Please stand for the reading of God's word. The scripture reading is from the book of Mark in the New Testament Chapter 14 verses 53 through 65 You will find this passage printed in your order of worship or you may follow along from your Bible Again, that's Mark chapter 14 verses 53 through 65 They took Jesus to the high priest and all the chief priests elders and 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 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 Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him We heard him say I will destroy this man made temple and in three days will build another not made by man Yet even then their testimony did not agree 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? But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer Again the high priest asked him are you the Christ the son of the blessed one? 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 The high priest tore his clothes. Why do we need any more witnesses? He asked you have heard the blast from me. What do you think? They all condemned him as worthy of death Then some began to spit at him they blindfolded him Struck him with their fists and said prophesied and the guards took him and beat him The word of the Lord
Please be seated Would you take just a second and silently ask God to speak to you now and the power of his spirit through my words We live in a country and in a day where I think people are Fascinated by courtroom drama We certainly saw this with the OJ trial The surpass the Lindbergh trial is the trial of the century. I still am not quite sure why But you know before then all we had was Judge Watner and I think Judge Judy was just getting her start But now you know almost any channel you got all these different Individuals and it's just indicative of the fact that people are fascinated by what happens in a courtroom trials produce intense drama that is I guess it best or at least it makes us curious but But it also causes us to be intensely interested in the subject at hand Well mark who is written a very dramatic gospel comes now to really the climactic moment in the gospel And he uses the trial setting To drive home the central truth that he's been trying to emphasize from the very beginning of his gospel Mark is intent for us to understand who Jesus Christ is and what he came to do But not in some abstract way remember he wants us to focus upon Christ who he really is and what he came to do so as to Look back at ourselves in a mirror Deep in our hearts and come to understand more clearly who we really are courtroom scenes can do that There's a great movie you have to go years back called 12 angry men if you ever seen that one starring Henry fond I think there's a remake of it. I haven't seen it, but there's a great movie and It's really about the jury deliberations that took place in a murder trial where all of the individuals and they first got into the jury Room for their deliberations they took a vote basically and it was it was unanimous all except for one individual Henry fond and He was saying that this guy was innocent. Everyone else was saying that he was guilty and essentially what the movie evolved into was a psychological Expo's they have these people's lives because it showed how They all brought things to the table they all viewed the evidence through their own eyes and their background and that colored the way they saw things It's I think a helpful picture as we think about this trial setting I want to focus upon this trial with you And have you look at three things Three things that I think will help you to see very vividly who Christ is And then in light of that who you are and who you need to be First the approach that is what approach did both the individuals who accused Jesus and Jesus brings the table Secondly, what was the evidence that was on the table? And then finally what was the verdict all right, so let's look at those three things as you keep your Bible or order of worship Open to this passage Now There were actually two trials that took place This is the first one was in the religious context with the religious leaders and the second one The one that could ultimately carry the authority to execute Jesus was in the Roman context before pilot And they would have in fact never involved pilot if it would have been legal within Within a Roman province in that day for the religious body to Execute someone but they needed the Romans to sign off on it and that's why there were two trials The first one though the one that was most critical was the one we look at today in terms of Jesus's Execution now where we left off was Jesus was in the Garden of Gisimini You remember praying prayer of agony and then here comes Judas With the kiss of death as he betrays his Master into the hands of the guards really of the Sanhedrin the the Sanhedrin was The religious body that ruled in Israel is made up of 70 individuals plus the chief priest It was modeled after Moses and his seven the elders and this ruling council was in essence the Supreme Court of Israel And yet they needed further They needed a further court the Roman court to actually bring forth the judgment that they desired There were three three categories of people mentioned chief priests elders and