Jesus Betrayed and Arrested

[0:00] to the Gospel of Mark. We're in the final week, really the, we're just hours away actually from Jesus being crucified. I'm going to pull up my notes here.

[0:13] And we just, last week we talked about a, oh an intensely emotional, an intensely emotional time that Jesus spent in that Garden of Gethsemane in which he really showed an intense amount of anguish regarding his trial.

[0:39] And I'm actually going to have to do my notes. I just realized my device is dead. All right, I'm glad I have my glasses. And what he suffered, you know, he suffered physically but we also see him suffering just in his soul.

[1:04] Emotionally we might call it, in his heart. There in the Garden. Today we're going to move on to the next thing.

[1:15] He's in the Garden. He's praying. There's some interaction there with his own disciples about their weakness. Succumbing to their own weakness of their flesh.

[1:27] Failing to pray when they ought to be praying during that challenging time. But instead they fall asleep, succumbing to the weakness of the flesh. But finally he ends and says, Okay, it's time.

[1:43] My betrayer is coming. And that's where we're going to pick up today. We're going to go ahead and just read through a bunch of verses. Almost 20 verses. And try to get through them today. But Mark chapter 14.

[1:53] We're going to start in verse 43. Let me find it here. All right.

[2:07] Verse 43. And immediately while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude, with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now his betrayer had given them a signal, saying, Whomever I kiss, he is the one.

[2:23] Seize him and lead him away safely. And as soon as he had come, immediately he went up to him and said to him, Rabbi, Rabbi, and kissed him.

[2:34] Then they laid their hands on him and took him. And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus answered and said to them, Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to take me?

[2:50] I was daily with you in the temple, teaching, and you did not seize me. But the scriptures must be fulfilled. Then they all forsook him and they fled.

[3:01] Now a certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body, and the young man laid hold of him. And he left, and the young men, excuse me, laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.

[3:18] And they led Jesus away to the high priest, and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes. But Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest, and he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.

[3:32] Now the chief priests, all the council, sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death and found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimonies did not agree.

[3:43] Then some rose up and bore false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.

[3:55] But not even then did their testimony agree. And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, Do you answer nothing? What is it these men testify against you?

[4:06] But he kept silent and he answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, saying to him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed? And Jesus said, I am.

[4:18] And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, What further need do we have of witnesses?

[4:30] You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think? And they all condemned him to be deserving of death. Then some began to spit on him and to blindfold him and to beat him and to say to him, Prophesy!

[4:43] And the officers struck him. The officers struck him with the palms of their hand. And we'll end there. So there's a lot going on in here and it's so interesting.

[4:54] There's so many threads going on throughout the story of Peter, the betrayal of Jesus, the trial, the Jewish leaders and what they're doing.

[5:08] But we're going to be looking at this, you know, kind of this final part of this betrayal by Judas and how he does it is so interesting. It's not kind of how we would think a betrayal would go.

[5:23] There's this bizarre two verses about a young man fleeing naked. What's that all about? And then his unjust trial before the Sanhedrin and then the final charge against him.

[5:38] We'll look at that. What was that final charge that they have against Jesus? And then just briefly we'll talk about just the very beginnings of the physical abuse against Jesus.

[5:50] So back to verse 43. Immediately while he was still speaking, he had been speaking to his disciples about their weakness and staying up and praying. But he said, hey, it's over.

[6:01] Here comes my betrayer. And Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude of swords and clubs came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. So these were almost certainly part of the temple guard.

[6:12] There was a guard of people, people who were in charge of making sure there was order around the temple area. Remember, at this time, kind of the big picture is you have the Romans are in charge of everything.

[6:24] They oversee everything. They are the ones who are in control. They run the government and they allow the Jewish people a certain degree of freedom to operate under their laws, the law of Moses, these types of things, to run their temple, to have the sacrifices, to have all their other rituals.

[6:43] But everything is under their jurisdiction. And so, what's likely happening here is because who's the one that's sent to arrest Jesus?

[6:54] It's not the Romans, it's actually the Jewish leaders. We call them the Sanhedrin. There's actually about 70, maybe 72 different, includes the high priest, the priests, and the elders, and who am I forgetting, the scribes, make up this group of leaders.

