An Unjust Justice System (Mark 14: 53-65)
Throughout history governments have established judicial systems that seek to see that justice is done in their particular societies. In order to ensure the system works they put rules in place. For example, we have a legal system in the UK that assumes an accused person is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Overall, I believe our system works very well, but unfortunately even the best of systems doesn’t always work. Sometime the very system itself lets people down we can all think of examples. But what can be extremely serious is when people working within the system themselves are corrupt. When that happens the justice system itself can become unjust? And this is the background to what particularly happened to Jesus Christ when He was put on trial. Let’s be clear, not only was His trial unjust but it was also illegal.
What I would like us to do today is look at that trial and I particularly hope we can learn at least one spiritual lesson. As a matter of fact, I think this is one of the greatest spiritual lessons you can learn in life. If you don’t get hold of this, then you might experience some real feelings of grief and injustice in your life. This passage begins by giving us a description of some of the court proceedings in general and the particular problem that they faced when attempting to build a case against Jesus. Then in the middle part of the passage we see the actual prosecution of the Lord. The finally the verdict is given. So, with that in mind let’s look together at the passage. It begins by telling us this.
They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together.
(Mark 14: 53)
Now, let me just clarify at this point because it helps if we back out of Mark for a minute and consider the four Gospel accounts together. If you take the information, we have from across all four of the Gospels you quickly see that there was not just one trial of the Lord, but there were in fact six occasions where Jesus is cross examined and in a very real sense put on trial. So, let me just give you a quick overview of the six trails of Jesus.
The first three were Jewish.
The last three were Roman.
The first of the trails occurs when they take Him to Annus, and that is described in John Ch 18. Annus was a high priest and according to the Old Testament a High Priest was appointed for life, but when the Romans took over, they displaced Annus and they put in his place Capias who was his son in law. So, at this point Capias is the High Priest. Now, the Jews still recognised Annus and viewed Capias as a puppet. The Romans recognized Capias and saw Annus as an irrelevance and yesterday’s man. So, although both were functioning as sort of High Priests neither had complete authority across both societal groups. So, after his cross examination before Annus, Jesus was taken before the whole Sanhedrin which we shall see later in Mark Ch 15. So, those are the three Jewish trails, Annus, Capias and then before the whole Sanhedrin.
The Roman trials then begin when they send Him to Pilot. At first meeting Pilot wanted to have nothing to do with this so Pilot send Him to Herod. Herod then cross examines Him and also doesn’t want to have anything to do with it either, so he sends Him back again to Pilot who questions Him again. So, those are the three Roman trials – Pilot, Herod and then finally Pilot again.
So, the point in the overall story we have now arrived at in Mark Ch 14 and the Lord is facing the Capias trial. The first trial actually recorded in Mark, but it is the second of the six He is going to face, when we look across all the gospel accounts.
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.
(Mark 14: 54)
So, this opens with a sort of pre-trail involving Capias before the main trail to come when very soon He shall face the whole Sanhedrin. So that’s the background as to what is going on here. But there is something else it is helpful to know about this setting in that the Sanhedrin has a problem, and their problem was huge. If we back up to the beginning of Ch 14, for a minute, verses 1, will tell us what the problem is.
Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.
(Mark 14:1)
This shows you how corrupt this trail already was, they had already reached a verdict, but they needed to show some semblance of a trial, so they needed witnesses. You see, according to Jewish law in order for somebody to be condemned for a capital offence there had to be at least two witnesses and those two witnesses had to agree. However, verse 55 says this.
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:
(Mark 14: 55-57)
So, they could not get even two independent witness to testify against Him and even when they called false witnesses, they could not get their statements to agree, and that was their problem. They could drag up people who were willing to speak against Him, but they could not get them to agree and say the same thing. So, they have a problem, and because of this problem they cannot prosecute a case that might involve the death penalty.
