Mark 14:53-65

Pick up your Bibles again.

And back to Mark 14.

!

Deep into the darkness of Jesus' suffering and closer to the pain of the cross.

And we saw last week that all of these events, everything that's happening this night, it's not just coincidental.

These aren't just random events.

And these aren't just events just to get us to the cross.

And it's only at the cross that Jesus saves us.

No.

That's where his suffering climax is on the cross.

So you can think of it like this.

If the cross is like the peak of a pyramid, the top of a pyramid, all these events we've seen the night before,

these are kind of like the building blocks below the top of the pyramid.

You can't have the top of the pyramid without the layers below.

It's all one piece of suffering and saving.

All these elements in this night are really necessary.

Another way to think of it is, if the cross at Calvary is a big earthquake,

and there was an earthquake at Calvary,

if the cross is an earthquake,

these events the night before, they're kind of like warning tremors beforehand.

They're all a part of the event.

And they tell me what's coming.

And the tremors tonight are getting bigger.

The night is getting darker.

And where do we find ourselves tonight?

In our courtroom.

We're in the Jewish court called the Sanhedrin.

And this is where the priests and the scribes would gather to determine religious laws,

and to see whether or not someone had broken Jewish or Old Testament laws.

And this court was for really big cases.

This is where God's priests judge God's people.

And so you can see who's there in verse 53.

There's the high priest and all the chief priests,

and the elders and the scribes, they came together.

And in verse 55, so there was a whole council gathered.

So this isn't just a few guys having a meeting.

This is the Jewish leadership meeting in the Jewish council city,

in the Jewish Supreme Court,

holding the scales of justice to judge God's people.

And who is in the dock tonight?

Whose life is being weighed here?

Who's the suspect?

Look at verse 53.

And they led Jesus to the high priest.

This is a shocking scene.

They bring Jesus in.

It's a shocking scene, but it's not a surprising scene.

Because we've been waiting for this in Mark's Gospel.

Jesus has already, previously in the Gospel, foretold the future,

and said something like this is going to happen.

So, if you flip with me back to chapter 8, verse 31,

chapter 8, verse 31,

it says,

And he began to teach them, that's the disciples,

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.

If you look ahead to 10, verse 33,

chapter 10, verse 33,

Jesus says,

See, we are going up to Jerusalem,

and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests,

and the scribes,

and they will condemn him to death,

and deliver him over to the Gentiles.

Jesus says,

All this will happen.

And tonight,

all these puzzle pieces are falling into place.

So, we know exactly what's going on here.

Jesus is here to suffer,

and be condemned.

So, although this is a courthouse,

tonight,

we know that this isn't going to end well.

So, this isn't really a courthouse.

This is a slaughterhouse.

Jesus is here to die.

And did you notice,

he was just outside,

in verse 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 with fire.

I want you to picture Peter,

just outside his courthouse,

in the courtyard,

the whole time,

warming himself by the fire.

trying to listen in to what's happening.

And I want us to join in with Peter tonight,

to stand outside the courthouse,

and I want us to press our ears

up against the windows of the courthouse.

And I want us to listen to how this unfolds.

And so, as we do that,

we begin to hear something.

And this is the first thing we discover,

my first point tonight,

Jesus is innocent.

Jesus is innocent.

So this is a slaughterhouse,

not a courthouse.

And we can see this,

because this isn't a fair trial.

Look at verse 55.

Now the chief priest and the whole council

were seeking testimony against Jesus,

to put him to death.

They already had the verdict in mind here.

They already knew what was going to be the outcome.

guilty and worthy of death.

And they were all gathered here tonight,

just to make it happen.

The term for this is a kangaroo court,

meaning it's a corrupt court.

It's a sham.

They all came into this court,

not to seek justice,

not to seek truth.

But what does it say?

They were seeking testimony against Jesus

to put him to death.

They were seeking the verdict

they'd already figured out in their heads.

And so they had to do this

by bearing false witness.

The witnesses were called up

to give evidence about Jesus,

and in verse 56,

many bore false witness against him.