teachers of the law And they together would gather this body of 70 and Try an individual and there were very strict rules that will talk about that had to be followed to the tea In order for someone to be convicted, but this trial seemed to be fixed from the get go You sense that there was a predisposition on the part of those who accused Jesus that indeed colored the way they that they looked at everything and that brings us to the approach What approach did the chief priest The priest Caiaphas and the others who are present there bring to the table We'll look at verse 55 and you see it says the chief priest And the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence to give Jesus so that they could put him to death But they didn't find any so they came to the table not with an unbiased I but with a very John this guy they came very biased With a an intent a desire that had been building over time and you see sort of this trail throughout the gospel of Mark building intensity where They didn't want anymore of this Jesus They didn't want him to be polluting From their vantage point the minds of their followers And so this was really the technicality this trial was a technicality That could close the books on him and send him off To the cross if it had only been a Jewish trial and execution Then it probably would have been a stoning that was the result of it But since it needed to go to the Romans it ended in a Roman form of execution And uh and of course the irony here in verse 65 you see just the horror of what they did to Jesus They blindfolded him They blindfolded him and the irony there and there's irony throughout this entire account The irony I think is that they were the ones that were really blind right They were the blind Bartimaeus as we've seen throughout the gospel They were the ones who should have seen I mean above all because they knew the scriptures they have Moses in the prophets and yet sitting in Moses's seat They were the blindfolded ones And came with a very prejudiced eye to the evidence at hand I think the lesson there for all of us is that we have to be very very careful about preconceived notions that we have With religion across the board but most specifically with what you think and believe about Jesus Christ That is the single most important thing about us And I recognize that in a group this large There's people all across the spectrum in here We come from that background that life experience the hurts the fears and negative experiences with religion I don't know for you whether it was Aunt Susie that should her fundamentalistic legalistic finger at you one too many times Or it was hypocritical Uncle Sam That lived a life that did not even approach The life that the Christian is to display There's all sorts of baggage that a person can bring to the table But when we come to the courtroom and we sit Which God I think invites us to this day to sit and consider Jesus Christ We've got to pray and beg the Holy Spirit to give us Clear eyes to take the blindfold off to see Jesus is he really is It's to be challenged by him to let him speak to me From his seat of authority I mean, you could have pictured the scene there if if the mission of the Jewish book the mission of records things Correctly in terms of the way they were taking place in the first century Then this body of 70 would have gathered sort of in a semi-circle On a in a room where Really like a stage and the different rows of steps had chairs on them So all of the elders and priests and scribes could see each other And then in the middle of this sort of horseshoe would have been a seat That they would have placed Jesus in Interesting because Jesus could see every one of their eyes he could peer into them and see the prejudice the The preconceived notions the baggage the pride The fear the sadness and don't you know that he can Right here this morning peer into your eyes and mine as well And see all the hurts all the pride all the baggage And he says friend put it aside and consider me on my claims alone Who am I? Jesus said the approach is absolutely indispensable Well, of course the irony in this situation is Jesus's approach in contrast Because Jesus should have been the one sitting in his chair of authority teaching shouldn't he and they should have had their mouths stopped But Jesus doesn't utter a word They accused him falsely and he fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53 7 the prophet Isaiah said he was oppressed and afflicted yet he did not open his mouth He was like a lamb led to the slaughter and as a sheet before her shears his silent So he did not even open his mouth It should have been just the opposite right And so with you and me we come to the table with our blindfold on with our ears closed we think they're open a lot of us But we need in a fresh and new way To come and stop our mouths and listen I've mentioned this before but Got a good friend in our congregation. He said Leo. I like you and I even like your preaching most the time He says a lot of times I just feel like whether it's you or someone else teaching I just feel like they're up there like one of those teachers in the Charlie Brown cartoon You know blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah just a chopped talking