Jesus has been arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane by an armed group of men. Mark tells us what happens next. "They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together. Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire." Previously everyone deserted Jesus and fled from the garden, but Peter recovers his courage enough to follow at a distance and wait in the courtyard to see how events are going to unfold. The Apostle John tells us that he too follows Jesus to the house of the high priest and adds the detail that it's because he was known to the high priest that his friend Peter gains entrance to the courtyard. (John 18:15-16)
"The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put Him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against Him, but their statements did not agree." (Mark 14:55-56) Jesus has been arrested unlawfully and is being held unlawfully. He hasn't been charged with any crime because His enemies can't find a crime to charge Him with. They frantically scramble all night trying to find any two people who can agree that Jesus has committed a capital crime. They do a poor job of suborning perjury, for the witnesses they manage to drag off the street can't seem to get their stories straight.
"Then some stood up and gave false testimony against Him: 'We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.' Yet even then their testimony did not agree." (Mark 14:57-58) The Apostle John relates this incident to us. It happened right after Jesus cleansed the temple and incurred the outrage of the religious leaders. "The Jews then responded to Him, 'What sign can you show us to prove Your authority to do all this?'" (John 2:18) Jesus has been providing signs of His authority all along by healing the sick, casting out demons, and raising the dead. But His detractors dismiss these events by accusing Him of performing magic tricks or of being in league with the devil. Because they have rejected the signs He has provided, only one sign is left for them, "Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.'" (John 2:19) Aghast at such an audacious reply, the men take it literally, "They replied, 'It has taken forty-six years to build the temple and You are going to raise it in three days?'" (John 2:20) They believe Jesus is insinuating that something is going to destroy the temple, an unthinkable and unbearable idea to these leaders who have learned to profit from the temple, and that He is claiming He can rebuild the massive structure in only three days. "But the temple He had spoken of was His body. After He was raised from the dead, His disciples recalled what He had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words Jesus had spoken." (John 2:21-22) To those willing to consider that Jesus is who He says He is, the resurrection is proof enough to entrust their lives and their souls to Him. To those unwilling to consider Jesus could possibly be the Son of God, no proof will ever be enough.
Several of the Sanhedrin's witnesses heard what Jesus said at the cleansing of the temple, but their accounts don't match up. Some are saying, "Jesus threatened the temple! He said He was going to tear it down and then rebuild it in only three days!" According to Roman law, destroying a place of worship was a capital offense, but half of the witnesses disagree that Jesus has made a threat against the temple. They shout, "No, He didn't! He said His own body would be killed but that by His own power He would raise it back to life in three days!" I can just imagine the arguing that ensued between the two groups, with the Sanhedrin trying desperately to call the court back to order. In the midst of the confusion, with yelling and finger-pointing going on, I picture Jesus standing peacefully in the quiet dignity He always possesses. He is a calm center in this raging storm.
The high priest has had enough. He can't get the witnesses to say what he wants them to say, so he takes over by questioning Jesus directly. "Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, 'Are You not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?'" (Mark 14:60-61a) Jesus has been silent throughout this shameful farce of a trial, just as the prophet Isaiah predicted, "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth." (Isaiah 53:7) While the religious leaders and the false witnesses make fools of themselves, Jesus stands silently as He listens to the conflicting and ridiculous accusations. He does not lower Himself to their level. He does not argue or shout or jump up and down in anger.
The high priest next asks a question that it's unlawful for him to ask, because the defendant is not to be forced to give testimony that incriminates himself. As in our courts today, the defendant didn't have to testify at all. As in our courts today, witnesses should have been called to testify on behalf of the defendant, but they were not. So, standing in the home of the high priest without an attorney or any witnesses who are on His side, Jesus is verbally assaulted by the high priest with a question intended to incriminate Him on a capital offense. "Again the high priest asked Him, 'Are You the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?'" (Mark 14:61b) The high priest knows Jesus has been making this claim all along and he expects Him to make it again here in court. Claiming to be God (asking for and accepting worship) is a capital offense to the Jews. It will allow them to render a guilty verdict and conclude that He is worthy of death.
Jesus speaks up at last. He doesn't have to answer, but it's time to give the testimony that puts an end to this so-called trial. "'I am,' said Jesus. 'And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.'" (Mark 14:52) Jesus says He is the "I Am", a title that belongs only to God, thereby making Himself equal with God. (Exodus 3:14) This would be an utterance of the most abominable blasphemy if it were not true. But in Jesus' case it is true and He goes on to apply another portion of Scripture to Himself from the prophet Daniel's vision of a heavenly courtroom with the Lord God Almighty seated as judge. In that vision Daniel foresaw the one he called the "Son of Man" (which became a common Messianic title) approaching the throne of Almighty God and being given power over all nations and all peoples forever and ever. (Daniel 7:9-14) In quoting this passage, Jesus is saying, "God the Father, who is a greater judge than anyone present in this mockery of a courtroom, will be the judge of what took place here. He will exonerate Me. He will prove that the testimony I've given on My behalf is true. I am the Son of God, and He will give into My hands authority over the whole world and I will reign over it from David's throne, just as it was foretold of Me."
"The high priest tore his clothes. 'Why do we need any more witnesses?' he asked. 'You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?' They all condemned Him as worthy of death." (Mark 14:63-64) The high priest tears his clothes in a dramatic display of grief over what he considers blasphemy. The law strictly forbids a priest to tear his clothes in Leviticus 10:6. The only person present at this trial who has broken no laws is the defendant: Jesus Himself.
Those in charge of these legal proceedings give up any pretense of conducting the trial or the sentencing in a lawful manner. The situation deteriorates rapidly. "Then some began to spit at Him; they blindfolded Him, struck Him with their fists, and said, 'Prophesy!' And the guards took Him and beat Him." (Mark 14:65) The prophet Isaiah envisioned this scene and said in the voice of the One enduring such shameful treatment at the hands of men who called themselves religious, "I did not hide My face from mocking and spitting." (Isaiah 50:6b) The guards mentioned here are the guards of the high priest, not pagan Roman officers. These are men whose character should have been so far above reproach that committing such undignified goings-on should have never entered their minds. But instead they give free reign to the viciousness lurking in their souls. The high priest doesn't stop them. Instead I think the wicked Caiaphas takes a certain amount of vicious glee in seeing this Man, who has been such a thorn in his side, being degraded and humiliated and abused.
This same spirit of "antichrist" is still at work in our world today. There are those who would enjoy the opportunity to spit on Jesus. His teachings fly in the face of what they want for themselves. They think, "Deny myself and take up my cross and follow Him? Oh no! I am the only "I Am" that I recognize. I will do what I want, not what some God in an old book tells me I should do. No one has the right to tell me how to live my life. No one has the right to judge me. Here is what I think of Jesus and His words: I spit on them! I grind them under my feet!"
Let's open our ears to the words of Jesus. Let's open our hearts to Him and allow Him to prove to us He is who He says He is. Let's not be like those who mock Him and turn away, to their ultimate sorrow and destruction. We can instead be "children of the light and children of the day". (1 Thessalonians 5:5. We can be those to whom it is promised, "For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ". (1 Thessalonians 5:9) These are the only two choices we are given: wrath or salvation. We are free to choose. Let's choose wisely.
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