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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Those who had arrested Jesus took Him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put Him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.
Finally two came forward and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”
Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against You?”
But Jesus remained silent.
The high priest said to Him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
“He is worthy of death,” they answered.
Then they spit in His face and struck Him with their fists. Others slapped Him and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”
Matthew 26:57-68
They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together. 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.
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. Many testified falsely against Him, but their statements did not agree.
Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against Him: “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
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?”
But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked Him, “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.”
The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death. 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 14:53-65
Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest.
The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating Him. They blindfolded Him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit You?” And they said many other insulting things to Him.
At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. “If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.”
Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe Me, and if I asked you, you would not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”
They all asked, “Are You then the Son of God?”
He replied, “You say that I am.”
Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from His own lips.”
Luke 22:54, 63-71
Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound Him and brought Him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people.
Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about His disciples and His teaching.
“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who heard Me. Surely they know what I said.”
When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped Him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.
“If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike Me?”
Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
John 18:12-14, 19-24
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Have you ever encountered someone who was just out to get you?
It seems there are always these kinds of people in the world, people who look to stir up trouble and target other people for evil acts.
These kinds of people are usually very dedicated to succeeding, so much so that they will do whatever it takes to get their way and bring someone down. Unfortunately we need look no further than our nation’s political behavior and the media to see this behavior at its worse.
If a certain party rises to power, you can be sure the other side will work overtime to discredit anything their opponent does with the media as a willing accomplice to shape public opinion toward their cause. Presidents and other elected officials are slandered regularly. Nominees for positions in the White House Cabinet and Supreme Court nominees often find fabricated accusations waged against them as innuendos are treated as if they are the gospel truth. More and more, a person is guilty before they are found innocent, tried and convicted in the court of public opinion before they are offered a fair chance to clear their name from falsehoods raised against them.
There is little doubt that we are living in a time of unbelievable injustice and it’s systemic, especially in politics.
This matter of falsely accusing to discredit people, or better yet eliminate them altogether (cancel culture, anyone?) is not just a modern day phenomena. For as we see in today’s passages, systemic injustice ranges all the way back to biblical times, even impacting Jesus, the very Son of God Himself.
In this instance, we see court of the Jewish religious authorities as the source of injustice. The men who sat on the council of the Sanhedrin were supposed to be the experts when it came to God and His word. And yet, not one of them would turn to God to validate whether or not Jesus was who He said He was: the Messiah, the Son of Man, and the Son of God. Instead, they assumed Jesus was a liar and blasphemer or at least refused to believe He was otherwise out of their jealous envy for the successes He was having in ministry work.
Rather than see Jesus as a partner in doing the work of God, the members of the Sanhedrin instead vilified Jesus and saw Him as their hated enemy. Blinded by their extreme dislike of Jesus, which also served to harden their hearts, they refused to even try to see Jesus for who He truly was. Instead, they tried to find anything, even a lie to bring charges against Him.
And so Jesus stood before the Sanhedrin, a totally innocent man arrested for no reason. This was painfully evident as people tried to come forward with allegations against Him. It must have been comical and sad at the same time as man after man came forward to accuse Jesus, one story contradicting the next. The Jewish religious authorities had to be more than a little bit embarrassed about the spectacle until someone said something that gave them hope, a statement that offered them the opportunity to capitalize. For we read where some of Jesus’ accusers said this:
“We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’”
The high priest and the rest of the council membership immediately looked to Jesus, expecting some form of rebuttal but Jesus remained silent. It was too much for the chief priest to handle for we find Him first asking Jesus if He was going to respond to the accusations brought against Him. When Jesus stayed quiet, the high priest, obviously aggravated, asked a question of His own:
“I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
To which Jesus replied:
“You have said so,”
And then followed up it up with:
“I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Jesus had not hesitated to pronounce Himself as the very Messiah the prophets had foretold, the long awaited Savior God would send to protect and deliver His people. But the Chief priest and his fellow members of the Sanhedrin refused to believe it or even seek God for validation. Instead, they simply charged Jesus with blasphemy and then abused Him, something they obviously were waiting the chance to do.
Instead of welcoming and honoring the very Son of God, they instead spit on Him, blindfolded Him, and then struck Him with their fists while mocking Him to predict who was hitting Him. When arrested Jesus reminded His disciples that legions of destroying angels were at His disposal to summon but this wasn’t a time for that. The injustice Jesus was experiencing was just the cutting edge of what was yet to come, events that were necessary for God’s plan of bringing salvation to all mankind to come to life.
For no matter what man tries to do in deceit, God will ultimately have His way. His will is going to be done and so too will His judgment on those who willingly sin against Him. In the end translation, injustice never really triumphs for God has and will always reign supreme and be victorious.
Jesus would seem defeated by those who sought to eliminate Him only to be resurrected in glorious, miraculous power after three days in the tomb.
Today, God still delivers people who are victimized by evil falsehood and slander. Rest assured of this the next time someone tries to attack you unjustly.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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