Mark 14:53-65
Before the Sanhedrin
53They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together. 54Peter 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.
55The 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. 56Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.
57Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 58"We heard him say, 'I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.' " 59Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
60Then 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?" 61But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?"
62"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."
63The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. 64"You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?"
They all condemned him as worthy of death. 65Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, "Prophesy!" And the guards took him and beat him.
These are the last days, before Jesus dies for us...He has had His Last Supper...He knows His arrest, His trial with Pilate, His being tortured, and His death on the cross awaits Him...He knows He is to drink from the cup of suffering...And though Jesus knows what is going to happen, those around Him do not...The ones who would have the best idea that He is soon to die is the Twelve...But we do not get the sense in reading the four gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles that the disciples, His followers, or those watching that He is dying for them and for us...I do not sense this at all...Those around Him do not seem to make the link or connection that our sins is why He is to die on the cross...One reason He came was to die for our sins, yet it is only later do we discover this...We only get to know this (that He has died for us) after His resurrection...
Jesus trial has two parts...Jesus has a Jewish trial and a Roman trial...He first has a trial before the Sanhedrin (He has a preliminary trial before Annas, the former high priest), and then has a trial before Pilate...The chief priest was over the Sanhedrin and presided over this court...Caiaphas, the current high priest, was the judge in Jesus' first trial...The Sanhedrin has three kinds of members, the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders...There were seventy one members...Pilate, a governor of the region for Rome, was judge over the Roman trial...
Jesus is before the Sanhedrin...The whole Sanhedrin and the chief priests were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put Him to death, but they could not find any...The Sanhedrin looked for witnesses, but found only those who gave false testimony...Those giving false testimony said that Jesus had said He would destroy the man made Temple of God and replace it in three days...Yet even those giving false testimony did not agree...The Temple He would destroy is the Holy Temple...We no longer have to go to the man made Holy Temple and pray...We can pray to Jesus after His resurrection...He is the new Temple God has built, and it is not man made, but God made...
The high priest asks Him if He is the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?...Jesus said "I AM, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."...With this answer the chief priest tore his clothes...He says "Why do we need any more witnesses...You have heard the blasphemy...What do you think"...They all condemned Him as worthy of death...Then some began to spit on Him...Then they blindfolded Him...Then they struck Him with their fists, and they said "Prophesy."...And the guards took Him and beat Him...
Did the Sanhedrin know He was the Son of the Blessed One?...They we taught the First Commandment was that they would have no other gods before Me...The Sanhedrin were in a tough predicament in trying to give Him a fair trial...Some may have seen His miracles and heard His teachings, and all would have heard of Him and His teachings...Blasphemy would have been the right decision if He were not the Son of God...This decision was a very difficult one...The Sanhedrin needed two witnesses to put Him to death...With the seventy one thinking He was guilty of blasphemy was their decision...Because He is the Son of God, and because He is our Messiah, this was foretold...The Sanhedrin would condemn Him to death and He is going to fulfill and did fulfill all the Messiah prophecies...
Later Jesus is denied by Peter, tried by Pilate, and dies on the cross...This would be the normal events for a man guilty of blasphemy...However, He is the Son of God...He was not guilty, we are...We are the sinners, not Him...He did not commit blasphemy...He is the Son of God...He was not guilty...He did nothing wrong...
St. Luke knows St. Paul and writes quite a bit about St. Paul in the Acts of the Apostles...St. Luke writes that Jesus resurrected and was on earth for forty days and spoke about the Kingdom of God(Acts 1:3)...St. Paul writes that Jesus appears to five hundred men after His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:6)...Therefore, over a period of forty days, Jesus appears to His disciples and five hundred others giving proof that He is the Messiah, the Son of God...With so many days on earth after His resurrection, and to be seen by so many people, the people could not deny Him...They could find someone or knew of someones friend or relative that had contact with the resurrected Jesus...This fact, of the resurrection, is the most important fact in man's history...