Are you the Christ?
Notes
Transcript
53 And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together.
54 And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire.
55 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none.
56 For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.
57 And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying,
58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’ ”
59 Yet even about this their testimony did not agree.
60 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”
61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need?
64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death.
65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.
Prayer
Will you boldly stand for the truth of Jesus Christ?
In our text today, we have this scene of a trial. I have never gotten in any major legal trouble, but I did have to spend time in a courtroom while we were going through our adoption. My wife will tell you that she still gets anxiety even thinking of going to the courthouse.
We may not see it as often in the time and place where we live, but there have been people who have had to go before a court because of their faith.
There was a pastor in Iran named Mehdi Dibaj. He had converted from Islam to Christianity and had become a pastor. After this, he was arrested and spent 9 years in prison for the charge of Apostasy. After being in prison for 9 years, he finally got a trial in the Islamic courts where he boldly defended his Christian faith. When this happened, the courts received a great amount of pressure from human rights groups to release him and a month later, they did. His release would be short lived. Around 6 months later, his body was found after he had been taken and tortured and murdered. The authorities had heard the truth of Jesus and made their stand against it by killing the one telling the truth.
In our passage today, we see Jesus stand trial. And the accusations that are made against him are false ones until he is asked if he is the Christ. The council is corrupt and they had made up the verdict before the trial started. But, truth prevailed.
Main Point: The Truth of Jesus Christ Will Always Prevail
Main Point: The Truth of Jesus Christ Will Always Prevail
Let us go to God’s word
53 And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together.
So the crowd, along with the chief priests, elders, and scribes had arrested Jesus. The disciples wanted a fight, but instead fled when Jesus would not do it. It is the middle of the night, remember that part. Now they go to the high priest. This would have been in the home of the high priest.
The gospel of John adds in there that they actually took him to Annas first. Annas used to be the high priest but had been removed from power buy the Romans. Although he was no longer in power, he still held a lot of power in the eyes of the people. The high priest now is a man named Joseph Caiaphas, who was the son-in-law of Annas.
The group that was trying Jesus consisted of the chief priests, elders, scribes and now, the high priest. You may have heard the term, Sanhedrin. That is this group. They were the highest Jewish council. It would be made up of up to 71 members. But, with this happening in the middle of the night, we could probably assume that it was a smaller group.
54 And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire.
This detail is added into the events here to describe what was happening with Peter. In the verses before, we see him at the garden of Gethsemane take his sword out and cut off a mans ear in defense of Jesus. Then he disappears. After this council scene, we will pick back up with Peter as well. Mark adds in this detail so that we know what Peter is doing while Jesus is being tried.
Peter actually decides to follow Jesus. But only at a distance. He wanted Jesus, but didn’t want the consequences of following him. Too many people today want to follow Jesus but only at a distance. We will get into it more next week in the following text, but we need to be willing to give up everything to follow Jesus.
55 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none.
This is the first round of testimony here. They have come together to try to find a reason to kill him. There is this initial attempt to try to make this look like a legitimate trial. But, it falls through quickly because they cannot find true testimony against him.
56 For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.
They couldn’t find true testimony against Jesus, so what did they do? They found people that would lie. Jesus dying was so important to them that they were willing to cheat the justice system in order to accomplish it. Time was of the essence here. They must act swiftly. So they conjure up lies.
When we read about this, we need to understand how much this matters. None of this is following the rules of the Jewish court system. First of all, you need at least 2 perfectly matching testimonies against someone. And they do not have this. Also, you cannot try capital cases at night, only during the day. The verdict also must be given during the day. But they were trying him at night.
And according to their rules, you also cannot have a trial on a feast day. This was the evening of Passover. And, to sum it up, you cannot hand out a death sentence on the same day that the trial began. All of these things give us testimony to the fact that they were not interested in a fair trial, only a fast trial.
So far, we have had 2 rounds of testimony. First, they could not find someone to give a true testimony. So in the second round, they resorted to finding false testimony. Only for that to backfire because none of the witnesses could agree on what they were saying. Now, in the 3rd round, they take this even further.
57 And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying,
58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’ ”
59 Yet even about this their testimony did not agree.
They conjure up this lie that Jesus said something that he never actually said. This is where twisting a truth can make a big difference.
