Bible Study Materials

Mark 14:53-15:15 (2009)

by Paul Choi   08/03/2009  

Message


JESUS WAS TRIED IN OUR PLACE

Mark 14:53-15:15

Key Verse:14:61,62  “But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Christ, 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.”

  Last week we studied about Jesus’ prayer at Gethsemane. Jesus prayed with full might in order to obey God’s will for world salvation. Jesus prayed all night until his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.(Lk 22:44) Through this prayer Jesus overcame his human desire and won the spiritual battle.  Have you ever prayed as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane? Have you ever experienced a spiritual victory over the power of sin and death? May God help all of us to become warriors of prayer who experience the power of prayer every day. Amen.

  Today’s passage tells about Jesus’ trial before men. It also tells about Peter’s denial of Jesus. May God teach us today about the meaning of Jesus’ trial. Amen.

First, Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin (14:53-65) The crowd, armed with swords and clubs, arrested Jesus and took him before the high priest, the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law. Look at verse 53. In this verse the high priest, all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law indicates the assembly of ‘Sanhedrin’, the Jewish ruling council, which was the equivalent of the American Senate. Why did they gather together late at night? Did they meet in order to pray for their nation? No.  Look at verse 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.” They gathered to accuse Jesus and to put him to death. Look at verse 56. “Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.” (56) Then some stood and gave this false testimony against Jesus: “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this man- made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.’ Yet even then their testimony did not agree.” (57-59)

  In John 2:12-22 Jesus clears the temple. After clearing the temple, Jesus answered the Jews who had asked to prove his authority to clear the temple. He said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” Here Jesus showed that the temple he had spoken of was his body. (Jn 2:21)Three days after he was crucified, he would be raised again. Indeed Jesus is the temple of God, where we can meet Him, worship Him and pray for all nations. Jesus said this so that people might know him and believe in him and be saved.

The high priest, known as Caiphas, sensed that the people’s testimonies would not work well enough to put him to death. So he himself began to investigate Jesus. Look at verses 60,61. “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.” In his humanness, Jesus could have defended himself because this false testimony could take his life away. But Jesus remained silent. Jesus did not defend himself to avoid false accusations. Why? It is because Jesus decided to obey the will of God for world salvation through his death and resurrection. Jesus determined to drink the cup of sufferings and to die as the Lamb of God for the sins of the world.(Jn 1:29) So he did not open his mouth. This reminds us of Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

 People of this world do their best to defend themselves from any accusation as much as they can. So they open their mouth and say many things to make excuses. Some hire lawyers. People don’t care about others if only they are okay. It is not easy for us to bear others’ weak points and mistakes and defend them as our brothers and sisters. We have a tendency to crush others in order to defend ourselves. But, Jesus did not do so. Jesus did not defend himself in order to spare himself from condemnations and accusations caused by our own sins. Jesus did not open his mouth to accuse us of all our wrongdoings and sins. Instead, he remained silent and did not open his mouth. He bore all our sins in his own body. Praise Jesus!  We must learn how to bear others’ weaknesses and defend our brothers and sisters from the devil’s accusations and pray for them behind the scenes. Then we will be called sons and daughters of God.  Amen. 

Look at verse 61b. “Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”  The high priest asked this question so that he could charge Jesus with blasphemy. Blasphemy was the worst sin. According to the Jewish law, those who misuse the name of God and defile God’s words and his temple were accused as blasphemers. Those who blasphemed were stoned to death.(Lev 24:10-16 ) In this verse “the Son of  the Blessed One” is the Messiah who was promised to come. What did Jesus answer?  Look at verse 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.” In this verse Jesus clearly identified himself as the Christ, the Messiah. As the Messiah, Jesus had to undergo trials, suffering and the pain of crucifixion for the sin of the world. But Jesus warned them that after his resurrection the Son of Man would sit at the right hand of the Mighty One. Jesus also warned them that he would come again on the clouds of heaven to judge the living and the dead. Jesus’ testimony is a terrible warning to those who reject him and follow evil, but good news of great joy to all those who repent and accept him as the Lord and the Savior.