[7:17] And so, they are the ones that sent this multitude that the scripture is speaking about here with swords and with clubs to go get Jesus. Now, his betrayer had given them a signal saying, whomever I kiss, he is the one, seize him and lead him away safely.

[7:39] So, there might be, lead him away safely. The idea here is we want to capture this man, Jesus, and we want to put him on trial. And so, even though there might be a contest, right, when you go to arrest somebody, there might be an outbreak of violence.

[7:57] And so, you might have to kill some people, but hey, the one that I identify, we need to take him away to his trial safely. And, what is the signal?

[8:09] What is the signal? It's a kiss. And why would there need to be a signal? I guess I should ask first. Well, it's the middle of the night.

[8:20] It's probably around midnight or one o'clock in the morning. I think in other accounts, it mentions that they had torches, so they're carrying torches at night.

[8:31] They didn't have flashlights like we do or iPhones, right? Be able to look around in the night in the dark. So, very little light and so it would be easy. Some of these people might not know who Jesus is.

[8:44] He became pretty famous, especially in this last week, so I'm sure many, many people did know. They just wanted to make sure, I want you to make sure you know who the man is that we're arresting and so there will be a sign, a signal.

[8:59] And as soon as he had come up, immediately he went up to him and said to him, Rabbi, Rabbi. And he kissed him. Rabbi, it just means teacher.

[9:11] It was a term of honor, a term of respect for somebody who was a teacher of the law of Moses, which Jesus was.

[9:23] And then what is a kiss? A kiss is a sign of affection, of love, of tenderness. And so what a, what an interesting way to betray Jesus, that final sign or signal of betrayal to use a symbol of tenderness, affection, love, and care to do that.

[9:51] There's a proverb, Proverbs 21, or 27, verse 6, says this, faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

[10:03] Wow. That really strikes in his home, doesn't it, with, with this whole scene. So Judas, it seems, decided that in his betrayal of the Lord of all, of the Messiah of Israel, that he is going to use a veneer of loving kindness to mask the deep depravity of his betrayal.

[10:32] And I ask the question, is this something that's common or uncommon? When we hurt others, when we do things to betray others, when we do things to sin against others, do we usually do it kind of in your face in a defiant manner?

[10:52] Or is it the case that many times we do it with a veneer or a mask of care and concern for others? And I think about this in terms of especially, and I don't know if these things caught my attention because of the election cycle that we're in, but I think about this especially in terms of what's going on in the culture.

[11:14] And a lot of things that are related to politics are only there in political because it's part of the culture, right? And so, cultural things end up becoming political.

[11:28] But we have this practice where we will vote for people who will steal money from one group of people to give it to us. Right?

[11:39] It's called stealing. But we have a really nice word for it. It's called social justice. Right? Have you ever heard that? Social justice. That sounds so nice. Justice.

[11:50] We all love justice. Right? So we call stealing from others justice, social justice. justice. We have sexual perversion rampant in our nation, really all over the world.

[12:09] And we have lots of very nice words for that. A long time ago, we adopted a word for happy. Right? And so we call it, well, just being gay.

[12:22] And sometimes you'll watch a show from like the 1940s or 50s, right? And they talk about being gay and you're like, what's going on? So we don't use that word the way it was intended anymore, right? Because it's been co-opted.

[12:33] But it's a word that sounds so nice and wonderful. This is about happiness. Being gay. Or we use terms like marriage equality.

[12:45] Don't we want equality for everybody? Such a wonderful word. A wonderful sentiment. Or we'll use phrases like, well, love is love.

[12:58] Right? We should be able to love anyone we want. But there's a message behind that, isn't there? I remember going to a pride parade.

[13:10] This is probably a dozen years ago or so. And there were all kinds of different groups, you know, displaying their pride of sexual perversion in the most grotesque of ways, unfortunately, in public.

[13:25] But among them were a few churches marching along. And this one had, they were giving out buttons, little, you know, you put those little pin buttons on.

[13:35] And it said, I am part of God's beautiful diversity. So terms of happiness and joy and equality for something that is so very destructive, not only to ourselves, but to our neighbors around us.

[13:58] One of the things that's becoming more popular in this country is assisted suicide. People, they, their lives have so much pain and suffering, and they decide they want a way out.

[14:12] And so, whether it's through a doctor or some other means, and we call that death with dignity. Death with, isn't that wonderful?

