Jesus Remains True Under the Threat of Death
Truth Taught- While false testimony is everywhere, our Lord remains true even under great persecution.
I’ve spoken with you in a few past messages as to how Mark uses his compare and contrast to make his point even stronger. Sometimes he does this by forming three points to look at and to dissect and analyze. Here is one of his examples.
The comparison and contrast are formed around various testimonies concerning Jesus, our Lord. It comes in the form of false witnesses and the One True Witness.
To keep Mark’s system here intact and to get the full thrust of his meaning and purpose, we are going to look together at a slightly larger text than normal.
As I read, please think in terms of bearing witness about Jesus especially under stress and even danger. The context here is suffering, persecution and the cross. We will see the courage and faithfulness of Jesus within such a context is contrasted to false witnesses and then denial—James Edwards
Please Stand in honor of God’s Holy, Inspired, and Inerrant Word
Mark 14:53–72 (ESV)
53 And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. 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 at the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. 56 For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. 57 And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, 58 “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.’ ” 59 Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. 60 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?” 61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 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.” 63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 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.
66 And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. 69 And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 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.” 71 But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” 72 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. Many False Witnesses Brought Forward (14:53-59)
53 And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. 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 at the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. 56 For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. 57 And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, 58 “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.’ ” 59 Yet even about this their testimony did not agree.
This section begins with Peter following the large group from a long distance away. The soldiers bring Jesus to the High Priest. The High Priest was Caiaphas. He presided over the Sanhedrin which was the ruling body in Israel.
They take Jesus to the upstairs room in Caiaphas’ house. This was a large room with ample space for many people to meet.
As they rush Jesus up the stairs to this kangaroo court, Peter remains out in the courtyard of the house.
Peter has forsaken true discipleship and true following Christ for safety at a distance. Beloved, is there a word for us here in this passage? Can we learn from Peter’s following at a distance?
What will your response be when Christianity becomes dangerous? Will you go with Jesus or follow at a distance? Will you give a good testimony, or will you deny Christ? If Christianity is dangerous and someone asks you, are you a Christian? What will your response be?
The Bible warns that being ashamed of Jesus has spiritual consequences but encourages believers to boldly confess their faith.
Mark 8:38 – “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.
This verse emphasizes the importance of openly acknowledging Jesus and has a warning of the consequences of denial.
These are things to consider and pray about now while things are safe. One day things might not be. I pray we all have the desire to follow Jesus all the time, no matter the situation and no matter the danger. Remember, Peter did not pray but slept when Jesus told him to pray that he would not fall into temptation. He did not and he will fall.
Think about how completely awkward Peter looked out there in the courtyard. He is a follower of Christ. He is a disciple. He’s one of God’s children and he’s out there where those who are going to murder Jesus are. All the soldiers and others who had arrested Jesus were there milling around. This is not where a follower of Jesus should be. Peter is out there with those who arrested Jesus, who will mock and beat Him. God’s people should not be there.
Now we see those who will try their best to incriminate Jesus on false charges. This is amazing that as hard as they try, none of their accusations held any water. Their lies and false witness were so outlandish that their stories didn’t even match, nor could their testimony be proven.
This court was completely illegal. Nearly every detail violates Jewish law in a fair and just trial.
The Sanhedrin did not have the right to pass a guilty verdict in a capitol offence.
A trial like this could only legally take place at daytime in the Temple Court where their justice system met.
There had to be a certain number of the ruling counsel present and that number was not there.
The defendant should have had another formal trial.
It was unlawful to even have a trial the day before the Sabbath/Jewish festival. This night was both.
Jesus was not arrested for a specific offense but was arrested and the crime would be determined later.
Jesus’ trial was different and this shows that the judge and Jesus’ accusers were guilty of sin even in this proceeding. What makes it even worse is that sinful man is judging Jesus?
All their attempts came up empty and their false witnesses unfruitful. On their own, they could not come up with any charge that would stick and especially something of a capitol nature.
The Jewish system was totally corrupt and evil.
What we will see next is the only Person honest and trustworthy is the One being tried in court. Also, notice that apart from Jesus moving things forward with His true testimony things would have potentially stopped.
2. Jesus’ the True Witness Under the Threat of Death (14:60-65)
60 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?” 61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 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.” 63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 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.