  How did the high priest respond to Jesus’ words? He tore his pompous high priestly robes as if he was righteous and Jesus deserved to die. He continued, “Why do we need any more witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”(63,64) The high priest thought that he finally gained enough evidence to charge Jesus with blasphemy. If the high priest remembered Jesus’ words and deeds, he should have acknowledged Jesus as the Promised Messiah and led his people to believe in Jesus. However, he cheated his conscience and stirred up his people to condemn Jesus. They all condemned Jesus 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. (65)

  Being spit on and struck with fists were acts of extreme contempt and humiliation for Jesus. Jesus endured such extreme shame and contempt. In this way Jesus was tried by the Sanhedrin members. Jesus was the sinless Son of God.  He was the good shepherd. But he was tried and tortured by men. Why? From God’s point of view, Jesus was tried and tortured in our place. Each of us must be tried and tortured for our own sins. But Jesus took our place. He took up all our iniquities and transgressions. Praise Jesus! Jesus is our true friend. Jesus is our high priests. Jesus was tried in our place. Amen.

Second, Peter disowns Jesus (66-72). Look at verse 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.” Not long before, Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.” (29). He was even determined to die with Jesus and never to disown him. (31) However, while Jesus was being taken from the Sanhedrin, Peter kept a distance from his master Jesus. He did so because he was gripped by fear. Fear paralyzed him. While he was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. And she said, “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus.” Peter’s heart sank. But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.(66-68) But the servant girl did not give him up. She followed Peter to the entryway and said to those who were standing around, “This fellow is one of them.” (69) Again Peter denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” (70) The people noticed Peter’s Galilean accent in his speech. Peter felt frantic. In his helplessness, he called down curses on himself and he swore at them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.” (71) As soon as Peter denied Jesus, immediately a rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept. (72) Here what do we learn from Peter’s denial of Jesus? First of all, Jesus is a good shepherd who knew Peter and bore his weaknesses and mistakes. Jesus predicted his denial in advance so that Peter might not fall into self-condemnation, but be reconciled with him. Second, Peter had to learn how to prepare for the coming trials through prayer. Peter should have prayed instead of sleeping while Jesus was praying at Gethsemane. Preparation and confrontation without prayer causes troubles and brings mistakes. Third, Peter’s genuine tears of repentance. When Peter broke down, he was not broken in despair. His heart was broken. When he wept, he did not weep out of regret, but he wept with thanks for Jesus’ mindfulness and his shepherd love.

Third, Jesus was tried before Pilate (15:1-15) Since the Jews had no right to execute criminals, they handed Jesus over to Pilate, who was a Roman governor. In reality, Pilate had nothing to do with Jesus because the charges were matters of Jewish religion. If Pilate had declared that he had nothing to do with Jewish religion, he would have been guiltless. But he attempted a political compromise with the Jews, and he invited eternal disaster upon himself. As soon as Pilate saw Jesus, he asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” (2)  Jesus replied, “Yes, it is as you say,”. Jesus again clearly testified that he was the Promised Messiah. Here the king of the Jews indicates the Promised Messiah.

  The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.” (3) Pilate wanted Jesus to defend himself so that he might dismiss the case. But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.(5) Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. (7) Pilate knew well about the customs of the Jews. So he asked the crowd, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” Pilate knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. He expected that they might choose Jesus for release rather than the cruel murderer Barabbas. To his surprise, the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead (11).  Pilate was in deep trouble. He felt that he was on trial. So he asked them, “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” (12) They shouted, “Crucify him!” “Why? What crime has he committed?” Pilate asked. Pilate meant that he did not find any basis for a charge against Jesus.(Jn 19:6) But the Jews shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” (14) Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.(15)

  In today’s passage we studied how Jesus was tried, humiliated and beaten up. Jesus was tried and tortured in our place. We are the ones who should be tried and condemned because of our iniquities and transgressions. But Jesus was tried and condemned in our place. We live in the land of freedom America. We are free to go and free to stop. We enjoy abundant freedom compared to other country. However, we are truly free unless we are not free from sin. True freedom comes from forgiveness of sin. Sin demands price. Those who sin are to be tried and condemned. We are the ones who should be tried and condemned due to our own sins. But Jesus took our places and was tried in our place. By his trial Jesus freed us from eternal condemnation. By his trial Jesus took our condemnation. Praise Jesus! Jesus taught that he is the Son of God and he will come again. Praise Jesus that in the midst of trials he declared that he is the Son of God and he comes again to judge the living and the dead. Amen.


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