[14:23] Death with dignity. Don't we all want dignity? Or we have a thriving pornography industry, not only here, but all over the world.

[14:36] And we call it artistic freedom. Isn't that nice? We all like art, right? And we love freedom. Today, and this is, I don't know how long this has been around, but it seems just in the last decade, it has become popular to confuse children about their identity and their gender.

[15:01] And so, we have rituals of mutilation and chemical castration that we decide that we're going to employ on children. And we call it gender-affirming care.

[15:14] We want to care for these kids. And then finally, the last one, which is a battle that's been raging for over a generation, is this abortion battle.

[15:29] And we have all kinds of great terms for that. Pro-choice. Everybody likes having choices, right? You want to be able to choose from 35, 31 flavors, right, at Baskin-Robbins.

[15:40] Are they around anymore? Everybody likes to have choices, right? So we're pro-choice. We're reproductive rights. You know, we're all concerned about our rights.

[15:51] Family planning. Women's health care. How about this phrase? Have you ever heard this? Every child a wanted child.

[16:02] Isn't that so caring? I want every child to be a wanted child. But what's behind all that?

[16:16] Violence? Bloodshed? And even now, I hate to say this, but there's this, there's a new, a new refrain coming out that sounds so good.

[16:30] Well, this is a state's rights issue when it comes to violence against little baby boys and girls.

[16:47] We need to make sure that the people decide we can't let this be a federal issue. and so, we're going to let the states make a decision about whether little baby boys and girls are allowed to live.

[17:04] And wow, that sounds so noble and virtuous, right? I mean, states have rights too. And the people in those states, they have a right, so we're just going to let them decide what they're going to do.

[17:20] we're going to give them the right to decide whether we're going to allow violence to be leveled against innocent children. It's not just the insane radical left that can do these kinds of things.

[17:38] And we have to be careful that as believers we don't participate in the same Judas, or kiss of Judas, right?

[17:48] there are a few other things because, you know, it's easy, right, to kind of look over there at what these people are doing, but it's always important to also look inward.

[18:02] You know, we're not like those people, but can Christians, even God-fearing real Christians, also do the same thing? For example, you know what, would you pray for Sarah?

[18:17] I heard through so-and-so who told me because she heard from so-and-so, you know, that she's been drinking again, and we just need to pray for her. It's a mask of concern so that we can gossip about other people.

[18:34] Or how about this one? Oh, I'm so sorry that you were offended by what I said. Masking our ridicule and contempt that someone would dare to be offended by something that we said with a veneer of an apology.

[18:58] Romans 12, 9, it says this, let love be without hypocrisy. We ought to let our love be pure.

[19:08] abhor what is evil and cling to what is good. Continuing on, verse 47, and one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

[19:28] We know from the account in, I think it's in John chapter 18, this is actually Peter. Of course, of course it was Peter. It shows his personality.

[19:40] Also, we're not told here, but we're also told that Jesus actually healed that man's ear. He told Peter, or told the twelve really, that they need to permit even this.

[19:52] Basically, he was saying, listen, this needs to happen, so we're not going to fight, we're not going to resist what's going on here. It's probably a good thing that Jesus did heal the ear of that servant, because you can imagine, these are guys with clubs and swords, and somebody fights back, and what's going to happen?

[20:10] A battle will ensue. And so, with Jesus stopping the violence right then and there, and healing, that guard probably prevented that violence from breaking out.

[20:23] Then Jesus answered and said to them, have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to take me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me, but the scripture must be fulfilled.

[20:37] So here's Jesus asking them a question, and as is common with Jesus, he asks a question to make a point, right? And he's saying, hey, how come you guys are coming to me right now?

[20:50] It's the middle of the night, I mean, I was with you out in the temple the last like four or five days, you could have just arrested me then. How come now?

[21:01] It was really a rebuke, right? Because why were they coming in the middle of the night? They were afraid of the people, and the scriptures specifically told us that, right?

[21:13] If they would have arrested Jesus in the middle of the day in the temple, there would have been an uproar. The people would have challenged them. They would have had a problem. They came at night in the dark because of their fear of the people.

[21:29] Have you come out as against a robber? He says, and that word robber just means criminal. It's not necessarily somebody who steals things, but just kind of a general criminal with swords and clubs to take me. You need all these people.