False witness.

In other words,

they were lying.

They were making stuff up about Jesus

to make him look guilty.

They were saying,

I heard Jesus did this awful thing.

They were saying,

I saw him do this, actually, as well.

They were saying,

oh Jesus, yeah, yeah,

he's definitely not to no good.

He did this and that.

And then Mark gets specific.

Look at verse 57.

And some stood up

and bore false witness against him,

saying,

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.

And now we've got to ask,

did Jesus say this?

Well, no.

We don't have it written here in Mark,

but in John's Gospel,

Jesus says this,

destroy this temple,

and in three days

I will raise it up.

But do you see what they do

with Jesus' words here?

They've made it sound

like he's been threatening

to destroy the temple.

So look at verse 58 again.

We heard him say,

I will destroy this temple.

He didn't say that.

They're twisting his words.

They're making him sound

like a terrorist,

like he threatened

to destroy the temple.

But Jesus did no such thing.

This is a false witness.

This is lies.

And so you have

a whole judge

and court

and jury

all against Jesus.

Everyone planning

and plotting

to make him look guilty

in the eyes of the Lord.

And how does this all land?

Well, look how verse 55 ends.

They were seeking testimony

against Jesus

to put him to death,

but they found none.

Verse 56.

For many bore false witness

against him,

but their testimony

did not agree.

Verse 59.

Multiple people spoke

about this temple incident.

59.

Yet even about this,

their testimony

did not agree.

Everyone is firing

shots at Jesus,

mudslinging,

giving everything

they've got.

But nothing

is sticking.

Nothing's sticking.

Even when they're

trying to make

their stories match

and conspire

against him

and trying to

coordinate all these lies,

even when the whole

court is stacked

against him,

they have nothing

on Jesus.

Have you ever seen

those,

on adverts

and YouTube

videos,

water-resistant spray,

or hydrophobic spray,

have you ever seen that?

It's like a spray

that you can spray

on a coat,

you can spray on anything,

and it makes it

really water-resistant,

so you throw water on it,

it just slides off.

You throw, like,

juice on it,

it slides off mud,

nothing.

And so that coat

becomes water-resistant,

and that's a bit like

what's going on here

with Jesus.

Jesus is blame-resistant.

They're firing

everything at him,

all this dirt,

but nothing sticks

in him.

All these lies

don't add up.

And that's in part

because lies

never add up.

Lies

never make sense

or agree.

And that's the nature

of how truth works.

So truth

and true statements,

they add up.

They fit together.

They never contradict.

Truth

always agrees

with truth.

Two true statements

always work together.

The truth,

you can think of it

as harmonious.

But a lie,

it never works

with the truth.

It contradicts it.

It disagrees

with the truth.

It's inconsistent.

It never works.

So,

think of it.

The true statement,

Jesus never made a threat.

And the false statement,

Jesus made a threat.

They both can't be true,

can they?

That's how truth works.

Falsity,

lies,

can't work with the truth.

The lie

just doesn't hold up.

It doesn't work.

It always collapses.

So,

no wonder

they didn't find

any bad testimony

against Jesus.

No wonder

their testimonies

didn't agree.

Because lies don't agree.

Lies don't hold up

or work.

But it's also

because Jesus

never,

ever,

once in his life,

did anything wrong.

Jesus

never,

ever,

broke the law.

Jesus never did

anything anyone

can ever bring up

in court and say,

guilty.

Our Saviour

was truly

sinless.

And he was so pure

and so blameless

that they couldn't

make him guilty

even if they tried.

They're trying

their hardest

but nothing

could stain

the sinless Saviour.

Conspire

against him

with all you've got.

There is no

fault in Jesus.

Jesus

is perfect.

And so,

as they face

this perfect

suspect,

the court

is frustrated

and actually

there's still

some integrity

to the court

here because

with all these

testimonies not

adding up

and things not

squaring,

the court

just doesn't

accept them

but they can't

accept them

because they're

not making sense.