Scottish Bible Professor William Barclay tells us that Jewish law in fact required three witnesses. Firstly, what was called a vain witness, who would stand and give evidence. Secondly, a standing witness who would come and collaborate the first offence. Then finally a third witness called an equal witness whereby another separate witness who would come and give testimony to another separate but similar offence, thus proving a pattern of behaviour. And this is what they were trying to pull together by using false witnesses.
But let’s pause for a moment and hear what it is those false witnesses actually said.
‘We heard him say, “I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.”’
(Mark 14: 58)
Is that true, is that what Jesus actually said? Did he say I will destroy this temple. No that’s not what he said at all, not even close. What he said we looked at a few months ago when Jesus cleared the temple area of money changers and merchants, but it is also recorded in John Ch 2 beginning at verse 19.
Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days. ‘They replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?’ But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
(Mark 14: 19-21)
So, they are saying, He said He would destroy the temple, but He didn’t say that. He in fact said, if, the temple is destroyed, He will raise it up again in three days, and then it even clarifies it for us by telling us the temple he spoke of was the temple of His body. So, there were false witnesses willing to say He said He would destroy the temple but as verse 58 tells us.
Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
(Mark 14: 59)
False witness yes, but even they could get them to agree in the same detail of what they said. So that the problem for the court, how do you convict someone of a capital offence deserving of death if you don’t have witnesses. Then the High Priest steps up, the one who would be the prosecutor of the case.
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.
(Mark 14: 60-61)
Jesus response or lack of response takes a little explanation.
But helpfully Matthew’s account throws some light on the matter for us.
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 then said to him, ‘I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.’
(Matthew 26:62-63)
The High Priest in Matthew account is seen to put Jesus under oath, and that was illegal. Under Jewish law you couldn’t put somebody under oath and ask them to testify against themselves. They couldn’t do that, but that is what the high Priest did here. What the High Priest wants here is for Jesus to incriminate Himself. So, why did Jesus say nothing? He could have said they did not have the correct witness testimony against Him. He could have said He was not guilty of saying what they said He said. But he remained silent because…. He was fulfilling prophecy. He was bringing to pass exactly what the Old Testament said would happen concerning the coming of the Messiah.
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 its shearers is silent,
so, he did not open his mouth.
(Isaiah 53:7)
So, Jesus just said, nothing. Verse 61 then says
Again, the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’
Capias says, alright, speak up, you are under oath now, are you the Messiah? So, He remains silent when the false charges are bought against Him. But when asked (under oath) if He is the Messiah, He says.
‘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)
Now we need to note that Jesus said, “I am”. Don’t let anyone tell you that Jesus Himself never claimed to be the Son of God. Here is as plain as day, not only does He say, “I am”. His use of the phrase “I am” echoes the name God uses of himself when He revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush. He then tells them that not only is He the Messiah, the Son of God, but that one day they will see Him sitting on the right hand of God and returning from heaven in great power and glory to set up the kingdom. Just as spoken of in Daniel 7:13.
Here is the critical moment of the trial. He is asked the question under oath are you the Messiah and are you the Son of the most high God.
And Jesus replies, “I am”. If Jesus had said no to this question, the trial would have been over, and He could probably have walked out a free man and he could have escaped the cross. But he replied, “I am” and by doing so He signed His own death warrant. He well knew what he had just done. So now comes their verdict.
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.
(Mark 14: 63-64)
They all condemn Him to death. Now of course all of this should have been illegal, and to make it worse listen to what happens next.
Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, ‘Prophesy!’ And the guards (Officers of the Religious Court , not military guards) took him and beat him.
(Mark 14: 65)
Incredible, they spit and hit him, and it is the officers of the court who are doing it, maybe even the High Priest himself. Imagine been found guilty in court and the judge coming down from the chair and spitting on you, and the guards employed to assure good order beginning to hit you. Then the jury climb out of the jury box and come and slap you around a bit. That is what is going on here. How unjust is that, but that is what is going on here.
