They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together. ⁵⁴ Peter 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. ⁵⁵ 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. ⁵⁶ Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree. ⁵⁷ Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: ⁵⁸ “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’ “ ⁵⁹Yet even then their testimony did not agree (Mark 14:53-59; see also Matthew 26:57-68; Luke 22:54).

This next appearance involved Caiaphas and some members of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the high court of the Jews and it contained 71 members, including the high priest, who was the presiding officer. Caiaphas served as high priest from A.D. 18 to A.D. 36 or 37. Under Roman jurisdiction the Sanhedrin was given a great deal of authority, but it did not have the right to impose capital punishment.

The first thing they did was to bring in some false witnesses to condemn Jesus (Matthew 26:59-60; Mark 14:55-56). The witnesses that showed up were not able to agree on the facts. According to the law, in cases that required the death penalty, the testimony of at least two witnesses must be identical or in harmony (Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15).

Jesus never told anyone to destroy the temple. What he said was, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). He wasn’t referring to the temple in Jerusalem, but to his own body. He also didn’t say, “I will destroy this temple.”

The story continues: “Then 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?’ ⁶¹ But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah, 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.’ ⁶³ The 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. ⁶⁵ Then 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” (Mark 14:60-65).

There were many illegalities in this trial. It was at night-time, quickly done, using bribed individuals, and no witnesses for Jesus were allowed. We’re talking about a complete lack of justice.

Since they weren’t getting anywhere with the flaky witnesses, the high priest asked a question designed to trap Jesus. Caiaphas said: “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” “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” (Mark 14:62).

“The Blessed One” is another name for God. When Jesus said, “I am,” he was referring to the sacred name of God, mentioned in Exodus 3:14. And when he mentioned the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One, he was referring to Daniel 7:13, where the Son of Man is described as having all power and universal authority.

Up to this point, Jesus had regularly avoided making open, unveiled claims to be the Messiah. This is probably because of the many false concepts of messiahship circulating among the Jews of that day. Also, there was always the possibility that his public messianic claims would cause a premature conflict with the Jews and Romans. Jesus needed enough time to spread the good news of God’s kingdom and to prepare his disciples as the future leaders of the church.

Please note that the high priest immediately knew that Jesus was making a claim to deity. That is why he tore his clothes, which was a sign of grief and/or anger, and he accused Jesus of blasphemy. To blaspheme is to speak irreverently about God or sacred things.

To put it bluntly, Jesus was not their kind of Messiah. At that time, Jesus was not seeking an earthly throne. His main message was about God’s kingdom, that he wanted to rule over men’s hearts. On this occasion, Jesus didn’t shy away from claiming to be God’s son, the Jewish Messiah. However, it led to a very strong reaction!

Some began to spit in Jesus’ face, beat him, blindfold him, and challenge him to prophesy to them, saying “Who hit you?” Luke also comments that many other abusive things were spoken to Jesus (22:65).

Prayer

Jesus, it’s amazing that you allowed those weak and sinful men to mistreat you when you had the power to shut them up and shut them down. Give us the patience and grace to follow your lead even when others disagree. Please help us respond to accusations and painful interactions in a way that brings glory to your name.

Question

What would enable you to pause and be more intentional in responding to others, rather than reacting out of hurt and/or anger?