It was during the darkness of the early morning that Jesus would have been led away from Gethsemane to the home of Caiaphas, the High Priest, to await trial. Instead of entering the Temple through the beautiful gate to take his place among the religious leaders as their Prince, the Messiah, Jesus was instead bound and led through the city streets to the High Priest’s home where he would have been lowered into a pit that was used as a prison cell. Remember it was the middle of the night when Jesus was arrested so it would have taken some time to call the Sanhedrin together once they knew they had Jesus in custody so until the time of trial Jesus was held as a prisoner. As Jesus was lowered into the pit we have to wonder if he was maybe thinking about or praying through these psalms: Psalm 30:9-10, Psalm 40:2-4.
As Jesus was praying, the Sanhedrin was gathering. Now the Sanhedrin was the ruling body of Israel made up of 70 elders and the high priest. This council was established by God at the time of Moses and was created to help settle disputes among God’s people. The Sanhedrin, which literally means sitting together, was not supposed to meet at night, nor were they to meet during a religious feast or festival, but here we see them breaking both of their own rules to gather at night during the Passover and the reason they did was because they saw this situation with Jesus as being both dangerous and unusual. Because of his growing popularity, these elders had to do something to silence Jesus or else there would be civil unrest and they would lose their hold on the people, but if they arrested Jesus and began a trial during the day, in full view of all the people, the crowds who cheered Jesus just a few days earlier might have turned on them creating more problems. So the Sanhedrin went against their rules and gathered at night during the Passover to begin to discuss what to do with Jesus.
For the Sanhedrin to convict someone of a crime they needed at least two witnesses to agree about the charges and as we hear from Mark, they were not able to do this with Jesus. In fact, what we see here is that the whole trial is a farce. Many different people were standing up and accusing Jesus of all kinds of things, but they couldn’t even find 2 people to agree with their lies. If Jesus just remained silent they would have to let him go, and at first it looked as if Jesus might do just that. When Caiaphas asked Jesus to respond to all the wild charges that were being brought against him, he said nothing. And then Caiaphas asked Jesus the question - Are you the Messiah? Again all Jesus had to do was remain silent and he would be a free man, but Jesus knows that salvation will come from his outstretched arm on the cross so he answers the question. It’s important for us to see this. Jesus could have said nothing and been set free, but he answers the question knowing full well that his answer will lead to his death. It’s important to notice how Jesus is in control of all the events here. Nothing takes place during these last 24 hours that Jesus does not want to take place – it is all a fulfillment of God’s purpose and plan.
So let’s look at Jesus response in Mark 14:62. Now on the surface this doesn’t seem like a very radical response, but we know it is because of the strong reaction of the religious leaders. What Jesus said drove them wild (Mark 14:65). What exactly is it that Jesus said here? Well, the first thing Jesus said is I AM. Now this is not a simple affirmation to Caiaphas question, are you the Messiah, this is a radical statement about Jesus’ identity. What Jesus is saying here is that he is God. I AM is the name God gave himself when he called Moses at the burning bush. When God called Moses to return to Egypt and lead His people out of slavery into the Promised Land Moses was reluctant to do it so he asked God, what should I say when the people ask me who has sent me to lead them. God answered, tell them I AM sent you. So here, when Jesus said, I AM, he was saying that he is God and this was clear to everyone on the Sanhedrin. Remember, they have all just finished the Passover meal and so the story of Moses leading God’s people out of Egypt had just been retold in all of their homes so God telling Moses that his name was I AM was fresh in their minds. They knew exactly what Jesus was saying here, he was calling himself God, but that’s not all he said.
