The Trial
14:53-65
Jesus was taken to the house of the high priest after his arrest. The high priest was Caiphas, who was in that position from 18-36 A.D. It was night. The Sanhedrin was gathered, as indicated by the chief priests, elders, and scribes coming together. (53)
Peter was trailing along behind the crowd and Jesus. He made it into the courtyard of the house. (54) But, we see Mark’s theme of Jesus alone and abandoned. None of his disciples are in the room with him to defend or even accompany him.
The Sanhedrin put Jesus on trial. They were seeking testimony against Jesus. They brought forth false witnesses to testify against him.
The Sanhedrin violated many of the rules of trial in this process to condemn Jesus. There are whole books written about it.
The first violation is the place of meeting. The Sanhedrin was supposed to meet for trials in the Hall of Hewn Stones. That was a building in the temple complex, believed by some to have been attached to the north wall of the temple itself.
The second violation is the time. The Sanhedrin was supposed to meet during the day. They were not supposed to meet during any of the feasts. That is likely why they did it at night and in a different place: to do in secret what they could not do in public.
The testimony of the witnesses contradicted each other, which should have worked in Jesus’ favor, but was ignored. Jewish law required two witnesses to convict a person of a capital offense and sentence him to death. (Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6) One of the witnesses twisted Jesus’ words about the temple, claiming that Jesus said he would destroy it.
What Jesus said was in response to the Jews asking what sign he would show them to justify his cleansing of the temple. Jesus said “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up”. (John 2:19) He was, of course, referring to his body being killed and then raised on the third day.
Jesus was saying that he replaced the temple as the place where God meets with his people. Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of 2 Samuel 7, where God promised David that his descendant would build a temple, be God’s Son, and have a kingdom that lasts forever.
The high priest then asked Jesus to reply to the adverse testimony. (60) This is a possible third violation because the accused could not be compelled to testify or incriminate himself. Indeed, Jesus remained silent. (61) Isaiah 53:7 says:
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
Since the witnesses failed, the high priest himself jumped in demanding to know if Jesus was the Christ and the Son of God (the “Blessed). (61) The Jews did not like to say God’s name.
This Jesus answered, using the “I am”. Then he added two Old Testament prophecies and applied them to himself.
First, he said they would see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of God (“Power”). This is a reference to Psalm 110:1, which says:
The LORD says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool”.
This was considered a Messianic prophecy of the exaltation of God’s Anointed One. Jesus said the high priest would see him fulfill this.
Second, Jesus said they would see him coming with the clouds of heaven. (62) This is a reference to Daniel 7:13-14. These verses spoke of one like a son of man coming to God and being given glory and sovereignty over all human beings forever. This was also a Messianic passage.
The high priest rightly understood Jesus to claim to be the Christ\Messiah and the Son of God. Since he did not believe Jesus’ claims to be the Son of God, he labeled Jesus’ words as blasphemy and led the Sanhedrin to convict Jesus of it.
Blasphemy was punishable by death under Jewish law (although only the Romans could actually impose the death penalty that time). (Leviticus 24:16)
Although they could not kill Jesus, they abused him. They spit on him, showing contempt. They covered his face and hit him while demanding that he prophesy. That meant, tell us who hit you. (65)
In Isaiah 50:10, the Suffering Servant says:
I gave my back to those who strike,
and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard.
I hid not my face
from disgrace and spitting.
Peter’s Denial
14:66-72
While Jesus was on trial, Peter was in the courtyard by the fire. A servant of the high priest, a girl, recognized Peter and accused him of being with Jesus. (67) Peter denied even knowing what she meant. But left and went into another area, where he heard a rooster crow.
The girl evidently followed Peter and pointed him out to some other bystanders as one of Jesus’ followers. (69) That made the situation more dangerous for Peter, so he denied it. (70) A little while later, some of those bystanders confronted him, saying he must be one of Jesus’ followers because he was a Galilean.
Peter again denied that he even knew Jesus, calling a curse on himself if he was lying. (71) At this point, the roofer crowed again and Peter remembered that Jesus had said Peter would deny him three times. In sorrow for what he had done, Peter broke down and wept.
Peter showed some flashes of bravery and keeping his vow to stay with Jesus. The struck with a sword one of the men who came to arrest Jesus. After fleeing from the crowd, he followed them, although at a distance. He made it into the courtyard of the house of the high priest. But, then he failed.
We also see that Peter was later very candid about his failure. Mark could only have known this part of the story if Peter told it to him.
Takeaways
Peter’s weeping means he realized his failure and his sin.
Peter’s willingness to tell Mark the story shows that he had been humbled by these events. It was something he needed to be the disciple Jesus called him to be.
Jesus’ suffering has begun.
Jesus suffered alone. He bore the full weight of his suffering with no help from his disciples and friends.
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