Mark 14: 53-65 - The trial of Jesus

The religious leaders were bent on bringing their plot to put the Lord to death as quickly as possible. Although it was unusual and likely to be illegal, yet the Sanhedrin, the council of Jewish rulers, managed to come together to put Jesus on trial.  And as Jesus was brought to the house of the high priest, Peter cowardly followed at a distance. Verse 54 tells us that he was right in the courtyard and sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire. One lesson here for our consideration. When we only follow the Lord at a distance, we only offer Him superficial faith, devoid of true allegiance. It tells us that just merely coming to church is not enough. There must be a deep engagement with the Lord. Let’s not just trail behind Jesus, let’s follow Him closely.   

The trial of Jesus had to do with the temple and His identity as the Messiah. The Sanhedrin was not serious about getting at the truth. They had already pre-judged beforehand and were bent on getting a guilty verdict with a death sentence. Verse 55 tells us that they kept trying to obtain testimony to impeach Jesus, but they could not find any. So verse 56 tells us that the testimony given were not consistent. In other words, they were not even able to find two testimonies that were in agreement to indict Him. Earlier in His ministry, Jesus, in cleansing the temple, did say, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” If that was what they were referring to, they had totally distorted it. They accused Him of saying that “I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.”

At no point did Jesus say He would destroy the physical temple. But He predicted the destruction of the temple. Mark pointed out that even in the testimony against Him by using the temple, the testimony was inconsistent. So ridiculous were their many false accusations and half-truths that the Lord had nothing to respond to. So He remained silent. In His silence was the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:7, “As a sheep that is silent before its shearers so He did not open His mouth.”

Soon the high priest was growing impatient, so he directly asked Jesus, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” To that question the Lord replied, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” At this point the high priest charged Jesus with blasphemy, and they decided that He deserved death. A result they were bent on getting. Some began to condemn Him, they smote Him and spat at Him. They blindfolded Him, then punched Him and told Him to prophesy who it was that had beaten Him.

The question that confronts us is this: how did Jesus manage to remain so stout and immovable in the face of so fierce an abuse? The fact that He could stand solid and unmoved can be seen in His total dependence on God for the strength and not on His own strength. Here He leaves us with the key on how to live out our faith in a hostile world.