Mark 14:53-72

Condemned by the ‘Righteous’

Today, we continue in our series of sermons where we are taking an in-depth look at the last 24 hours of Jesus’ life … “24 Hours That Changed the World.” We began two weeks ago, looking at the Last Supper that Jesus ate with his disciples … the Passover Seder, which he transformed into what we call today, “Holy Communion”.

Then, last week we looked at what happened after the supper, when Jesus took the disciples outside of Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane. We looked at how Jesus prayed in agony, while the disciples fell asleep. We remembered how Judas betrayed Jesus by bringing the Temple guards to arrest him. And we learned how Jesus showed us in that moment how we are to face our times of agony.

This morning, we pick up where Jesus has been bound by the Temple guards and they are taking him to the High Priest’s home. There he will be tried by the Sanhedrin. He will give his own testimony about his life. And then, Peter will deny him. And what we want to know today is: What do these stories mean for our lives? What do they tell us about ourselves? And what do they tell us about Jesus?

Well, let’s begin by orienting ourselves with some pictures and maps of Jerusalem. Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, which is located on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the City of Jerusalem. While Jesus was praying, he could see Jerusalem and the Temple across the Kidron Valley. And it was here that he was arrested.

He would have then been led, bound by the soldiers, down from the Mount of Olives, through the Kidron Valley. And as he was led back into Jerusalem, he would have walked past the Temple. He would have walked past the gate, where the Book of Ezekiel said that the Messiah would one day place his feet. He walks past the Pinnacle of the Temple, where he was tempted by the Devil to cast himself down and prove that he was the Messiah in that way. He would have walked past the old city of King David … where thousands of years before, his ancestor would have reigned.

He would have passed by the Pool of Siloam. This is where John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus healed a blind man by taking dirt and spitting upon it, then placed it on the man’s eyes. He then told the man to wash in the Pool of Siloam, where he was healed.

Then, he would have been taken into the lower section of the city and made to climb the steps that led up to the High Priest, Caiaphas’ house. This would have been a distance of about 1 mile and it would have taken Jesus around 20 minutes to be brought to this place. So, it was probably sometime after midnight, which would have made it early into Friday morning, that Jesus was brought to Caiaphas’ house.

In my recent trip to the Holy Land, it was a moment of great emotion as I walked up those same steps that Jesus walked, being led to his trial by night. At the top of these steps, there is a Church that has been built over the site of Caiaphas’ house, called the Church of St. Peter Gallicantu. That is a French word that means, “Cock Crow”. As you walk into the Church, you go down two floors below ground to a prison cell that was once a cistern. This was the place where Jesus would have been kept while he was being tried. They would have lowered him down through a hole in the ceiling. And during our visit there, we had the chance to go down into that cell and imagine what it would have been like for Jesus to have been there in the dark, listening to the Sanhedrin debate his fate up above.

Now, let’s talk about what was taking place that night. The Sanhedrin was a council of 71 elders … the most wisest and pious men in Israel. 71 comes from the Book of Numbers 11:16, where 1200 years before, God had said to Moses, “It is not good for you to rule the people by yourself. Call 70 of the elders and they will help you to rule over the people.” And so with Moses, there were 71 to rule over the people of Israel. In Jesus’ day the Sanhedrin ruled over the religious affairs of the people, while the Romans ruled over the political affairs. So, these 71 men had control over the Temple and over the religious beliefs of that day. The High Priest would have been the Pope … the leading religious figure of that day.

And part of what we want to see today, is the tragic irony in this story. As Christians, we believe that God walked in human flesh upon this earth in the person of Jesus. Yet, the people who arrest him are the most pious and religious people on the face of the planet. Do you see the irony in this? The God who they claim to worship and serve had come upon the earth to be with them, but they could not see Him. Not only did they not see Him, the people that you’d expect to hail him and praise Him, seek his death, in the most sinister of ways.

They held a trial at night, in spite of the fact that their own rules forbid a trial at night. Such trials were only to be held during the day in the Temple Courts, where they could be witnessed by the people. And they were not to be held during the festivals. But this Sanhedrin holds a trial at night … in a house (not in the Temple) … and during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This was a most unorthodox trial. Then, these most pious and religious men call God before them and they try and convict Him of a crime worthy of death. They convict the Lord of blasphemy against himself. Do you see the tragic irony in this?

