Mark 14:53-65. In yesterday’s reading Jesus was arrested in the middle of the night in an olive grove outside of Jerusalem. He was arrested by a group of Temple guards or police accompanied by some roman soldiers. S he had predicted his followers all fled. In today’s reading we see Jesus being led to the house of the high priest. We also find out that Peter did not run too far and has followed Jesus and the “crowd”.
The high priests house must have been somewhat large because there was a courtyard attached to it, a fenced or walled area, perhaps surrounded by the house, large enough for the events we are reading about. At some point in Jewish history the leaders decided to form an official group to make “legal/religious” decisions based on God’s law and their understanding of it (traditions, see Mark 7:3-13). At one point in the history of Israel there was one of these groups in each city consisting of 23 men. The group was called a Sanhedrin. In Jerusalem there was the Great Sanhedrin which consisted of 70 or 71 members including the High Priest and leaders of various religious groups including Sadducees, Pharisees, and Scribes. These leaders would have been considered elders in Israel. In the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and Acts the Great Sanhedrin is referred to as “The Council”.
This gathering in the court of the high priests house may or may not have included the whole Council. In the book of John a man named Nicodemus is identified as a ruler of the Jews. Early in the story he seems interested in Jesus and later in the story he is involved in burying Jesus. Also later in Mark we will see a man named Joseph, who is definitely a member of the Council, asking the governor for the body of Jesus and using his own tomb to bury it. It is possible, but does not seem likely, that these guys were at this trial or gathering. Bible experts debate whether or not this was a formal trial. Part of the reason some think it wasn’t a real trial is because it would have been a violation of their own law or tradition to hold a trial at night. Jesus, himself, had called members of this group hypocrites (actors, pretenders) and several times in this story we have seen that they had already decided that they needed to get rid of Jesus. So to say that they would not have a trial at night because it was illegal according to their traditions is naïve (crazy, stupid). Also the rules that these experts are talking about were developed over about three hundred years and were not gathered together in one writing until about 220 AD. That book of rules is known as the Mishna. So it may or may not have been against the rules at the time of Jesus.
Other parts of what happened to Jesus did violate parts of the Old Testament however. In today’s reading a lot of time is spent trying to find witnesses. That is because the Old Testament Law requires that two or three witness must all agree before someone can be executed (Numbers 35:30, Deuteronomy 17:6). Also the witnesses had to be warned that if they lied they would suffer the same penalty that the person they were lying about would get if their lies had been believed; in this case they would be executed for lying (Deuteronomy 19:16-19). We know from previous statements in Mark’s story that the leaders were out to eliminate Jesus. In the book of John, John calls the miracles Jesus did “signs”. Those “signs” clearly pointed out that Jesus is God and the many of the leaders and others rejected that clear evidence. So it would not be surprising if the leaders actions were inconsistent with their beliefs (also remember that there were different opinions within the group on what certain parts of the Bible said. Contrast the beliefs of the Sadducees (Mark 12:18,24) with the Pharisees).
One feature that was common early on in Mark’s story was the idea of “immediately”. Here in this section of Mark we do not find that term used as much but it still is, verse 43 in yesterday’s reading is one of those places. If you remember I also mentioned that the word contains the idea of things being done in the best way. Sometimes it is translated “straightway”. The word is a compound word of the Greek words for “well or good” and “to place”. We might say “to follow the best course”. Jesus was on a mission for God, one that involved dying on the cross for our sins. The timing of this death was important too. The groundwork had been laid centuries earlier when God saved the Jewish people from their slavery in Egypt. It took ten severe examples of God’s power to push Pharaoh to let the Israelites (Jews) leave Egypt. The final display of God’s power was the destruction of all the “first born” in Egypt. The Israelites only escaped if they followed a ritual involving the killing of a lamb and putting some of it’s blood on the frames of the door into their houses. And then only the ones who remained inside would be protected. This event was commemorated each year in Israel and was called the Passover. John the Baptist identified Jesus as “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Here in our story we have Jesus, the real Passover lamb, on trial for his life on the very day that the Passover lambs were to be slaughtered.
In frustration the high priest pushed Jesus to tell them if he was the promised one or not; the Christ or Messiah. In his frustration he even included the idea that Jesus was the son of God, a term which was occasionally used for kings in Israel. While that may have been the meaning of the priest Jesus answer went way beyond that meaning. Jesus knew he was there to die (Mark 9:31, 10:34), he had predicted it to his followers and had been prepared for it (John 12:3-7), now he would make sure in happened. The answer to the High Priest was “I Am” and then he quoted Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13. Two verses that made it clear that he was the promised king from the house of David. I don’t think the High Priest ever got past the “I Am” though. The statement in Greek (the language of Jesus day and the language that the New Testament is written in) is constructed from the equivalent verb and in an equivalent way as the personal name God gave to Moses in the book of Exodus (Exodus 3:14). Jewish people would not even pronounce this name and here Jesus was basically claiming it for himself. At least that is the way the priest and the rest of the leader took it and so they condemned Jesus to death.
The story ends with the guards and soldiers mocking Jesus, challenging him about his claim. Jesus did not retaliate or prove himself, he was on a mission, to die on the cross. The proof had been there anyway and certainly would be there three days later as he predicted.
One verse that we skipped was verse 54. In that verse we see that Peter had followed along and was even sitting with some of the guards by the fire. That is all that verse says. The rest of Peter’s story will be told in tomorrows reading, but understand that Mark is overlapping it with this part of Jesus’ story. It’s like he wants us to make a comparison. Today we saw Jesus being faithful to his mission, even pushing it ahead by his comments, which he didn’t have to make. We will see how Peter does on his “mission” as an early leader of the church. A little hit, not too well. But that is good news to the early believers in Rome. They too were not doing so well probably. For us though today we need to see Jesus determination to follow God’s path, he didn’t avoid it, he moved along on it. He wasn’t swept up by event he moved himself. We need to do the same thing. We need to consider what God want us to do today and move ourselves along that path. There certainly is a time and place for waiting, after all Jesus waited when it was not “his time”, but now it was and he moved ahead. We need to do the same thing.
God help me see the path. Help me know when to walk forward and when to stop. Let me take advantage of the opportunities you give me. Help me see beyond the questions and motives of others for opportunities to honor your plan for my life and theirs. Let me be strong. Let me be faithful. Let me be wise.