Trial of Christ - Pt. 1
Gospel of Mark: Jesus a life to serve • Sermon • Submitted
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· 18 viewsJesus faces the Jewish trial
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Setting the stage
Setting the stage
There is so much information to cover in the last 18 hours of Jesus life. First may we set the stage for one of the two trials Jesus will face. The first being the Jewish trial then followed by the Roman trial.
Setting the stage the Jewish trial will happen in stages
The preliminary hearing (Jn18:12-14, 19-24) and Jn11:50)
Sitting before High Priest (Mk14:53-65)
Sitting before the council (Mk14:53-15:1)
FYI, the Roman trial happens in stages too
Sitting before Pilate (MK15:2-5)
Sitting before Herod (Lk23:6-12)
Back to Pilate (MK15:6-15)
Some scriptures then some historical information to help us set the stage.
Information on the preliminary hearing from outside of our passage today. So everyone needs to turn to Jn18 since we will be there for a bit this morning.
12 So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him, 13 and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.
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.
So the first stop that was made was going to be before Annas, former High Priest, and father in law to the current High Priest, Caiaphas. He already had a history and a plan on what should be done with Jesus (Jn11:50)
50 nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”
But now back to our night at hand
Jn18:
19 The high priest then questioned Jesus about His disciples, and about His teaching. 20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret.
21 “Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; they know what I said.” 22 When He had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?”
23 Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?” 24 So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
Next in sitting before the High Priest, Caiphas and it is in his home that the whole council gathered and that bring in our passage this morning.
53 They led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes gathered together. 54 Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire.
55 Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. 56 For many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not consistent.
57 Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, 58 “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’ ”
59 Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent. 60 The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?”
61 But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 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.”
Mk14:61-62
63 Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? 64 “You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.
65 Some began to spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in the face.
What do you see, what do you notice what sticks out to you?
(Court of the Sanhedrin)
Now a little about the counsel, aka: Sanhedrin
It consisted of of seventy-one members and was considered the supreme court of the Jews. The body consisted of Sadducees, Pharisees,Scribes and respected men who were elders. The current High Priest presided over the court.
I will get into the participants etc. in a few minutes I just want to talk about the procedure first.
At the time the Sanhedrin had limited authority, they only had authority over religious matters, all civil matters came under the Roman court system. They could not at this time inflict the death penalty. So, within it’s system they would prepare the case to be presented to the Roman court for judgment to be passed down. Much like our grand jury process now.
The court of the Sanhedrin had laws that it was to keep as outlined in the Mishnah (the oral traditions of Jewish law and the first part of the Talmud).
The meeting place was the Hall of Hewn Stone, notice in our passage they met in the home of Annas then onto courtyard of the High Priest, so they were not meeting where they were supposed to meet. No judgment would be valid unless it was held and entered into with in designated place.
The court could not meet at night or during time of any of the great feasts. Hello, more broken laws, it was night and it was the start of Passover.
Witnesses would be presented to the court and they had to have more than 2 in agreement before any judgment could be entered (Deu17:6). Also, the verdict was given individually by each of the members from the youngest to the oldest. Hello, another broken law.
If the verdict was to be a death penalty there had to be a day lapse before given to the Romans to carry out in case anyone over night would change their mind. - Do you see the pattern here? Another broken rule.
So in summary we have a meeting at night, in the wrong place, with the wrong procedure taking place in an expediency to eliminate Jesus.
Now that we have the setting, may we now turn to the participants, the charges and the abuse.
Participants
Participants
There are many who played a part in God’s grand plan, even though this is a mock trial, it was a part of God’s scheme of redemption.
Group 1
We first have the Roman cohort and officers of the Jews (Jn18:12)
We then have Annas, as mentioned before (Jn18:13)
Then Caiphas the High Priest (Mk14:53-54; Lk22:54; Jn11:49-53)
54 Having arrested Him, they led Him away and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but Peter was following at a distance.
and I want to bring in more of what John recorded for us
49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”
51 Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
Jn11:51-52
53 So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.
Jn11:53
Caiaphas had previously predicted Jesus death and he was involved in the plot from the beginning.
Caiphas served for 18 years as the High Priest according to history from 18-53 AD and he had taken it from his Father Annas. He presided over the Sanhedrin.
Group 2
The chief priests, elders and scribes (Mk14:53, Mk14:1; Mk14:43)
They had previously plotted to kill Jesus
They are the ones who sent those to arrest Jesus, some of them went with the Roman cohort and the Jewish officers to get Him.
Members of the counsel (Mk14:55)
This is the members of the Sanhedrin that I already mentioned. the Jewish supreme court on all matters religious at this time.
Now there is a chance that Joseph of Arimathea and even Nicodemus were a part of this counsel, for both were “leaders of the Jews.”
False witnesses (Mk14:55-56)
In the wrong place, at the wrong time (not in the proper place of meeting , not at the proper time of meeting) the chief priests and the counsel bring in witnesses to testify.
Testimony did not agree and the scripture even says it was false testimony.
A couple of apostles (Mk14:54, Jn18:15-16) and a other unnamed people (Mk14:65)
We know from our passage (v.54) that Peter was there and he followed at a distance. He was not alone
15 Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, 16 but Peter was standing at the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper, and brought Peter in.
Whoever this other Apostle was he was known by the High Priest. Some believe it was John since he was the one who was at the crucifixion. We know that he spoke up so even Peter could enter the court of the High Priest. It possibly was John, but scripture does not tell us for sure it is.
Now with the presupposition of most in attendance of what they wanted to do with Jesus, it brings us to the next item, the charges.
Formal charges given
Formal charges given
Like any court today the charges are given, then they had to be proven. so exactly what are the charges? Let’s see what the scripture tells us.
Charges by the false witnesses (Mk14:57-60; Jn2:19-22, Isa53:7)
Did you know that eyewitness testimony is oftentimes unreliable?
Look at what the witnesses against Jesus had to say, then we will look at what Jesus said, and then what Jesus did not say.
57 Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, 58 “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’ ”
59 Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent. 60 The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?”
Mk14:59-60
What Jesus said about the temple
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
Jn
21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.
So the witnesses, were giving false testimony about what Jesus had previously said, what He had previously taught, and are basing their charge against Jesus on that and even in that they could not agree.
Charges by the High Priest (Mk14:61-64)
May we be reminded from the scripture what the charges are by Caiphas
61 But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 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.”
63 Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? 64 “You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.
So, what are the charges brought against Jesus when you put them together.
In Today’s language a terrorist threat to destroy the temple
Blasphemy against God, which under Jewish law would be punishable by death (but they are under Roman rule at this time and could not carry it out)
So now after the charge came the abuse before they met again and sent Him off for the Roman trial (that we will look at next week)
The Abuse
The Abuse
What transpires next is for humiliation purposes. They did it to mock Jesus.
65 Some began to spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in the face.
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
Spit, blindfold. beat, slap (Mk14:65; Mt26:67)
Demanded prophesy (Mk14:65; Mt26;68)
Mt26:65-
67 Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him, 68 and said, “Prophesy to us, You Christ; who is the one who hit You?”
Just one more piece of info, this fulfills the prophesy of Isaiah.
6 I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.
The injustice is apparent, the difficulty for some must have been unbearable, but think, think what it was like for Jesus.
He knew why He came (Mk8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34)
31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
31 For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.”
33 saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. 34 “They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.”
He knew the power he could call on, but did not (Mt26:53)
53 “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
He did not call for help for He came to help the helpless sinner, came to help you and me!