After condemning him to death, these pious men then begin to spit on him. And then, they blindfold him so they can mock him. They strike him and say, “Prophecy now and tell us who it was that struck you.” And then, they turn him over to the guards to beat him again. Do you feel the pain and tragic irony of this story? This is what human beings did when God walked in human flesh.

I’ve often heard people say, “I’d believe in God if he’d just show himself. If he’d just make himself known today and appear to me, then I’d believe.” Well, he did that once and this is what humanity did to him.

And what we need to understand, is that if we’d had been part of the Sanhedrin back then, we’d of participated in these things too. The truth is, we can all recognize ourselves in the Sanhedrin. I would have made the same decision and so would you. Because this is about something more than 71 pious men living in Jerusalem over 2000 years ago. This is about “our human condition”. This is about who we are as human beings.

Why did religious people do something like this? Even if he was guilty of a crime, why did they spit on him, mock him, and beat him? Why? As I thought about this, I think the reason is “fear”. We’re all born with fear. God has given us a sense of fear to protect ourselves. We call it the “self-preservation instinct”. So, inside of us all, we have this innate desire to protect ourselves. And this is helpful when we are in a dangerous situation. We have this instinct to fight or flee when faced with danger.

Unfortunately, our “self-preservation instinct” is coupled with our “sin instinct”. Within all of us is the propensity to twist what was meant to be good and to misuse and distort our gifts. This happens sometimes with our self-preservation instinct.

You’ve seen this. When someone in the workplace is doing a really good job. Their sales are going through the roof and they’re really doing great. But there’s someone else in that same department who is not doing so well. And what is that person’s instinct? Our instinct is to find reasons to explain that person’s success in a negative way. “They’re just not being truthful on their reports. They’re probably sleeping with the boss.” And what we do is diminish that other person, because we feel threatened by that other person’s success.

Often times, when we feel threatened in life, we will act out in ways that are not in keeping with our faith. Suddenly, doing the right thing; or doing the moral thing; or doing the loving thing is thrown out the window, if our safety feels jeopardized. This is seen in society too. When we feel threatened as a society or a race, we tend to do the wrong thing at times. We can look back over history and see that we did things that we now regret and recognize were just outright wrong, but because of our fear, we were willing to do them.

Jesus was a threat to these men. He was a threat to everything they knew and believed in. He threatened the social order. He threatened their authority and their standing in the community. When he preached, crowds came to hear him and they said, “He preaches with such authority, not like our chief priests.” Caiaphas, the High Priest and Pope of the 1^st century, said this to his fellow Jews: “This man is dangerous. If people keep flocking to him, the Romans are going to get wind of this and who knows what they’ll do to our people. This could lead to greater persecution for us. So, it would be better for one man to die, than for all of us to suffer.”

You see, it is our history as a human race to be afraid of those who are different; to be afraid of the world as we know it changing … so, we react in fear. And fear gives birth to hate. And many times, out of our fear and hate, we end up doing the wrong thing.

But as Christians, we are to learn from our mistakes and apply our faith to our decisions in the future. We are called to listen, not only to what our fears tell us to do, but what is the right thing to do? What would Jesus want us to do? As Christians, we have to wrestle with this. We have to learn to apply our faith to the situations that we are faced with in this world, because the history of humankind is us doing things out of fear and hate, and then looking back and saying, “We shouldn’t have done that.”

And so, when I look at the Sanhedrin, I see myself. I recognize that I could have been one of those folks who voted for the Jim Crow Laws that reigned for 70 years in America, that said being separate was better … that whites and blacks should drink from separate water fountains and not be allowed to sit in the same places in restaurants or churches. I might have voted for that back then, because of my fears. I might have hooked those electrodes to the man in Abu grade Prison and put the hood on his head and shocked him, because I was afraid of what he stood for. I could have been one of those men sitting among the Sanhedrin saying, “Crucify him!”

Fear often motivates us to do things, that later on we say, “What were we thinking?” Preachers know that it is easy to motivate people with fear in the church and we have to be careful about that. Politicians know about fear too. In this election year, we see how both Democratic and Republican candidates are trying to scare us into voting. That’s how it works, unfortunately. But remember, when we act out of fear, we often do the wrong thing.

I am reminded of the passage in 1 John 4: “God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the Day of Judgment, because in this world we are to be like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear… If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.”

The question that we must ask ourselves as Christians, both in our personal lives and in our public policies is not: “What will make me feel most secure, but rather, what is the most Christ-like, loving thing for me to do?” Because in the end, love conquers in ways that fear, and hate, and violence simply cannot do. This is what the Scriptures teach us about the ways of God.

