Jesus Condemned to Death (Part 2 of 2)

When the religious leaders attempted to fabricate a charge that would lead to a death sentence for Jesus, he stood in purposeful silence. Today on Truth for Life, we'll look at the moment he broke that silence and the impact of his declaration, both then and now. Alistair Begg is teaching from Mark chapter 14. We begin today at verse 53. R. T. Franz, who died this last year, was an excellent New Testament commentator, and in his lengthy tome on the Gospel of Mark, he refers to this as the Christological climax of the gospel. And all that has been anticipated, all that has been veiled, shadowy, pointing forward, leading on, now is declared unequivocally by Jesus in answer to the question of the high priest. What makes this quite so striking is the fact that Mark's gospel, in a peculiar way, has in it what theologians refer to as the messianic secret. What they are saying in that is that it is not difficult for even a fairly cursory reading of the gospel to make it obvious to the reader that Jesus is at pains throughout this gospel to make sure that people do not tell other people who he is. Now, we could go through and rehearse the whole thing, and we're not going to do that. You may be relieved to know, but you can search it out for yourself if you choose.

Let me just give you a couple of illustrations. For example, in the third chapter of Mark, where Jesus has dealt with the demonic activity and the evil spirits have been cast out, the heading is A Great Crowd Follows Jesus, verse 7 of Mark 3. And this great crowd has followed Jesus, because they've heard all that he was doing, and because of the buzz that has been created, they're all coming to him. Then he had the disciples get the boat ready for him, because the crowd lest they crush him, for he had healed so many of them that they all who had diseases had pressed around him to touch him, says Mark. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, You're the Son of God! So the demons were aware of the identity of Jesus himself. And as a result, you will notice verse 12, he strictly ordered them not to make him known. Now, it's interesting that he doesn't want that to happen.

We can talk about it at another time. Jesus is operating according to a set plan and purpose, and if you remember, on one occasion the people came to him and tried to make him a king by force, and it says that he escaped through the crowd, and he was gone before they could even figure out where he was. And the reason was that he surely was a king, but he was not about to become a king as a result of their agenda nor in the fulfillment of their expectations. And it seems perfectly obvious that until it was time for him to declare exactly who he was and what he'd come to do, then there would be that which was veiled, that which was enigmatic about it. So even—and we can notice this in chapter 8—even after Peter has confessed Jesus as being the Christ, Mark tells us in verse 30 of chapter 8 that he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Okay? All the way through, by his testimony, by his words, by his miracles, he's declaring his kingship. And when finally the declaration comes from Peter, you are the Christ, you're the Son of the living God. It is of note, isn't it, that he doesn't say, Okay, now that you've got this, I want you to go out into all the world and to tell everybody about it? Of course, as we followed the story of the disciples, we realized that it would have been a dreadful idea for them to have gone off in that way, because they were, frankly, clueless. And so it was very purposeful in his part to make sure that the secret about the fact that the kingdom of God had come in the person of Jesus in his words and in his works was still in some kind of messianic veiledness as the journey to Jerusalem continues.

But now we have reached the point for full disclosure. And in contrast to the treachery and to the hypocrisy of those who've come to accuse him, Jesus here has a clarity and an authority to his words. Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, Ego, I me.

Yes, I am. He makes this declaration also in circumstances that are altogether paradoxical, aren't they? That's why I suggested this morning that I'm not so sure that the question posed by the high priest might not have been posed with a measure of sarcasm in its tone. In other words, not simply, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? but rather, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? For surely nobody looked less like a Messiah than this individual— deserted by his friends, betrayed by one with a kiss, distressed and troubled in the garden, isolated from his loved ones, taken into captivity, hauled in before the Sanhedrin, subjected to this mockery of preliminary hearing. And it is in that environment that Jesus says, Yes, I am. It is a quite remarkable thing, isn't it, that anybody ever believes in Jesus? Nobody ever, nobody ever, when they would see Jesus, as the Old Testament says, there was nothing about him that… He had no beauty that commended him to people. He was despised, and he was rejected by men. He was a man of sorts, and he was acquainted with grief. Only by faith could a person ever look on Christ on the cross and say, Surely this man was the Son of God. Which, interestingly—and we'll come to that in later studies—that's exactly what the centurion ended up saying. The centurion, who was responsible for the crucifixions, they did three and four a day under the Roman Empire.

Three and four a day! But on this occasion, he said, Surely this man was and is the Son of God. And isn't it remarkable that we, even today, you're here tonight, and you're singing all these songs about Jesus, and you're declaring that his name is blessed, that he is king, that there is a higher throne, that he is Son of God, that he is glorious, he is wonderful? When did you become so bright? You say, Well, I didn't become so bright. Now, what happened to you? Well, God opened your eyes.

