Mark 14:53-72
Jesus Faces the Sanhedrin
53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest; and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes. 54 But Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.
55 Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none. 56 For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree.
57 Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, 58 "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.'" 59 But not even then did their testimony agree.
60 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, "Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?" 61 But He kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?"
62 Jesus said, "I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."
63 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "What further need do we have of witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?" And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.
65 Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, "Prophesy!" And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands.
Peter Denies Jesus, and Weeps
66 Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. 67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, "You also were with Jesus of Nazareth."
68 But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are saying." And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed.
69 And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, "This is one of them." 70 But he denied it again.
And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, "Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it."
71 Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know this Man of whom you speak!"
72 A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times." And when he thought about it, he wept.
Jesus faced the religious assembly, the Sanhedrin, with the scribes who interpreted the Mosaic Law and the Pharisees with their their elders and priests. They brought Him to be condemned for the blasphemy of declaring Himself the Messiah of God, the divine Lord and Christ. Peter who had vehemently denied that he would ever deny Jesus followed safely in the shadows to avoid being identified with Him and face persecution himself. While his Lord was being interrogated with false accusations hurled upon Him, Peter remained outside the fray while warming comfortably by the fire in the courtyard of the high priest and awaited the verdict. The priests and religious council repeatedly brought witnesses to testify against the Lord but they did not agree with each other be they were all fabricated lies that were not well rehearsed for consistency as valid evidence to use against Jesus. Even the truth about His words of how they could destroy the temple and how He would rebuild it in three days was not understood by the witnesses and so the truth could not even be used against Him even when it was so misunderstood. That truth was concerning the destruction of the temple of His body and subsequent resurrection, not the stones of the temple on the mount that took a lifetime to construct (John 2:19-21) but they did not have god-given ears to hear what was being said even then. Finally the high priest addressed Jesus directly with the question of whether He claimed to be the Christ who is the Son of the Blessed (meaning the LORD God) who would be divine and not to be falsely accused if they really believed His answer. Jesus answered with the truth of His coming from God (John 8:42, 16:30) as ruling from the sovereign throne of heaven and future return to judge the world in righteousness (Psalm 9:8, 96:13, Acts 17:31). They rejected their long-promised Messiah instead and condemned Him to death as foretold that His sacrifice would spill the life blood of the righteous for the world of unrighteous sinners in need of such eternal atonement. They spit on and blasphemed Him as they mocked and struck the Lord of the universe in their rejection of the righteous rule of God over them that they might hold on to their religious power and influence over others. Peter, however, continued to deny his Lord until the reality of his actions became apparent and he had bitterly regrets afterwards. As it is written, “when he thought about it, he wept.” May we always remember these things and resolve never to hide our faith in Christ and stand firmly to hold on to and hold out His word (Philippians 2:15-16) of the gospel to all who will listen that God may give them ears to hear and bring them out of the darkness of sin into the light of transforming grace (1 Peter 2:9) of His deliverance from sin and eternal death. May we stand against false accusations with no regrets of denial.
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