Now, there’s one last thing I would lift up about the Sanhedrin trial. There were 71 men who listened to what Jesus had to say. There were 71 men who were listened to the trial and heard the cry for Jesus’ crucifixion. I cannot believe that all 71 of these religious men believed that the right thing to do was to spit upon him, to beat him, and put him to death. Surely, there were those who had second thoughts about this. Yet, in all the Gospel accounts, everyone of the Sanhedrin agreed to his death.

How did that happen? Well, I think this points to another part of our human condition. And that is, if there are a bunch of other people who are saying the same thing, we tend to be too afraid to stand up and say something different. This has happened in my life and I’m sure you’ve seen it too. I have to believe that there were those in that Sanhedrin, who afterwards said to themselves, “Why didn’t I say anything?”

I’m reminded of the words of Edmund Burke, an 18^th century British philosopher and politician, who said: “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

This is a sin as well … keeping silent and doing nothing, when we see something going on that is wrong. And I’m not talking about going out and pointing out other people’s sins. It’s obnoxious when Christians go out and point to everybody else’s sins. What I’m talking about is when you’re being encouraged to do something or you’re part of a group, like the Sanhedrin, and you see them doing something that is not right … part of our responsibility as Christians is to stand up and say, “Guys, this just doesn’t seem right.” Even though we’re afraid, we need to speak out.

I can remember a time in grade school, when a gang of bullies cornered this boy and started to beat him up. I and everyone else standing around knew that it wasn’t right, but we were too afraid to say anything. That’s been over 30 years ago and I can still see that image like it was yesterday. How I wish I had said something.

All it takes sometimes, is for just one or two persons to speak up to cause people to reconsider their actions. What would have happened if one or two of those Sanhedrin had spoken up and said, “This is simply not right. Regardless what we think about this man, this can’t be right.” Where do you see yourself in this story?

Let’s shift gears now and talk about Jesus’ testimony about himself. Jesus is on the witness stand and according to Jewish law they had to get two witnesses to agree on the evidence to convict. But they couldn’t get two witnesses to agree on any of the accusations against Jesus. So finally, out of frustration, the High Priest looks at Jesus and says, “Just tell us, are you the Christ or not? Are you the Messiah?” And Jesus’ response is only one sentence long. You could read past it and not even get what he’s saying here. But in this one sentence, Jesus gives three important allusions to the Old Testament as he answers the Sanhedrin.

The first thing he says is just two words: “I AM”. Now it would be easy to miss this, but Jesus doesn’t say, “I am he or I am the Messiah.” He says, “I AM.” What does he mean by that? What you need to realize, is that when Jesus says, “I AM” he’s pointing to something. The High Priest recognizes it and he tears his garments as a result.

You remember that 1200 years before the time of Jesus, Moses is in the wilderness and he sees a burning bush that is not being consumed. And God speaks to Moses through the burning bush, saying, “Moses, I want you to go to Egypt and set my people free.” And Moses asks, “Who are you? And when they ask me who sent me, what shall I tell them? What is your name?” You remember what God says? God says, “My name is ‘I AM that I AM.’” When the High Priest asks Jesus, “Are you the Son of God? Are you the Messiah?” Jesus says, “I AM.” Here in this simple answer, Jesus is claiming his identity with God.

And then, he goes on to say, “You will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven.” This reference comes from the Book of Daniel 7:13, where it says: “I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days (God) and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

When Jesus makes this allusion to this text, the High Priest and the Sanhedrin understood what he was saying. Jesus was saying, “I am the one who will come on the clouds of heaven.” He is referring to his Second Coming here. “And when I come,” he says, “God the Father will grant unto me dominion and authority over all people and they will worship me.”

And then finally, Jesus mentions that he will sit at the right hand of power. Here Jesus is referring to Psalm 110, where it says: The LORD says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” The LORD sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes. Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you. The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

Now, what is this talking about? 1600 years before the time of Christ, Abraham had just fought a battle and he comes to what was the City of Salem. This was the forbearer of the City of Jerusalem. “Salem” means “peace”. So, Abraham comes to this City of Peace and meets the King of Salem … the King of Peace … Melchizedek. The word “Mechizedek” means “righteousness”. So, he is the King of Peace and the King of Righteousness.

This king comes out to meet Abraham and he offers him a meal of bread and wine. Remember how just hours before this exchange takes place between Jesus and the High Priest, Jesus offers his disciples a meal of bread and wine. Here, Jesus is pointing out that he is both “King and Priest”. He is the King of Righteousness and the King of Peace. And he is the Priest foretold of from the time of Abraham, who would offer himself for the world.