Amazing! Nobody would ever see this scene, observe the high priest, and conclude on the strength of the narrative evidence that what was before him here was actually the incarnate God. But openly he declares it, and he collates Old Testament material, as he's been doing all the way through, a little bit of the psalm from which we began reading this evening, Psalm 110, and then some from Daniel chapter 7 and verse 13. And you will notice that he employs his own favorite self-designation in replying. He asks, Are you the Christ? And he replies, I am, and you will see the Son of Man. Jesus uses this phraseology, Son of Man, all the way through, remember? And that is exactly what happens in the passage that we've just referenced in chapter 8, where Peter is declared that he is the Christ. And Jesus on that occasion says—and let me tell you this—that the Son of Man must go up to Jerusalem and suffer and die. And on that occasion, in chapter 8, he is explaining to the disciples that the Son of Man would be rejected. Here, now, he informs the high priest that the Son of Man will be glorified. That he will be glorified. Now, we've tried to note in our studies that the Jewish expectation of messiahship had a strong national and had a strong political flavor. And so Jesus now is once again making it clear that the triumph, that his triumph, is one that is far and beyond anything that could be encapsulated by geography, by territory, or by nationality. That's the significance of Daniel 7, which has been, I think, a favorite cross-reference for us now for a few weeks.

And I want just to quote it again while I have it in front of me. Daniel 7. It gives us that song by Kendrick that we like to sing.

We're not going to sing. And here it is. "'I saw in the night visions,' writes Daniel, "'and behold, the clouds of heaven, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a Son of Man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.'" Now, we're not going to delay on this, but notice what it says, that there was one like a Son of Man with the clouds of heaven, and he came to the Ancient of Days.

It doesn't say he came from the Ancient of Days. It says that he came to him, and he was presented before him, so that his coming was actually a kind of going. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom is one that shall not be destroyed. It is this that Jesus is referencing in response to the high priest as he makes this declaration, "'Yes, I am, and you will see the Son of Man, seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.'" Now, it doesn't tell us how he's going to see or how the listening group confronted by Jesus here are going to see this spelled out. But he tells them that they're going to see it spelled out—that within their lifetime, the Messiah that they think they are about to destroy and deal with once and for all, they are going to see that Messiah vindicated and exalted. That's what Jesus is saying.

You think that you are conducting a trial here of me? You think that this will be the end? I am telling you, yes, I am the Christ, I am the Son of the Blessed, and you are actually going to see this for yourselves. Now, what happens in a little passage like this is that most of us have imbibed such an eschatological view that we immediately assume that this has got something to do with the return of Jesus Christ. I'm not about to argue that it has got nothing to do with the return of Jesus Christ, but I want to suggest to you that there is significance to it in a more immediate sense than in an ultimate sense that may be connoted in the prospect of the return of Jesus. I want to suggest to you, and I suggest it to you, as sensible people who read the Bible for yourselves and figure this out for yourselves, I have many, many friends whom I respect greatly in the Gospel who would not appreciate my interpretation of this—that doesn't prevent me from interpreting it as I do—or even telling you about it.

But I do so with the caveat. I think that it is safe for us to assume that at least Jesus has in mind this when he makes this declaration. He is referring to his resurrection. They think they're gonna bury him in a Palestinian tomb, and it will be over.

They're about to find out that that is not the case. They are going to be confronted by the fact that in the period of time immediately following the resurrection, the reports of the presence of the risen Jesus of Nazareth will be just so extensive in the experience of believers that the Word would be incapable of being kept trapped. And so the Word would have been out on the street. The Pharisees themselves were so concerned immediately after the resurrection that they had lied about things, they gave orders to say that the disciples had come and stolen his body away, because even in the immediacy of things there was the inevitability of the fact that this Galilean carpenter could not be shut away—no, by his resurrection, by his ascension, and then by the proclamation of the Gospel itself, that in the day of Pentecost, here are these people, one in particular whom we're about to consider next time, who's down below in the courtyard, who has really nothing very good to say for himself at this point. But he is going to be the point man in the streets of Jerusalem, saying to many of these same people, This Jesus whom you crucified, he has made both Lord and God. In other words, he is out there proclaiming the exaltation and the vindication of Jesus on the strength of his resurrection and on the strength of his ascension. And as I said to you this morning, some who were present on that occasion—that is, on this occasion—perhaps became some who are then described by Luke in his second volume, when in Acts chapter 6 it says, And the word of God continued to increase—this is prior to the stoning of Stephen—and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Now, we're gonna have to wait till we get to heaven to check this out, but I'm gonna try and find one or two of them and say, Hey, listen. You know when Jesus said to the high priest, I am, and you will see the Son of Man. Were you one of the ones who realized that he was actually alive?

Yeah, I was. We thought we'd finished him off completely. We washed our hands of him. But no. Go ahead, dry the nails in my hands, laugh at me while I die, but I'll rise again, because there ain't no power on earth that can tie me down.

I'll rise again. That's what Jesus is saying to the high priest. Certainly the great arrival of Jesus in all of his power and majesty and might in the fullness of things is there. Consider it for yourselves. What I find most interesting as I come to my closing point is this—that there is absolutely no indication that the high priest even for a moment took time to consider the possibility that what Jesus had just said was true. Isn't that amazing? That is largely the case.