The case

can't continue

and so

they keep pushing,

they're just

waiting for that

piece of evidence

or a testimony

that might

somehow show

a glimmer of guilt.

and so

the high priest

who's kind of

like the moderator

or the manager

of the meeting,

he stands up

and intervenes

in verse 16

and the high priest

stood up

and admits

and asked Jesus,

have you no answer

to make?

What is it that

these men testify

against you?

But he remained

silent

and made no answer.

In all this chaos

and mudslinging

and lies,

what is Jesus

doing?

He's silent.

And this is my

next point,

Jesus was silent.

Jesus was silent.

If this was

happening against

you,

all these

allegations

and made up

stories,

what do you

imagine you

would do?

I think we

all probably

want to speak

up and say,

hold on,

that isn't

true.

No,

no,

no,

I didn't say

that.

Wait,

you're twisting

my words there.

Look,

he said one

thing and he's

saying another.

That doesn't

make sense.

What's going

on here?

All this

isn't right.

We would

defend ourselves,

wouldn't we?

We'd stop this

kangaroo court.

We want to

expose this

nonsense,

these lies.

But Jesus

doesn't do that.

Instead,

verse 61,

he remains

silent.

and made

no answer.

Jesus is

silent.

Press your

ear up

against that

window again.

Silence.

He just

takes it.

He doesn't

protest.

He doesn't

defend himself.

He doesn't

expose their

lies.

He so easily

could.

He's

silent.

And why?

Well, in one

sense, it

doesn't matter

if he defends

himself or

proves the

truth.

They're not

there to

reason or

listen to

Jesus.

They've

already made

up their

lies.

So it's

no use

saying anything.

But more

importantly,

Jesus is

silent on

purpose.

His silence

isn't him

folding his

arms,

refusing to

be there,

holding a

grudge.

No, he's

silent.

He's

willingly

silent.

He willingly

takes these

lies.

He's willing

to take this

judgment.

He's

willing to

go where

these lies

and these

lying men

take him.

This

silence is

Jesus

willingly

laying down

his life

to die.

His

silence

speaks volumes.

Isaiah

53 speaks

of Jesus.

It says,

like a

lamb led

to the

slaughter,

he did

not open

his mouth.

This

silence is

Jesus,

the

sacrificial

lamb,

offering

himself to

ransom his

people from

sin.

And so

it's no

coincidence that

this takes

place on the

night of

the Passover.

It's no

coincidence that

Jesus is

crucified on

the Passover.

Jesus

offered himself

as the

Passover lamb

to redeem

us from

sin.

And do you

know who's

meant to

offer the

lamb on

the Passover?

It's the

high priest.

So Jesus

is the

lamb because

he's offering

himself.

He's the

sacrifice.

But also

he's the

one offering

himself.

He's also

the high

priest.

Jesus is

the great

high priest

here who's

offering himself

the Passover

lamb to

deal with

sin.

him.

And so

there's a

great irony

in this

room.

In this

council there's

the high

priest trying

to put

Jesus to

death.

Not knowing

that the

whole time

Jesus is the

true Passover

lamb.

And all the

while Jesus,

the true

high priest,

he's offering

himself as the

once-for-old

sacrificial lamb

who takes

away the

sins of the

world.

This silence

speaks volumes.

And so if

you keep

pressing your

ear up against

that window,

and if you

listen carefully,

this silence

is the silence

of the lamb

and the silence

of the high

priest.

But he

doesn't remain

silent forever.

Because look

what happens

next in verse

61.

Verse 61,

again, the

high priest

asked him,

are you the

Christ, the

son of the

blessed?

And then the

silence breaks.

Jesus faces

the courthouse

and says in

verse 62,

I am,

and you

will see the

son of man

seated at the

right hand of

power and

coming with

the clouds of

heaven.

This is where

my third point

begins.

Jesus is the

Christ.

Jesus is the

Christ.

Now this

moment is a

huge moment.

moment.

And these

words are

astonishing.

But it's not

a huge moment

just because he's

broken the

silence.

But this is a

huge moment in

Mark's gospel

because this is

the first time

Jesus says

publicly in the

open that he

is the

Christ.