The meeting may have begun as a sham portrayal of pretend justice but by the end all pretence had gone, and it has ended as a frenzied display of hatred without even an attempt to maintain a veneer of impartial justice. The trial was illegal, immoral, and unjust, from beginning to end. What I believe this passage is telling us is, as an end result of an illegal trial Jesus is condemned to death, precisely because he claimed to be the Messiah. Let me also sum up this passage by saying, yes, the proceeding were illegal, but more so than perhaps you might even imagine.
The religious leaders violated their own laws.
1. For a Sanhedrin decision to be valid the Sanhedrin had to meet in its own court area - They did not do this, they met at Capias’s house.
2. All criminal cases must be tried and completed during the daytime - This again was not the case, they met at night.
3. Criminal cases could not be tried during the Passover - The opening verse tells us this trial was conducted during the Passover.
4. If the verdict was guilty a night must pass before the announcement of the sentence so that any feelings of mercy might have time to arise - They did not do that either.
These were the rules of the Sanhedrin and in the eagerness to destroy Jesus, they broke all of their own rules and more.
That’s the text, and there is an important lesson that I believe we all can learn from this. And that is…. There is no perfect justice in this life, and the life of the saviour is an illustration of that fact. There is no perfect justice in the world financially, politically, socially, or even sometimes judicially. Even in our British judicial system, which I do believe is one of the best in the world. Injustices still go on, on a daily basis. So surely the question we should actually ask, is what do we do when that happens?
Have you ever been treated unjustly? What are we to do when we experience or witness injustice. Now, I think it is rather interesting that Peter was in the side-lines whilst all this was going on. Standing at the side warming himself by the fire, he witnessed all of this, how did he react. We can know how he reacted. Peter wrote a letter later some years later and he gives us an insight into what he learned that night, and what we might learn today. What he said was this, and note he is talking to believing servants who are forced to submit to undeserved unjust ill treatment from their masters, and this is what he says.
Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
(1 Peter 2:18-20)
When injustice strike and you can’t do anything about it and there is no recourse…. Just be patient. That may seem hard, that may seem impossible at times, but that is why it takes the grace of God to do it. Peter continues,
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
(1 Peter 2: 21)
If you want to know how to handle an injustice, Jesus is the example.
Believers are to submit to un-deserved suffering because it happened to him, and he is our example. That does not mean you should not defend yourself, but it does say you should not get angry, bitter or retaliate. Peter goes on and this is the lesson we must learn.
‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. ‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’
(1 Peter 2: 22-24)
Remember Peter personally witness the trail of Christ, who was unjustly committed, tried, and executed, but in all of that Jesus did not retaliate. Jesus suffered vicious verbal abuse and painful torture mocked and forced to carry His own cross and crucified to death. Yet through it all he did not get angry insult anyone or threaten to get even.
He did not even attempt to verbally convict those who tried Him of their legal errors. Here is what Christ did, and here is the lesson for us. He just committed himself over to the only one that can judge justly. He handed over the judgement of sinners to God whilst at the same time handing over himself to death to die for the sins of mankind that they might have the opportunity to live a forgiven and righteousness life. If we are made righteous in Christ, then we can leave the injustices of this world in the hand of the only one who is able to judge the sinners and the guilty.
Here me and hear me well, injustice is a fact of life, but when we are treated unjustly don’t curse the situation, don’t even curse the accuser if there is one. Just appeal to the highest court of all, the one and only God who is able to judge all things and leave it in hands. It worth repeating.
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. ‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’
There's no perfect justice in this world. Injustices exist in financial, political, social, and even judicial realms. Jesus, who faced the epitome of injustice, did not retaliate but committed Himself to God, the ultimate Judge. Through His sacrifice on the cross, He bore our sins and offered us forgiveness and righteousness. Injustice is a harsh reality of life, but we can find solace in knowing that we can appeal to the highest court, God, who judges justly. When faced with injustice, let us remember Jesus' example and entrust our cause to the One who can bring true justice.