All of this, Jesus is pointing to in this one short testimony about himself. And upon hearing this … they tore their garments and said, “We need no more witnesses. This man has blasphemed and is worthy of death.”

So, our story started off with righteous people who did the wrong thing. And then, we have Jesus’ testimony about himself. And now, we have Peter’s denial.

It has always been easy for us to look down at Peter for his denial of Jesus. But we need to recognize the courage demonstrated by Peter up to this point. When Peter was in the Garden of Gethsemane and the guards came to arrest Jesus, what did Peter do? He is the only one who takes out a sword to fight the guards. He lops off the ear of one of the soldiers, you remember. And Luke’s Gospel tells us that Jesus picks up the man’s ear and heals him. Then he turned to Peter and said, “This is not how it’s going to play out, Peter. We’re not going to conquer with the sword, but rather with the cross.”

Then, we are told that all of the disciples flee, except for Peter. Peter follows at a distance as they take Jesus to Caiaphas’ house. And it is there that Peter has enough courage to enter the outer courtyard of Caiaphas’ house to see what was going on. Do you see the courage it took to do that? He was risking his life to do that.

But his courage only worked up to a point. A servant girl comes up to him and says, “You were with him, I know you were.” And Peter, too afraid to be counted as one of Jesus’ disciples says, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The servant girl finds him again and says, “I know that you were with him. You are one of his disciples!” And once more Peter says, “I have no clue what you’re talking about. I don’t know this man!”

Finally, a group of them come up to Peter and say, “We can tell by your speech that you are one of Jesus’ disciples.” And this time, Peter calls down curses from heaven upon himself and swears, “I don’t know the man!” And at that moment, the cock crowed the second time, and Luke’s Gospel tells us that Jesus looked at him and when their eyes met, Peter was convicted in his heart of what he had done to Jesus.

Now, all four Gospels tell this story. How did they find out about this story? I mean, Peter was the only disciple there. Well, Peter told this story. When Peter would later preach to others, he would tell this story, saying, “I betrayed the Lord in a way that I am so ashamed of, but I have to tell you, even though I denied him, he showed me grace. I denied him, but he took me back. And if you’ve denied him, he’ll take you back too.”

From that moment on, Peter would never deny Jesus again. He was so convicted by that moment of denial, that he would stand up for Christ, until finally he was crucified upside down for bearing witness to Christ.

The reason that this story is included in the Gospels, is because all of us will at one time or another betray Jesus and deny him. The question is, when have you denied Jesus? Not, have you denied him, but when have you denied him? Have you been willing to stand up and be counted as his disciple in your work place? Or have you been kind of timid about that, because it might be embarrassing? When you’re with your friends or family and you’re the only one who is a Christian, have you been willing to stand up and be counted as a disciple of Jesus? Have you been willing to stand up and challenge injustices when you see them occurring, saying, “I don’t think this is right.” Have you been willing to be counted as a follower of Jesus Christ?

You see, this story is meant to offer us grace when we’ve denied Jesus, but is also meant to call us to boldness in our faith.

They say that everyone who goes over to the Holy Land has that moment when they find themselves transported back to Biblical times. That happened to me when we went to the Sea of Galilee to that place along the shore where Jesus met the disciples after his resurrection. It was there that Jesus asked Peter three times, “Peter, do you love me?” for each of the times he denied him. It is marked by three heart shaped stones.

As I sat in that place, overlooking the Sea of Galilee, I recalled all the times I had denied Jesus. How I had denied him by things I had said and done. How I had denied him by being afraid to stand up and be counted as one of his disciples, or afraid to speak out when I knew something was wrong. And I found myself praying, “Lord, please forgive me for all of the ways that I have denied you.” We’ve all denied Jesus.

We’ve learned today that both individually and as a society, we betray Jesus when we act out of fear and hate, and not out of love. We’ve learned that we have a tendency to be silent in the face of those things that are wrong, and how if one person would speak up, things could change. We’ve learned, that like Peter, we all deny Jesus at times.

But Jesus is the great “I AM”. He is “our King” and “our Priest” who offers us grace, so that we can serve him with boldness and courage. So, this is our challenge today. As you leave here today, will you be willing to stand up and be counted as one of Jesus’ disciples? Are you willing to follow him in both good and bad times? Are you willing to be faithful to Jesus?