Before this,

throughout the

gospel, it's

implied that Jesus

is the Christ.

in fact, his

actions clearly

show it.

Peter in

chapter 8 even

confesses that

Jesus is the

Christ.

But Jesus

says to him,

let's not make

that public.

Keep that

quiet.

Jesus had to

keep his

identity

veiled and

hidden slightly.

king.

And that's

mainly because

if he came

out straight

away,

beginning his

ministry and

said, I am

the Christ and

everyone knew

it, two

things could

happen.

Either people

would rush in

and quickly make

him king

straight away,

which would

mean he would

avoid the

cross, which

he has to go

to.

or the

Roman authorities

might come

along and

they would

hear of it,

seize him

straight away

and stop his

ministry and

likely he would

be killed too

early.

And so Jesus

had to wait to

reveal his true

identity.

And he had to

go to the

cross.

Now, in this

courtroom, the

time is right.

And so the

high priest gets

straight to the

point, what

everyone is

wondering in

this courtroom,

he says,

Jesus, are

you the

Christ, the

son of the

blessed?

And this is a

massive question.

It's hard to

appreciate how

big this question

is.

He's asking,

are you the

one God

promised in

the Garden of

Eden to crush

the head of

the serpent?

Are you the

promised king

from the line

of Judah?

Are you the

prophet greater

than Moses who

we've been all

waiting for?

Are you the

eternal king who

sits on David's

throne?

Are you the

one who's come

to bring peace

on earth?

Are you the

one who takes

away the sins

of Israel?

Are you the

one who will

stand before the

ancient of days

and be given

an everlasting

kingdom?

Jesus, is that

you?

And Jesus

declares in front

of the whole

courthouse, I

am.

man, I am the

Christ.

I am the one

the world has

been waiting

for.

The Christ, the

true king of

Israel, stands in

their midst.

But Jesus

doesn't stop

there.

He continues

verse 16.

He says to

them, and you

will see the

son of man

seated at the

right hand of

power and

coming with the

clouds of heaven.

Now Jesus

refers to two

Old Testament

passages here.

He calls himself

the son of man,

who's a figure in

Daniel 7.

And that figure

also comes with

the clouds of

heaven before

God.

And in that

scene, God

gives him a

dominion and

glory and

everlasting

kingdom.

And being

seated at the

right hand of

power, power is

just a term for

God here, because

God is power,

he's powerful.

This is a term

from Psalm 110,

where the right

hand is the

place of,

highest honour

by God.

It's essentially

a throne where

someone will

rule from.

So these words

Jesus says here

are all about

authority and

power.

Jesus is saying

to this

courtroom, yes,

I am the

Christ, and

you will see me

being given all

authority by God.

You will see me

enthroned, and

I will be king

over all.

He says in front

of the highest

authority in

Israel, the

Supreme Court

and the law

makers all

around him, as

they judge him

and poke their

fingers and stand

above him, he

says to them,

you think you're

in charge here?

No.

I'm the real

authority in this

room.

I'm in charge

here.

I am your

king.

And then he

says, in those

words, he says

you will see,

you will see

all this to

them.

So let's

ask, when

will they see

this?

Well, it's his

resurrection and

his ascension.

Only in a few

days' time, Jesus

will rise from

the dead as the

everlasting king,

the risen Lord

of lords.

And he will be

taken into heaven

and seated at

God's right hand

where he will

rule over all

creation.

In fact, he is

ruling right now

over all creation

at God's right

hand.

And so who is

in charge in

this room?

Jesus is in

charge.

Who's in charge

right now?

Jesus is in

charge.

But why does

Jesus say this?

It's true, but

this is obviously

like throwing a

grenade into the

middle of the

room, isn't it?

This doesn't go

well as we'll see,

but why does he

start to fire like

this?

Well, he does

this because they

need to know.

It means that they

won't condemn him

not knowing that he

is the Christ.

They can't say,

oh, we never

asked him.

Oh, we never

knew.

At least they

know now.

No one in this

room has an

excuse.

Things are very

clear now.