hint And that may be very much because of the homological skill or lack thereof of the preacher But I want to also suggest That each of us when we come and sit in worship or in your Sunday morning class or small group Bible study That you don't look at it as a human event that you look at it as you're sitting there With Jesus before you And you pray a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to take the blindfold off to unstop the years and to stop your mouth That you might hear him That's the approach is absolutely critical How about the evidence? Evidence is critical in any trial and really with the Jewish trial. That's how a That's how trial began They would have had evidence presented in to either side of this horseshoe of elders and scribes and priests would have been two Individuals that were taking minutes scrupulously riding down all of the testimony Now in a Jewish court of law it was very important that there was unanimity among the witnesses It's not so in our court system But in a Jewish court system there had to be that is if I brought Carl up here and asked him to testify about a particular Crime that he witnessed and I brought my wife up here to testify about it and then they were mostly Their testimony was mostly the same but not completely the same In the American court system that could have been considered but in the Jewish court system would have been thrown out inadmissible Because it did not line up 100% together and so you can sense the frustration of the High priest and the others that have arranged this Affair because they have they've got witnesses waiting. I mean this is the middle of the night This was seemingly brought together in haste but oh no it was well planned because they had their witnesses there And yet they couldn't agree on one another mark goes out of this way to show that Jesus was innocent He mentioned that three times once in verse 55. He says They took Jesus to the high priest All the chief priests and elders they came together
Verse 56 and so I was reading the wrong verse verse 55 they were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death that they could not Find any and then the following verse 56 many testified falsely against him But their statements did not agree and similarly in 57 through 59 so he or goes out of his way to say look Whatever else was happening here This thing was rigged because this Jesus who they would eventually convict as guilty was as innocent as any man in fact More innocent than any human being in history Jesus's innocence is placed up there spotlighted before us To show us his purity his righteousness his perfection But you know what It's also there. Jesus is innocent in light of the evidence that didn't stack up. It's also there To point the finger in the other direction And say to those seven the individuals sitting around Jesus If he's innocent
Then you must be the guilty You see it was really to show that this was not only a a miscarriage of justice But it was a radical reversal of roles that was taking place the ones who should have been sitting In the seat of the accused were sitting in the seat of the judge and vice versa The highlight they're guilt but We can't get away so easily can we because you know that the Bible never Is intended to be received by us as simply a book of historical fascination But a book of trans historical import That is mark isn't just here recording like Josephus the Jewish historian Mark's not just here as a as a historian. He's here as a redemptive historian One to point us To the reality of things that transcend history Indeed the things that are most critical To your soul and to mine And so it's as though Mark is shouting to us of Jesus's innocence That he might whisper to us Of our guilt odd is begging you to see Jesus In a way that you've never seen him maybe or the way that you need to see him That you haven't been seeing him as utterly pure as the way Isaiah saw him In Isaiah six as holy utterly distinct In nematical so that you would see yourself As radically guilty guilty so that you would be radically needed And that's where we get to the verdict Because the verdict of course flows from the evidence and the evidence wasn't stacking up You can sense that chaephus the high priest is Exasperated after a while and so it's helpless that having no success with Bringing the witnesses forward It says in verse 60 then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony of these men are bringing against you That Jesus remains silent and gave no answer Again the high priest asked him Are you the Christ? This is the blessed one Now that was unusual Usually the high priest wouldn't have gotten up and done this kind of examination But he was just Exasperated over the fact that this well-staged event Was not working There was someone that was frustrating the plan behind the scenes No doubt the Holy Spirit and yet how fitting How sobering and Convicting that it would be the high priest who would have to stand up As the room no doubt waited and hushed silence And moved into Jesus's face Asked him to respond to all the charges And the accused was required to do that They couldn't plead the fit in the Jewish court of law But Jesus remained silent Why? Why do you think he remained silent?
