Mark 14:53-65 ‘The judge is judged!’

 

 

Imagine that you find yourself taking a trip to court one day.  You walk into the courtroom as if you own the place.  You expect that the court will rise as you enter—it doesn’t.  You take your seat, look at the man at the front, and say ‘well, what do you have to say for yourself?’  He doesn’t reply.  Someone draws up beside you and whispers in your ear, ‘excuse me, I think you are mistaken.  That man is the judge and you are the defendant.’

 Such a scene is a little bit like what is happening in this passage.  Here is Jesus being judged.  Despite the fact that Jesus has done nothing wrong these men accuse him of crime.  It seems perverse that Jesus, who will one day be the true judge of all, finds himself playing the role of defendant.  In fact many people sit in judgement over Jesus today as they arrogantly debate whether he exists or not and foolishly wonder whether he is relevant to our needs.  In the end it will not be our judgement on Jesus that matters but his judgement on us.

The crocked court

I love courtroom dramas.  You might remember TV programs like Perry Mason or Matlock and films like ‘Twelve Angry Men’ or ‘A Few Good Men’.  However, this courtroom drama is not a pleasant viewing: it is utterly corrupt and twisted.

To start with there is the setting.  The Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court, normally took place during the day and in a public place, for people to be able to see and hear what was going on.  However, this trial takes place at night, behind closed doors, in the privacy of the high priest’s home. 

Then there are the participants!  The witnesses are clearly corrupt—their testimonies don’t agree with each other!  As for the judges—they are not impartial but know exactly what verdict they are looking for: 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.

Finally, there is the timing.  Sentencing was to occur the day after the trial and no sentence was to be handed down on a feast day—this trial is taking place during the feast of the Passover.  They are bending the rules to ensure a quick end to Jesus.

The dice are loaded against Jesus.  But remember that although Jesus’ death will be the result of the sinful actions of evil men everything takes place as the Scriptures had foretold—these things happen according to the plan of God.

The Cosmic Lord

It would not be the Sanhedrin that would carry out the sentence but the occupying Romans.  Therefore the Jewish authorities had to find Jesus guilty of the sort of offence that Pilot would be willing to execute someone for—being a threat to the temple was such a crime!  Pilot knew that if anything happened to the temple there would be chaos.  He would surely want to do away with anyone who was a threat to public order.

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 build another, not made by man.’”  Jesus had said that the temple would be destroyed but he had not said that he would destroy it.  They were twisting his words.  However, their testimony did not agree.

With things not going well for the Sanhedrin the high priest takes matters into his own hands—the chief judge becomes the chief prosecutor.  ‘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.  As was foretold in Isaiah 53, ‘He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.’           

The high priest changes tack. “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”   If Jesus admits that he is the Christ (or Messiah) he will be as good as dead!  Pilot won’t tolerate someone who claims that he is God’s rightful king.  In these sermons on Mark we have seen that the question ‘who is Jesus?’ is central to this Gospel.  Mark wants us to see that Jesus is ‘the Anointed One’, God’s promised king!

Now Jesus not only admits that he is the Christ but also spells out some of the implications of him being the Christ.  ‘“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.”   He looks beyond the cross and resurrection and points to the authority that will be his.  His words echo the opening verse of Psalm 110, The LORD said to my Lord:  “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”  and Daniel 7:13, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven.”  

I guess that most of us don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the Lord’s return.  The New Testament refers to it 318 times!  We ought to think about the Lord’s return and as we do we should ask ourselves ‘are we ready?’  Have we gladly bowed the knee in submission to him now or will we be forced to bend the knee, reluctantly, when he comes?  Does the reality that one day he will return to judge the living and the dead spur us on to warn people to be ready for his coming?

The cruel treatment

Jesus’ words would have been blasphemy were they not true!  Sadly, the high priest is not open to see who Jesus really is.  Like so many people he has made up his mind about Jesus without looking at the evidence.

In disgust at Jesus’ claim he tore his clothes.  “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked.  “You have heard the blasphemy.  What do you think?” 

They all condemned him as worthy of death.  Then some began to spit at him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!”  Presumably they were challenging him to be able to say who it was that hit him.  And the guards took him and beat him.

As we said last week, we ought to marvel at what Jesus was willing to go through, in obedience to the Father’s will, to be the Saviour of people like you and me.  We ought to marvel that the Father let his beloved Son be treated in this way that we might know his eternal life.  And we ought to declare, ‘if he was willing to do this for me then nothing that he asks of me is too great!’

Conclusion

Maybe this morning we are the ones who sit in judgement on Jesus.  We wonder if he is really alive and whether it is worth our while giving our lives to follow him.  How arrogant and foolish we are!  One day he shall return and on that day it will be his judgement of us that will matter, not our judgement of him!  Have we responded to what he has done on the cross?  Are our lives producing the fruit that will demonstrate that our faith is indeed real?  What will his verdict be on us?

In 1738 John Wesley had to preach at the Bedford Assizes before the assembled judges and sheriffs [an assize was a type of court].  His text was Romans 14:10 ‘we shall all stand before the judgement seat of God.’  He entitled his sermon, ‘The great assize’.  In the first part he dealt with the events leading up to the judgement, including a vivid picture of the Christ coming with the clouds.  Then he went on to describe the judgement scene itself.  Finally he described the things that must certainly follow.  As he closed he encouraged his hearers to respond with repentance and faith.  And he said ‘The Judge of all is likewise the Saviour of all.  Hath He not bought you with His own blood that you might not perish but have everlasting life?  O, make proof of His mercy rather than His justice; of His love rather than the thunder of His power.’