Jesus goes on and says, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One. This is a reference to Psalm 110 which Jesus used on several occasions to talk about himself. If we look at Psalm 110 we see that David was talking about the special place he had at the right hand of God as the chosen king, but when Jesus references it here he is saying that he is in this unique place at the right hand of God and he will not only rule with power and authority but he will also be the one to defeat the enemies of God. The Sanhedrin not only understand that Jesus is referring to himself as King, but they know he is looking at them as the enemies because for the past few days Jesus has done nothing but be critical of their leadership. He has called them blind guides and false prophets and white washed tombs so they know Jesus sees them as enemies of God. So not only has Jesus proclaimed himself to be God, but he has proclaimed himself to be the ruler and king who will defeat these very men, but Jesus isn’t done yet.
Jesus ends with a quote from Daniel 7, coming on the clouds of heaven, and here, once again, Jesus is talking about himself as the Messiah who at the end of time will come on the clouds to establish and reign over God’s kingdom forever. So Jesus doesn’t just answer Caiaphas’ question with a simple yes, he proclaims himself to be the Messiah, the very son of God even God himself with three powerful references from the Old Testament and the religious leaders understand completely what Jesus is saying and they believe his words to be blasphemy which is why they tear their clothes.
Tearing ones clothes was not only a sign of deep grief and sorrow but it was also a sign of outrage, so tearing their clothes would have been a normal reaction to Jesus claim to be God. What would not have been normal was for these religious leaders, the holiest men in all of Israel, to spit on Jesus, mock him and strike him, which is exactly what they did. I have to say that this was a new detail in the story for me. It was the religious leaders who spit on Jesus, mock him, ridicule him and hit him. I always thought this behavior came from the soldiers, which it does, but it begins with the religious leaders, these holy men of God.
What is it that causes these holy men to behave this way? Many people believe it is fear. The leaders of Israel were afraid that if left unchecked, Jesus would take away their power and authority. These 71 men on the Sanhedrin controlled just about everything in Israel and the ideas and teaching of Jesus threatened them and in time would undermine their power and hold on the people. If Jesus’ teaching continued to take hold among the people it would bring a fundamental change to society that not only threatened their way of life, but these men’s status and standing and power. So fear not only causes them to arrest Jesus in the dark of night and begin a trial when they weren’t supposed to, but fear moves them to do things they would never dream of doing otherwise – mocking and spitting on and hitting a man many people saw as a rabbi.
And as fear moves these holy men to turn on Jesus we see fear causes Jesus’ own disciples to turn on him as well. While Jesus has been questioned by the Sanhedrin, Peter has been going through his sort of trial. Peter had followed behind Jesus in the shadows and found what he thought was a safe place in the courtyard where he could see and or hear what was going with Jesus. While he was hiding in the shadows a servant girl comes and accuses Peter of being one of Jesus followers. Peter denies it and moves deeper into the shadows, but the woman is persistent and accuses him again, and again Peter denies it. Finally the crowd joins in and they all accuse Peter of being a follower of Jesus and instead of being silent, running away or simply denying it a third time Peter did something he never thought he would do, he called down curses on himself and swore that he did not know who Jesus was.
So while Jesus was being questioned by the leading rulers of Israel, the most powerful men in the land, Peter was being questioned by a servant girl who had no standing or authority at all. While Jesus was completely truthful in all he said, Peter lied at every turn. And in fear the religious leaders do the unthinkable and mock, ridicule and beat Jesus and in fear Peter does the unthinkable and swears on an oath that he doesn’t know Jesus. Now while the religious leaders were afraid of losing power and status and control, Peter was afraid of losing his life. Peter was afraid of being arrested, tried, beaten and maybe even crucified with Jesus.
So it is fear that causes these men to do things they would never normally do and it is fear that moves us to do things we might never think of doing and there are all kinds of fears that we face today. There is economic fear; we aren’t sure if we will have enough money to get through the end of the month or through our retirement. We fear our financial future, or our children’s future. We fear being able to buy a house, or a car, or for that matter the next tank of gas. And our economic fears can cause us to do things that we might not otherwise do. For example fear of not having enough money can keep us from giving the way we want to give, or helping the people God calls us to help. Economic fears can drive us to treat people poorly or accuse people of taking things that we think rightfully belong to us. Through history, economic fears have led to racism, sexism, wars and unspeakable violence as we unfairly put others down so that we can get what we think we need or deserve.