I don't know that it's a good place to speculate upon But one commentator made the note and I would agree That I think Jesus remained silent For this point That he was carefully Choosing the grounds upon which he would be condemned And he was waiting until the high priest The one who in effect Should represent the people of God
looked him in the eye and asked if he Was to Messiah If he was the unique one the Son of God And yes, it would be on those grounds The truthfulness of who Jesus is What Mark has been crying out for you and me to see Now for 14 chapters And Jesus answers simply Yes And that's all he needed to answer Yes, the verdict is there And Jesus is who he claims to be And that's all they would need to condemn him But Jesus adds a footnote A qualifying statement as to who he is He says And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the mighty one And coming on the clouds of heaven Wow Can you imagine? Well High office had heard enough He tore his clothes, a Jewish sign of grieving
And quickly asked for a vote by the Sanhedrin Not sure exactly how it took place But whether it was a true vote Or one without objection, you know, that kind of thing But there was the wording here that Mark chooses Is very specific, it's very legal And this was a writ of execution That was submitted as a result of this And therefore, verse 65 They would have to, it was fitting For them now to demonstrate by their behavior What they were saying in their words Of this writ of execution That he was blaspheming That they should spit in his face And beat him And mock him and ridicule him
That was their verdict God's verdict Oh it's God's verdict God's verdict is what God said at the beginning of the gospel This is my son I love him and I am well pleased for him Listen to him The same thing in essence that he said about halfway through the book When Jesus appeared, transfigured Before three of his disciples Together with Moses and Elijah Representing the totality of the Old Testament And all that indeed, Caiaphas and his group would represent God again That's my son Listen to him He's true He's holy, he's real You've got to recognize that you're the one that's blindfolded You're the one with wax in your ears Would you hear and see And believe the verdict of God the Father Is that Jesus is who he's standing by That Jesus is the Messiah And of course in the first century Regardless of what a rabbi may say today In the first century, this was very much referring to one individual This anticipated one Who would come and deliver God's people And yet also be this suffering servant That Isaiah had talked about That Jesus now was fulfilling He would be the Savior who would up And deliver God's people from their sin The way that the high priest would enter into the temple On the day of atonement Interesting that one of the false accusations against Jesus here Was that he said that I will destroy the temple And in three days Raise it up, a non-human temple I think what they had really done Is taken with the Apostle John records in John 219 And twisted it What the evil one of course does to God's word He retains a lot of the substance But then tweaks it In a way that radically alters it Because in John 219 he doesn't say I will destroy this temple Jesus is making a statement of fact God's judgment is going to happen This temple will be destroyed And in fact it was in 87 But they had I will destroy it To incriminate Jesus on false ground And so it's false evidence But ironically in God's sort of grand drama That it worked here This is exactly what was about to happen That Jesus Jesus was to be the temple God's place of residence was never to be ultimately In some physical building But to be in the person of Jesus For God made him who has existed from eternity To take on human flesh the Apostle John said And tap or knackle among us Live among us as the living temple That he would be the great high priest In a totally different order From Caiaphas One who could enter in And be crucified Sacrifice for God's people That through faith in him alone We might know true forgiveness and freedom He would be the Messiah That's God's verdict But also he would be the reigning judge and king That too is God's verdict Jesus says those words that you will see me Sitting at the right hand of the mighty one And coming on the clouds of heaven In other words He said Picture God the Father The mighty one The judge I am right there too Part and parcel within And indeed at the great judgment day That the prophets have talked about ad noblem It will be I who come And execute judgment He talks about the Son of Man That the prophet Daniel Talked about in chapter 7 of Daniel This was a great passage of judgment And kingly rule But Jesus said he's embodying And so don't you see again the thick irony Jesus sitting in the seat of the accused Is the judges sit around him and Past their judgment And Jesus says Ah But there will be another Court room seen in the future In which I will be the one sitting
passing judgment In every human being Including those in the room that day And including every human being in this room today Will sit And be judged And the difference between those two But the difference between those who are Acquited and those who are condemned Will ultimately be The way they viewed Jesus The condemned Was he a Jewish peasant to poor guy Just met his match ultimately Was it a bad twist of fate Or was Jesus the appointed Lamb of God To sat in your seat of judgment and mine Condemned wrongly That you and I who should be condemned Are set free Jesus Isaiah said was a man of sorrows That you and I through faith and him alone May this day in part And that day ultimately Not be men and women of sorrow But of ecstatic joy May that be yours Today and forevermore Would you stand together as we pray Our Lord and God Holy be your name, Lord Jesus May we See you with the blindfold on May we not mock you with our words and lies But may we, Lord, bow before you the man of sorrows That we might know joy inexpressible