Series Introduction

This morning we will continue our sermon series titled “Journey to the Cross” in which we will focus on some of the major events that occurred during the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Every Sunday in the forty days leading up to Easter, we have been focusing on some of the major events that occurred during, what is commonly referred to as “Holy Week.” Today we pick up where we left off last week. It is Thursday night following the Passover meal, the night of prayer in Gethsemane, and the betrayal and arrest of Jesus.  

Scripture Reading

Mark 14:53-72: And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. 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. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. 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.’” Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. 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?” But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 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.” And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 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.

And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

1 John 1:5-10: This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Opening Prayer

Father God, I pray that you would bless us as we enter this time of preaching. May the words I speak honor you. I pray that you would open up hearts and minds to receive your word, and that You would help us to respond to whatever You decide to place on our hearts this morning. Amen.

Jesus’ Trial Before the High Priests

Jesus had gone from a miracle working rabbi in the rural regions of Galilee, to one who entered Jerusalem paraded as the coming Messiah. Jesus had shown great displeasure at the corrupted worship and exploitation that was taking place in the Temple, driving out the money changers and preaching against those who allowed the Temple of God to be defiled in such a way. This greatly disturbed the religious leaders who felt their power and influence being challenged by Jesus. Though they tried to question his authority, they could not trick him into saying anything wrong and they could not turn the crowds against him.  Then one of the twelve, a disciple named Judas, had agreed to turn Jesus over to them in exchange for a few pieces of silver. Last week our message ended with Jesus allowing himself to be handed over to the mob led by Judas while his disciples fled in fear and confusion. 

This week we pick up where we left off, with Jesus being handed over to his enemies for a trial that was really a trap meant to find some means of condemning Jesus to death. We are told that; 

And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together… Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death…

• Mark 14:53, 55a, ESV

The trial that is about to unfold is the climax for the ongoing tension we have seen between Jesus and the religious leaders of Israel. There are several things wrong with this trial from the very beginning. First, the trial was happening at night, which was in violation of the law and custom that trials must be held during the light of day. Second, the other gospels show us that this trial was not taking place in an official court room. Rather, it was taking place in the outer court of the home of Caiaphas the high priest. Third, this trial was taking place during the week of Passover when all trials were supposed to be postponed in observance of the holy occasion. 

Anyone familiar with the customs of the day would be able to look at this assembly and realize that something was wrong. The high priest, the elders, and the scribes would have known that they were breaking law and custom, but like all men whose hearts are set on doing evil, they were willing to bend the rules to get the outcome that they wanted. Mark notes that this trial was just an excuse to find some reason to put Jesus to death, thinking that doing so would eliminate the threat to their power that he represented.  However, even their mock trial was not going according to plan. 

Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. 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.’” Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. 

• Mark 14:55-59, ESV

Jewish law dictates that there must be at least two or three credible witnesses for someone to be condemned for a serious crime, but the religious leaders were struggling to find the right amount of witnesses. While they had been able to gather many who were willing to bear false witness against Jesus, the problem was that their testimonies against him did not agree. 

There is a famous Jewish myth from this time, that allegedly took place during the time of the prophet Daniel. In the story two men attempt to seduce a beautiful woman named Susanna. Susanna refuses their advances, and they threaten to testify against her if she does not give herself over to them. Susanna again refuses the men, and so they conspire to make up a story about her. When they testify against her a young Daniel questions each of the men separately, and quickly finds many contradictions in their testimony. The two wicked men are then punished and Susanna is vindicated. 

While that story is a myth, much like the story of young George Washington and the cherry tree, it is an example of the type of thing that was frustrating the religious leaders. They needed matching testimonies against Jesus, but if the religious leaders could not get multiple witnesses to agree then their testimonies were useless. 

Another problem was that even the high priest Caiaphas, the highest ranking religious leader in Jerusalem, did not have the authority to condemn Jesus to death. The religious leaders knew that once they found a charge they would need to take Jesus to the Roman governor and have him formally condemned. Pilate was not going to be concerned with religious disputes about temples and prophecies about Jewish savior. They knew they needed a charge that would be taken seriously by an official of the Roman empire. In all of these ways they were coming up short of what they needed. 