They are judging

the Christ.

So he wasn't

mistaken.

He wasn't

confused for

someone else.

No, they know

he's the Christ.

Jesus died and

was condemned

as the Christ.

So Jesus says

these words, but

they don't bow

down to him.

They don't

tremble before

him as they

should.

But as we

press our ears

up against

even more,

we hear

instead that

Jesus is

condemned.

And this is my

final point

tonight.

Jesus is

condemned.

Jesus is

condemned.

Look how they

respond to Jesus'

words in

verse 63.

And the

high priest

tore his

garments and

said, what

further witness

do we need?

You've heard

his blasphemy.

What is your

decision?

And they all

condemned him

as deserving

death.

The high priest

was furious.

He calls it

blasphemy.

He says, this

man claims to

be the Christ.

He's dishonoured

God's name by

claiming to be

the Christ.

He's made

himself king

over all.

And only God

can do that.

He's making a

mockery of

God's majesty

here.

And that

technically is

blasphemy.

And that's

because,

they're saying

it's blasphemy

because they've

already made

up their mind

that he's not

the Christ.

This

technically

wouldn't be

blasphemy,

or isn't

blasphemy,

because he is

the Christ.

It would be

blasphemy if he

wasn't, but he

is.

Everything he

said is 100%

true.

But they

don't care.

They've already

made up their

powers.

Their hearts

are hardened.

They cannot

see the Christ

who's right in

front of them.

And so they

do what they've

been waiting for

all along.

They all

condemned him

as deserving

death.

The sentence

is passed.

The juries

read out their

decision.

This Jesus

is a

blasphemer,

a sinner,

and he

deserves

death.

And this

is where we

feel the

tremors of

the cross

more vividly.

Jesus was

condemned under

God's curse

on the cross.

He was

punished as a

blasphemer and

a sinner under

God's wrath.

He was made

sin on the

cross.

He was

numbered among

the transgressors

on the cross.

And that's

the epicentral

of it all.

But we're

feeling the

tremors of

that here.

Because he

was so under

the curse of

divine law on

the cross,

that he also

fell under the

curse of

human law.

He was so

condemned in

God's eyes on

the cross,

that he was

also condemned

in man's eyes.

The tremors of

the cross are

being felt here.

And he was

so tormented

on the cross,

that he was

tormented in

his courtroom.

Verse 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.

Look how

they treated

the Christ.

Look how

they treated

the spotless

lamb.

Look how

they treated

their king.

Spatter,

mopped,

the

Pharisee,

they say to him,

prophesy,

I thought you

were the

Christ,

go on,

prophesy.

And he was

beaten,

he was

bruised.

Our justice

system today

wouldn't even

treat our

worst criminals

like this,

yet look how

they treat

the Christ.

And again,

how does

Jesus respond?

He takes it.

we hear the

silence again.

And he

takes it

because he

must take

it.

And he

must because

this is how

he saves

his people.

He's doing

this for

someone.

He's doing

this for the

sake of his

people,

to ransom

them from

sin.

He's doing

this for his

people.

And do you

remember who's

outside?

It's Peter,

the man

who has

just abandoned

Jesus and

run away

from him.

The man

who in this

courtyard

denies

Jesus.

That

sinner,

Jesus is

doing it

all for

him,

to save

Peter.

And as we

stand in that

courtyard too,

we can take

our ears away

from the window

and realise

this was all

for us too.

we are all

Peter in that

courtyard.

He did

this for us.

He took

that sentence

of condemned

because that

is our

sentence.

We are

the sinners

and blasphemers

who deserve

death.

And Jesus

says,

yes you do,

but let me

be condemned

instead.

He was

silent for

us.

Brothers and

sisters,

he did this

for us.

Condemned

for us,

spat on,

for us,

mocked,

for us,

beaten,

for us,

crucified,

for us.

The Christ

was condemned

in our place

so that we

can hear

these glorious

words.

There is

therefore now

no condemnation

for those

who are in

Christ Jesus.

Praise his name.

Let me pray.

Let me pray.

Thank you.