Have you ever heard the story about the carpenter with the crooked ruler? There was a carpenter that was hired to build a house. So he showed up on the job site, took out his tools, and got to work. He had what looked like a normal hammer, normal saw, normal square, and normal ruler. But, when you examined it closer, the ruler was actually crooked. It wasn’t off by much. But every board that he cut, was just a fraction off. This may not seem like a big deal when you cut one board. But by the time that he had built the entire house and cut nearly thousands of boards, he house was crooked. They had doors that were crooked and wouldn’t close, the windows were leaning, and the tub always had water standing in it because it wouldn’t drain all of the way. What should have been straight and true was made crooked.
The witnesses took something that was true and made it crooked just by shifting it by a degree. And what happened was that this half truth was just a flat out lie. Jesus said something that sounded a lot like this but they twisted it just enough to make it a lie.
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”
21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
He wasn’t even talking about the literal temple that the Jews went to and worshiped in. He was talking about himself and the coming death and resurrection that we will see very soon. This is why their testimony could not agree. Because they were all taking a truth and twisting it different ways. Mark even tells us that even with this lie, they could not get their stories straight.
But did it matter? Was it going to matter if the court could not produce a credible witness? No. this kangaroo court was not set up to make sure a fair trial took place. It was set up to kill Jesus, no matter what .
60 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”
What do you have to say for yourself, Jesus? These men have stood up before the court and accused you. Are you not going to defend yourself?
In one sense, we look at this and think, “well why would he. They already have their mind made up. He has no reason to defend himself”. And that is very much true. But, in another sense, when looking at the story of scripture as a whole, he knew that he needed to stay silent. It was more than just proving a point. It was fulfilling prophecy.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
He stayed silent to prove to all of those around him, all of those who are accusing him, all of those who will sentence him, that the messiah that was spoken of by the prophets in the Old Testament, is standing in front of them. And unknowingly, the chief priest will acknowledge that.
61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
Are you him? Are you the messiah? Are you the savior? Are you the King of the Jews?
62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
Time after time after time, Jesus had preformed miracles and healed and taught. And there was a consistent instruction that he gave them. Do not go and tell others what has happened. Do not tell them that I have done this because they will know that I am the Christ. The time is up. It is time for everyone to know who he is.
And can you imagine the reaction that this high priest would have had. He just got a man, who they could place no evidence on so that they could sentence him to death, to affirm this statement that he is the Christ. This man probably thought that he just hit the jackpot. Not one good piece of evidence and he just committed blasphemy.
The words of Jesus here show us a greater picture. Think about the current setting. Jesus is sitting in a room on trial. He is being judged by an earthly court. They are going to make a decision that will exact a temporary form of justice on him for trumped up charges. But with what he tells them, the roles will be reversed.
Soon and very soon, he is going to be sitting at the right hand of the Father. He is going to be the one who exacts judgment and vengeance. And it will not be against trumped up charges. It will be against every sin there ever has been committed. And praise be to the father and this court will be the only pure and holy and just court that has ever been and not some kangaroo court.
The ones who are in charge of this hearing will be the ones who stand in front of King Jesus and receive punishment for their sins. But in their eyes, in this moment, Jesus is the one who has committed blasphemy.
63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need?
64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death.
He tore his garments because he perceived what Jesus to say to be blasphemous. And the courts considered what Jesus to say here to be punishable by death. But, they don’t even have the authority to do this. They are going to have to manipulate and coerce the Romans to get this sentence because they are under the Roman government.
But right here, right now, they are doing everything that they can to set this up.
Here in our passage though, the trial is not the end. They do not stop at the trial.
65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.
This treat this as some sort of exhibition. Like it is the fair or something. The real entertainment is now beginning. They beat him, spit on him, blindfold him. All because they knew that he would do nothing about it. In Gethsemane, they saw this first hand. Peter wanted to step up and start a fight and Jesus backed him down. They saw him as this pacifist.
What we have here is yet another misappropriation of roles. They think that they are the victors. Jesus had been condemned as a blasphemer. He will be executed. So they beat him to a pulp.
But what will happen is that he is victorious over the grave. He will sit at the right hand of power and will executed perfect and holy justice. And those who do not repent and believe in him will be condemned to a punishment far worse than the humiliation that the cross will produce. They will be condemned to the eternal punishment of Hell.
Gospel presentation
Will we boldly stand for truth? I posed this question at the beginning and we are going to revisit it now. I want us to see the potential implications of standing for the truth of Jesus Christ.