The closest thing they could come up with was that some witnesses 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” (Mark 14:59, ESV), which they misconstrued as a threat to tear down the temple in Jerusalem. John’s gospel gives us a little more insight into what these accusers were talking about: 

So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

• John 2:18-21, ESV

But even this accusation would not work, because even on this point the witnesses could not agree on the details of what they were accusing Jesus of. This clearly frustrated the religious leaders. What made it worse is that Jesus had just been standing there silently watching this false trial fall apart without him needing to say a single word: 

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?” But he remained silent and made no answer.” 

• Mark 14:60-61a, ESV

The silence of Jesus was a frustration for his accusers, but it was also a fulfillment of prophecy. 

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.

• Isaiah 53:7, ESV

When the fourth century theologian Augustine of Hippo reflected on the silence of Christ before his accusers, he wrote: 

“When [Christ] did not open his mouth, it was a reminiscent of the figure of a lamb. It was not as one of bad conscience convicted of sins, but as one who in his meekness was being sacrificed for the sins of others.”

• Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on John 116.4 

It is important to remember Christ easily could have spoken up and defended himself. He was clearly innocent and could have put the religious leaders, even the high priest himself, to shame. Instead he remained silent, willingly enduring the scorn of a false trial, knowing that it was a necessary step in the journey to the cross. 

Not giving up, the high priest chooses to ask Jesus the question that this mock trial was really about in the first place:

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? 

• Mark 14:61b, ESV

The high priest’s question is direct and blunt. Sometimes we say “Jesus Christ” so often that we forget that Christ is not his last name. “Christ” is Greek for “anointed one” just as “Messiah” in Hebrew means “the one who is anointed.”  

When he asks if Jesus is “the Son of the Blessed” he is referring to God. Jews would sometimes refer to God as “God, blessed forever” and after a while “the Blessed [one]” became one of the many terms used for referring to God when you did not want to use his name. Other examples included phrases like “the Holy One” or “the Most High.”

The high priest was done beating around the bush. He asked if Jesus was claiming to be the long awaited Messiah and the Son of God. These charges had not been confirmed by a plurality of witnesses, and had Jesus remained silent the religious leaders would have had nothing to charger him for, but it is here that Jesus willfully chooses to break his silence: 

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.” 

• Mark 14:62, ESV

Jesus makes no pretense about it. He flatly tells the high priest “I am.” He tells the high priest that not only is he the Christ and the Son of the Blessed, but that he will bear witness to Jesus on the day of judgment. 

When Jesus refers to himself as the “Son of Man… coming with the clouds of heaven” he is quoting from the prophet Daniel: 

“And behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

• Daniel 7:13-14, ESV

When Jesus says that he will be “seated at the right hand of Power” he was taking an illustration from Psalm 110: 

The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

• Psalm 110:1, ESV

In essence Jesus said, “I am the Christ, the Son of the Blessed. I will be glorified and given a kingdom that will never end, and you who pretend to judge me will be under my judgment in the age to come.” Jesus' prophecy was proven true in his coming resurrection and ascension, and will find its ultimate fulfillment in the second coming of Christ.

We are then told that, 

The high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 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. 

• Mark 14:63-65, ESV

The tearing of garments was a Jewish custom to show great grief or despair, but it was also a custom to tear one's garment if one bore witness to blasphemy, as a way of showing God that you do not approve of what was just said or done in your presence. The high priest declares “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy.” There was no longer any need for witnesses because the religious leaders could now serve as witnesses to the fact the claim Jesus made which, had it not been true, would have been blasphemous. They also had a good reason to bring Jesus before Pilate, after all Jesus had alluded to establishing a kingdom in which he would ruel, and there is nothing Romans tolerated less than threats to their empire. But before turning him over they took sadistic pleasure in spitting upon him, covering his face, and beating him - all while mocking his claim to speak on God’s behalf. 

