But He Remained Silent

Mark 14:53-65

⁵³ And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. ⁵⁴And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. ⁵⁵ Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. ⁵⁶ For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. ⁵⁷ And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, ⁵⁸ “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” ⁵⁹ Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. ⁶⁰ And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” ⁶¹ But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” ⁶² And Jesus said, “I AM, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” ⁶³ And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? ⁶⁴ You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. ⁶⁵ And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.

A reading of any of the Gospels will shine a bright light on the incredibly hostile relationship between Jesus and the Sanhedrin. Now He stands face to face with those guys and they have Him right where they want Him. This is a fascinating look into the hearts of these men who would tell you that they are awaiting the arrival of the Messiah and yet when He stands before them, they deny that He is the One for whom they supposedly wait with their every breath.

Although the Sanhedrin was the legitimate ecclesiastical court of God’s people, the court on this occasion broke all of its own rules. In cases involving capital punishment, two trials at least a day apart were mandatory. They also had to be held during daylight hours. This was to ensure justice. However, in judging Jesus, the Sanhedrin set aside its own regulations in order to condemn and execute Jesus as soon as possible.

Wicke, H. E. ©1988. Mark (pp. 210–211). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Pub. House.

Witnesses are brought forward to testify against Jesus who are all proven to be false. It took two witnesses who agreed on their testimony to convict a person of wrong-doing and they couldn’t truly pull that together. Jesus is finally misconstrued based on His words about the Temple. When He spoke these words, He was being prophetic or speaking about Himself.

John 2:19

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Mark 13:2

And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

In the face of all these charges, Jesus remains 100% silent. He was not there to defend Himself. He was there to pay for the sins of us all and He kept that goal in mind. Of course He could have mounted a glorious defense and every false charge would have gone up in smoke. But that would have run counter to His plan and He was committed to the plan. Were the Lord’s life not the bargaining chip, one might actually have enjoyed quite the show from the members of the Sanhedrin.

Jesus does grace the angry mob with one brief statement and that too enrages the group, for in the statement He invokes the name of God Most High – Yahweh.

And Jesus said, “I AM, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

In that one sentence, Jesus also claims to be the One spoken of in Psalm 110 and Daniel 7

Psalm 110:1

The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

Daniel 7:13–14

¹³ “I saw in the night visions, and behold, 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.

¹⁴And 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 one that shall not be destroyed.

If you had been standing in the court of the High Priest at that time, wouldn’t you have wanted to investigate these claims? Wouldn’t you have suddenly had hope that the promise to Adam and Eve was being fulfilled in your very presence? But what we see in their response is that they are not actually looking for the Messiah anymore. They have given up that hope and instead are looking to see their own power-base increased. There is nothing of God left in them.

We have the benefit of hindsight and are blessed to look back on the Passion of Jesus and see that He is indeed the fulfillment of all that God promised throughout the Old Testament. The blindness of the Sanhedrin played into God’s plan of salvation. So we praise God for His compassionate fulfillment of His promise and await His return, because that’s what He promised He would do next!

Here's a song to enhance your devotional experience regarding this text.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1fb-cQP20w