Implications
1. Standing For Truth Can Bring False Accusations
1. Standing For Truth Can Bring False Accusations
These men were so bent on killing Jesus that they twisted truths into lies to accuse him. Are we willing to be falsely accused?
This isn’t the first time or the last time in scripture when someone was falsely accused because of their faith.
In Genesis, Joseph was devoted to God and wanted to avoid anything sinful. Potiphar’s wife wanted to have Joseph, but he resisted. So she made false accusations against him and he ended up going to prison for it.
Daniel was looked down on for his devotion to God. So his enemies made it illegal to pray. He would not cave and continued to pray to God. He was falsely accused of treason and thrown into a lions den.
We have this story of Jesus here and when we look ahead, we have Stephen. Something similar happened to Stephen like we have in our text today. People did not like that Stephen was preforming signs and wonders, so they incited people to lie about his message. And this false accusation cause Stephen to die as the first Christian martyr.
When we look at our lives, will people even want to create a false testimony against us? Does the enemy see us as a threat. Or, are we no threat at all. If we are living like true followers of Christ, we will catch the eyes of those who are opposed to the message of Jesus. They will want to create a false narrative about who we are and how we live and the message that we preach.
We may not live in a society that will condemn us to death for speaking blasphemies. But we do live in a world that is becoming more and more hostile to the truth. Stand for truth.
2. Standing For Truth Can bring Earthly Condemnation
2. Standing For Truth Can bring Earthly Condemnation
Going back to the pastor in Iran. He stood for truth and he received an earthly condemnation. But this may look different for each of us. We may be condemned by friends, coworkers, neighbors, or even family.
What we must remember is that all of these things are temporary and that our battles are not against people that may condemn us. Ephesians 6:12 “12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
We are not at war with people. They are not a menace to us but a mission field. And they may bring some form of earthly condemnation towards us, but they are not our enemy.
You may lose your job. You may lose your home. You may lose your friends and your family because you stand for faith. But what they cannot take from you is the fact that eternal condemnation has been removed from you by the blood of Jesus.
3. Standing For Truth Can Bring Death
3. Standing For Truth Can Bring Death
Jesus was beaten and bloodied because of standing for truth. Stephen was killed because he stood for truth. Let’s be honest. We live in a very safe culture for the most part. But in my lifetime, it has become more and more hostile towards Christians. So, when we stand for truth, the world is ready to fight us.
Jesus prepared his disciples for this. We have the words of Christ for us today that has prepared us for this. There will be some that are not willing to stand for truth when their physical well being is in jeopardy. But that is the call for the Christian. We are called to die. Jesus tells us that if we are to follow him we must first die to ourselves, then take up our cross, and follow him.
To die to ourselves means to deny our flesh. We are fighting sin. We are becoming more and more like Jesus. We are leaving our old lives behind. And to take up the cross means that we are preparing our own death for ourselves. Are you preparing yourself for death?
So let’s apply this directly to us.
Application
We need to understand that it may be very unlikely that we ever stand in a courtroom for our faith. We may never stand trial for speaking the name of Jesus. But, we must still be intentionally striving to be more and more faithful in a world that is hostile against Jesus.
This week, make sure that we are being faithful in the small things. Make sure that we are honoring Jesus Christ in the little things in life. When you are talking to someone and gossip and bitterness make its way into the conversation, we stop it. And some of us are the ones who start that in the first place and we need to check our hearts. Growing in faithfulness to Jesus means that we are growing in our fight against our own sin.
But another way we can take our passage today is to make the best of every situation to share truth. As believers, we are the ones who are taking the hope of the gospel into the world.
At work
To our neighbors
To our friends
To our family
Maybe you think that you never see family and you stay at home all day and are retired. Well maybe it is when you go to the pharmacy or to the doctor or to the grocery store. God has place us right here, right now to be the light to the world. Do not waste any chances that God gives you to share truth. Maybe it is received, maybe it is not. Our call is not to convert, only to be faithful to the call of sharing.
People are our mission field, not our enemies. Treat them as such. Listen, there are more people here on Earth than there has ever been. At the same time, there is more access to God’s word than ever before. Yet biblical illiteracy has continued to grow. It starts with us saying yes to the call that God has placed on us to share the hope of Jesus with the world.
And we are faithful in these areas because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. His payment was not a partial payment but it has paid our debt in full. And because of that, we owe everything to him.
So we are going to close in prayer and song. And we are going to sing the song, Jesus paid it all.
Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin has left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.
Prayer.
