and gave this false testimony: “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this Temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another, made without human hands.’” But even then they didn’t get their stories straight!

The Trial

• The religious leaders had constantly accused Jesus of breaking the law. The irony is that they broke the law in nearly every detail of their sham trial. Mark 14:55-59
• (Pillar New Testament Commentary) According to the Mishnah,
• twenty-three members of the Sanhedrin were necessary to judge capital cases, with reasons for acquittal preceding reasons for conviction.
• In capital cases, a verdict of guilty required a second sitting the following day.
• Both sittings had to take place during daytime, and neither on the eve of Sabbath or a festival (m. Sanh. 4.1).
• Witnesses were to be warned against rumor and hearsay (m. Sanh. 4.5).
• A charge of blasphemy could not be sustained unless the accused cursed God's name itself, in which case the punishment prescribed was death by stoning, with the corpse then hung from a tree (m. Sanh. 7.5).
• Compare this to the dirt that is dug up on political leaders running for office. It’s so easy to find foolish decisions, double talk, and even illegal activity for most, if not all, of our political leaders.

False accusation: ‘I will destroy this Temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another, made without human hands.’”

• Jesus had said he would destroy “this temple”. He didn’t say, ”this temple made with human hands”. He was talking about his body.
• Morgan on their accusation: “This is the most diabolical form of untruth, because it is an untruth in which there is an element of truth. We remember Tennyson’s words: ‘A lie that is all a lie, may be met and fought outright; But a lie that is partly the truth, is a harder matter to fight.’”
• Have you ever been accused of something that wasn’t true? Did you have anybody stick by your side and say, “That’s a lie!” or “That’s inaccurate!” None of the disciples defend Jesus. They’ve all abandoned him. We know that Peter and another “unnamed” disciple enter the courtyard of the high priest, but there is no indication that either of them gave testimony to support Jesus, and at least in the case of Peter, completely denied they even knew him.
• Prophecy to David fulfilled: 2 Samuel 7:12-14 (NLT) For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son….
• (Pillar New Testament Commentary) According to 2 Sam 7:12-14, David's son would build a temple to God's name. This son receives God's promise, "'I will be his father, and he will be my son.'" The builder of God's house, in other words, will be God's Son. In a way truer than his accusers could have imagined, Jesus fulfills 2 Sam 7, for he will presently confess himself before the high priest as God's Son, and his resurrected body will replace the earthly temple.

But for all of their desire to catch Jesus in sin and find real claims against him…

But they couldn’t find any.

• The perfection of Jesus is essential to the gospel. Without perfection, his sacrifice isn’t enough.
• The truth about Jesus is simple: he lived a perfect, sinless life.
• Hebrews 7:26-28 He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven.

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