Repeatedly false charges were brought to the high priest and each time Jesus remained silent. Mark will highlight this fact here and later with Pilate, Jesus remained silent. His silence works to show His innocence because if He were to respond they would simply twist His Words to try to condemn Him.
Jesus’ silence is also prophetic; Mark wants to reveal the fact that our Lord is the Messiah characterized as the suffering servant from Isaiah 53:7…
Isaiah 53:7 (ESV)
7 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.
Here, Jesus breaks His silence as he affirms His true being. Jesus is the only One of all present who gives a true testimony concerning Himself. He knows the cost of His affirmation of truth…it will cost Him His life. This is what faith in the Father looks like. He will not waver and not back down, Jesus is the Word of Truth how could He say anything different? Beloved, if Jesus told the truth when His life was at stake we must believe all He tells us is true. Some are hard truths, but they are truths, nonetheless. We are called by God to believe and accept His Word as true and right regardless of what we might initially think. We are not God’s judge.
To set ourselves up as God’s judge either in skepticism or unbelief, we are much like those who were passing judgement on Jesus because He was telling them the truth and they either didn’t want to believe or were not able to believe. Sinful man cannot make right judgements against God or His Word. He is good and right and holy and we are fallen sinners.
62 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.”
Here, Jesus affirms that He is the Almighty God…I AM. He affirms He is the Son of God. He affirms that He will be seated at the throne of power, given the nations as His inheritance. He affirms that one day He will return to set up His Kingdom.
The sad reality is that they were so blind that the truth was considered to them blasphemy. They set themselves up as the judge of the Son of God and unless they repented, they are in hell even now.
So, we’ve seen false witnesses being brought in to give their lying testimonies. We’ve seen the high priest with his very poor judgement. We’ve seen Jesus who always tells the truth even with the threat of death. Our Lord did not commit blasphemy because what He said was true.
3. Peter’s False Witness and Denial (14:66-72)
66 And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. 69 And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 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.” 71 But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” 72 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.
What is important for us to see here is that while Jesus is being interrogated with the threat of death and He tells the truth about Himself, sending Him to the cross, Peter is down below in the courtyard also being interrogated not by the high priest but a servant girl. Peter fails to remain true but denies Jesus three times.
These three times, in various forms, Peter denies that he knows Jesus. Denial implies a previous relationship of obedience and loyalty. Peter is unfaithful to the Person of Jesus expressed in anxiety for his own safety and his determination to seek approval from the bystanders rather than from the Lord.
Peter emphatically denies Jesus a third time and at that moment the famous scene comes about…the rooster crows and Peter immediately remembered Jesus’ words…
Mark 14:30–31 (ESV)
30 And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31 But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.
Peter’s denial may not have been as bad except for the fact that he promised Jesus that he would never deny Him and that he would go with Him even to his death before he would ever think of denying Him.
Mark places these three events one after the other to shine the spotlight on Jesus Christ and His true testimony concerning Himself and this with full knowledge that to tell the truth meant He would give up His life. Jesus told the truth and gave a good testimony concerning Himself. All this surrounded by the false testimonies, false witnesses, lies, and denials of man…even Peter the Apostle.
Jesus stands courageous and does not waver.
Conclusion
We see here that we can believe and trust Jesus Christ. His Word is truth and it always has been and always will be.
We also see the corrupt nature of mankind and especially of various religions. The Jews here who were to be the leaders of Judaism were fine with paying Judas to murder Jesus. They were fine with setting up a corrupt court to convict Jesus. They were good with parading false witnesses with their false testimonies to try and find something Jesus did that they could use to condemn Him.
We also see that even the bold affirmation of Peter did not guarantee faithfulness when tested. Peter needed more than his bold declaration he needed God’s strength. However, when Jesus told him to pray that he would not fall into temptation, he slept.
This passage is given to highlight the faithfulness of Jesus to the Father no matter what. Jesus is reliable and trustworthy in all circumstances.
We are called to trust Him in all circumstance.
We are also to see what the failure was with the disciples. What caused them to sin by denying Jesus and running away. They were arrogant and prideful. They were relying on their own wisdom and strength. When offered God’s strength to stand firm in crisis they rejected it and fell into great sin.
The application then for us is…don’t be like the disciples but seek strength from the Lord in prayer. And no matter what always trust Christ.
Resources Used:
Words of grace
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