Peter’s Denial

Last week we saw how Jesus had told his disciples that they would abandon him as he was turned over for his death. While the disciples denied it, in the end they all fled in fear. It seems, however, that Peter was determined to prove he prophecy wrong and decided to follow the mob at a safe distance. As this mock trial unfolded, Peter was off in the corner of the courtyard warming himself by a fire with the guards and servants, some of whom were probably a part of the mob that had brought Jesus here from the garden of Gethsemane. 

In the dark of the night the servants and guards probably did not notice one additional man standing in their ranks, which was probably a relief to Peter who had earlier assaulted a guard with his sword while trying to defend Jesus. However, at some point in the trial, a servant girl recognized Peter as someone who had been with Jesus:  

“And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came  and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.”

• Mark 14:66-67 ESV

Remember that Peter had boldly declared just a few verses earlier: “If I must die with you, I will not deny you” (Mark 14:31, ESV). Here was his opportunity to be a witness for Jesus. He could have reaffirmed his commitment that “[Jesus is] the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16, ESV). 

Had he not been so concerned for his own safety and wellbeing, he could have walked up to the religious leaders and served as a witness for Jesus’ defense. Sadly, Peter choose not to defend his savior, and even denied knowing him. 

But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. 

And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. 

And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” 

And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept. 

• Mark 14:68-72, ESV

Three times Peter denied Christ. First he pretended to be ignorant of what the servant girl said “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” Then he outright denied as being one of Jesus’ followers. Finally he swore under penalty of a curse, that he did not know Jesus and just as the Lord had predicted, the rooster crowed a second time. Peter had denied his Lord three times before the night in which he swore to defend him had ended. Upon hearing the rooster crow, we are simply told that Peter broke down and wept. 

As the Psalmist had written long ago, 

You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness.

• Psalm 88:18, ESV

Praise God that this is not where the story ends, neither for Jesus nor for Peter. We know that when all is done, even the guilt and shame of Peter’s denial will be carried by Jesus unto the cross. After the resurrection Jesus will restore Peter, asking him three times “Do you love me?” Granting his disciple an opportunity to recant his three denials, and reaffirming that Peter would shepherd Christ’s church in its earliest days. 

One of the early church fathers, who would eventually become the Bishop of Rome, wrote this when reflecting upon this account.:

“Why did almighty God permit the one he had placed over the whole church to be frightened by the voice of a maidservant, and even to deny Christ himself? This we know was a great dispensation of the divine mercy, so that he who was to be the shepherd of the church might learn through his own fall to have compassion on others. God therefor first shows him to himself, and then places him over others: to learn through his own weakness how to bear mercifully with the weakness of others.” 

• Gregory the Great, Homilies on the Gospels 21. 

Conclusion:

As we conclude our message this morning I would like to turn our attention back on Jesus. Our merciful Savior endured condemnation for sins he did not commit, so that we could be freed from the guilt of the sins that we have committed. The innocent one took our guilt, so that we who were guilty could be forgiven and pronounced innocent before both God and man. In silence and submission he took our curse out of love for you and for me. 

Like Peter, we are prone to fear and to sin which leads us to deny our Lord in thought, in word, and in action. Even so, Jesus does not deny us. When we repent of our sins, he clothes us in his righteousness and the reconciliation with God that he purchased at the cost of his very blood. May we never cease to be utterly amazed by the love of God that we have in Christ Jesus, our Lord. May we never cease to praise his name and desire to make his grace known to all who will hear. 

Closing Prayer

Father God, as we enter this time of decision and commitment, I pray that you would help us to respond in whatever ways your Spirit leads. If we have sins to confess, may we confess them now and receive the assurance of your forgiveness. If we need to make a decision to follow you, maybe for the first time, I pray that you would help us to surrender our lives into your merciful and loving hands. Be with us as we respond in song and prayer. Amen.