We also face relational fear. As we see marriages fall apart and families crumble we struggle with the fear of ending up alone. Loneliness is a very real fear that pushes people into all kinds of unhealthy relationships and fear of being alone and unloved can lead to destructive behavior. We hear stories all the time of how the fear of loneliness has led people, especially young people and teens to do things that they would never normally do.
Like Peter we also face physical fears, maybe not fear of being arrested, beaten or killed, but we experience fear in the face of disease like cancer or diabetes and there are the physical fears we face when we look around at the growing instability in our world. There is fear when we hear about a nuclear Iran or preemptive strikes by Israel, or when we see terrorist strikes or even random acts of violence. There is a lot of fear around us today and like we see in Peter and these religious leaders, this fear can cause us to do things we might not otherwise do.
Do you remember the fear that spread at the end of 1999? People were unsure if computers would work in the year 2000 and so in the wake of Y2K people started to stock up on food and water. I had a roommate at the time who wanted to start loading up on canned goods and bottled water because he was afraid of what was going to happen. Now this was a faithful Christian who was generous and giving, but fear was causing him to not trust God and seriously think about hording food. Fear can cause us to do all kinds of things we wouldn’t normally do or to run away from those things God is calling us to do. Have you ever heard God asking you to step out in faith in some way but you didn’t because of fear? Have you ever run from God in fear, or said no to God out of fear?
While we experience all kinds of fear today, we do not need to have our lives directed or controlled by fear, there is an answer to overcoming it. Look at 1 John 4:16-20. It is perfect love that casts out fear.
It was perfect love that helped Peter overcome his fear and get to the point where he no longer denied that he knew Jesus but proclaimed him as Lord. While fear caused Peter to deny Jesus in the courtyard, after his resurrection Jesus returned to Peter and asks him three times if he loved him. Three times Peter said yes and three times the love of Jesus forgave Peter, and it is this perfect love, shared between Jesus and Peter that gives Peter the strength and power to stand firm in the face of both accusations and persecution. Just a few months after Peter’s fear and failure in the courtyard he will be standing up in the city of Jerusalem telling all the world that he is a follower of Jesus who is the resurrected Messiah. The rest of Peter’s life will be spent facing opposition from people more than powerful than servant girls, and he will stand up under that persecution, even die on his own cross because the love of God cast out his fear, and the love of God can cast out our fear as well.
No matter what kind of fear we might be experiencing today, the love of God can overcome it. If we are facing economic fears then the love of God can assure us that God will supply all our needs. If we are experiencing relational fear and the fear of loneliness then the love of God reminds us that God will never leave us nor forsake us and that God can heal and redeem and restore relationships. If we are physically afraid for ourselves or for our world then the love of God can remind us that God is in control of all things and that no matter what happens in the days to come, God will come on the clouds to bring life and life eternal.
God’s perfect love casts out fear, and Gods love is experienced in all of our lives as we share it with one another. 1 John tells us we must love one another. Right here and now we need to love one another and when we do we not only help others overcome fear, but we overcome it ourselves.
What this hour of Jesus’ final day shows us is that fear can cause us to turn away from Jesus and even turn on him, but if we are willing to trust in the love of God and if we are willing to share God’s love with one another – we can overcome fear and experience God’s gift of life.
Next Steps:
24 Hours that Changed the World ~ Condemned by the Righteous
1. What fears can you identify in your life today?
Spiritual:
Economic:
Relational:
Physical:
Global:
2. How are these fears giving shape to your attitudes? Actions?
3. Being lowered into the pit (prison cell) Jesus may have experience all kinds of fear, how might Psalm 18, Psalm 30, and Psalm 40 helped him overcome his fear?
4. How can these same Psalms help us overcome our fears?
5. What have you seen in Jesus’ final day so far that reveals the perfect love of God? Give thanks for this love and accept it into your own heart and life.
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