People say, I've made up my mind, just don't confuse me with facts. Well, presumably that was where the high priest was. And so we come to our final word in our close, and that is the word condemnation. Because what happens as a result of it is that the high priest then does a little drama for everybody present, and he tore his garments. The tearing of clothes was originally a sign of grief.

But, says Cole, it had become strangely warped into a sign of savage joy, and a wicked purpose, well nigh accomplished, tearing his clothes. Just as his followers had all left him, verse 50, so now his accusers all agree with the position. What further witnesses do we need?

What a funny question that is. We haven't had a good witness yet. The only good witness we've had, the only one who told the truth in the whole thing is Jesus himself. He is the only good witness. He is the only one who's told the truth.

Maybe there's an irony in that as well, eh? What further witnesses do we need? Well, you don't need any witness other than the witness of Jesus himself. And he's told the truth. Now, what is your decision?

Well, we already made the decision before we started the preliminary hearing. And they all condemned him as deserving death. They obviously concluded that it was absolutely ridiculous for this friendless Galilean preacher to have made these outrageous claims. And so the notion of blasphemy is not so much in the terminology as it is just in the whole notion that is conveyed here—that this Galilean carpenter somehow claims a special relationship with God which so obviously cannot be true. Now, was it a sense of elation?

Was it a sense of frustration that gave rise to the inhumanity and the brutality conveyed in verse 65? What a nice group this is. Here's the highest ruling court of the Jews. Seventy of them. These are university men. These are the scholars of the time. This is not a rabble here.

These are people who have their credentials. These are people who are standouts in the community, representing the cause of religion itself in all of its formal elements. It just shows you what hatred for Jesus can do. And church history is replete with the inhumane, brutal treatment of the followers of Jesus of Nazareth by those who hold themselves as being the exponents of true religion.

It's going on tonight as we speak. It goes on in our world. Spitting is a universal sign of contempt. In fact, you find it judicially in the Old Testament, around the time where people are taking off their sandals and so on.

You can go and look for it yourself. You'll find it in the book of Deuteronomy. It is also found in the servant songs, which lead us up eventually to 53. But in 50—that is, in Isaiah 50, speaking of the servant of the Lord, the Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious. I turned not backward, says the servant. 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.

What a nice group. And they blindfolded him. And then they said to him, Prophesy. It just says, Prophesy here in Mark.

He's always quicker on the move. In Matthew and Luke, it records that they said, Prophesy, tell us who it was who hit you. So they blindfold him, and then they play a game with him. If you know everything, if you're so clever, if you're the Son of God, if you're the Messiah, then you go ahead and tell us who it was that hit you. Prophesy. What an irony it is that what is actually happening is fulfilling his earlier prophecy. The Son of Man must go up to Jerusalem and suffer at the hands of cruel men who will beat him and kill him. Prophesy.

I did prophesy. And his prophecy concerning Peter is now about to unfold in the scene that follows. And the final sentence of verse 65 prepares us for the scene to which we'll come, God willing, next time.

You will notice that it says, And the guards received him with blows. The only other reference to them is in the verse that we've left for next time, verse 54, which says of Peter that he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. You need to go to verse 66 to close the loop, and as Peter was below in the courtyard.

Okay? So Peter is below in the courtyard. This scene has taken place upstairs. He's seated with the guards by the fire, and the guards now are going to receive him with blows. So presumably they said, And you're gonna go downstairs now.

And as he goes downstairs, he just comes under a barash of physical abuse. And what a tragedy that all the boldness of Jesus in the honesty of his I am is about now to be said in the context of all the weakness of Peter in his I am not. You're listening to Truth for Life. That is Alistair Begg exploring the moment of Jesus' full disclosure. As you get ready to celebrate Resurrection Sunday and the events that happened some 2,000 years ago, you'll want to request the book we are recommending.

It's titled Is Easter Unbelievable? Four Questions Everyone Should Ask About the Resurrection Story. In the book, respected apologist Rebecca McLaughlin answers four important questions about the resurrection. Is Jesus' death historical?

Is it ethical? Is the resurrection credible? And is Jesus' offer of eternal life desirable?

This is a quick book to read. It's packed tightly with evidence that supports the truth of the Gospel story. You can read this book cover to cover in one sitting, and it will compel you or a skeptical friend to consider the historical reality of Jesus' life, his death, and his resurrection. When you ask for your copy of the book Is Easter Unbelievable? we're going to send you a bundle of three copies so you can use them to introduce others to the story of Jesus. The three-pack is yours when you donate to Truth for Life today.

You can do that using our mobile app or online at truthforlife.org slash donate. Thanks for studying the Bible with us today. What is it that makes us useful to God? Many of us think it's our talents or our giftedness, but tomorrow we'll see how for the Apostle Peter it was actually his brokenness that was the key to his usefulness. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life where the Learning is for Living.