[21:44] But he says this, but the scriptures must be fulfilled. This reminds me of, and I think this is specifically speaking of Isaiah chapter 53.

[21:58] As we go through and look at all the different things happening to Jesus in this portion of scripture, Jesus' arrest, his betrayal, all these things, his suffering, even his death on the cross, there are so many allusions back to Isaiah 53.

[22:17] It's this prophecy of the suffering servant. And so if you want to take the time, read through Isaiah 53, read through it a few times, and you'll see so many of the things spoken in there tie in so closely to what happened with Jesus.

[22:33] But here's what Isaiah 53 verse 12 says, Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul unto death.

[22:47] And then it says this, And he was numbered with the transgressors. Jesus was numbered as though he was a part of the robbers, part of the criminal activity going on in the area.

[23:01] I'm sure there was plenty, just like there's plenty now, right? Every society from time immemorial has been filled with violence and criminal activity. But he was numbered with those people.

[23:12] He was considered as a criminal. He was numbered with the transgressors, and that's the kind of suffering that he suffered and the kind of death that he died.

[23:23] And then it says this, verse 50, Then they all forsook him and they fled. And what a short sentence, right? It just says, They all forsook him and fled. But wow, the weight of that.

[23:37] And I just want us to try to feel the weight of that. Jesus, he was left alone, he was abandoned, to face his accusers by himself.

[23:51] And to be sure, this is how it was meant to be. This was the design that Jesus would suffer and die, not with people at his side, but to do so alone.

[24:04] the lone faithful one to die in our stead. And I imagine one of the reasons why this was part of God's design plan that Jesus would die alone.

[24:19] Can you imagine how things would have turned out if, say, let's say Peter was the faithful one, right? He's the one that bragged about, okay, I'm not going to flee. But he didn't, he failed in that regard.

[24:31] But imagine if he had, and then he was arrested as well, and he was also put on trial, and then he was put on a cross right next to Jesus. Can you imagine how that would have played out over the hundreds and thousands of years?

[24:45] I mean, we already have a problem with this veneration of Mary, right? Just because she gave birth to Jesus, and she's sinless, and, you know, we pray to her, and all these kinds of things because she gave birth to Jesus.

[24:57] Imagine if Peter had been crucified on a cross next to Jesus, what they would do with Peter. And so, I think there was definitely wisdom in God ensuring through this plan that Jesus would die on that cross alone.

[25:19] But even though it was part of the plan, try to think through what this is like, you know. All of us have suffered in some kind of way, you know. And suffering, if you think back to times of suffering, and, you know, sometimes there might be people suffering in some kind of way even right now.

[25:39] But suffering becomes somewhat bearable, right? When you have friends, family, people around you to help bear our burden, to help bear our pain.

[25:51] In fact, the Bible even speaks to our duty, really, as Christians to do this. Romans 12, 15 says this, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

[26:05] When we have those who are friends, who are family, who are in our church family, who are suffering from sorrow, who are weeping, we are to come alongside them and weep with them.

[26:19] In fact, there's, in Paul's passage about the body of Christ and the purpose of the body of Christ, the church, the local church especially, he says in 1 Corinthians 12, 26, and if members suffer, talk about the members of the body, all the members suffer with it.

[26:38] Or if one member is honored, then all the members rejoice with it. So on both sides, whether we're rejoicing or sadness and suffering, we are to come together and bear with one another through those things, through suffering.

[26:54] But Jesus would suffer without any comfort of friends, with his friends gone. And really, by all appearances, forsaken even by God.

[27:09] And we will see, actually, on the cross, coming up in a few weeks, that he cries out, God, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The next passage is this one that seems kind of bizarre about this young man.

[27:29] I'll just read it again. Now, a certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young man laid hold of him. And he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.

[27:40] Now, just a few things to try to figure this out. Because there's a lot of confusion. I try to read commentaries on these passages, especially if there's anything that is unclear to me.

[27:50] And this, for sure, was kind of weird, kind of strange. And what's this all about? But so many different ideas. But, so just a few questions, right?

[28:01] Well, who is this talking about? It's unnamed. There's no name here given. It did say the disciples, the twelve disciples, or the eleven, I guess, fled. But some have said, well, maybe this is, and these are all guesses.

[28:17] Because there's not really much evidence to go on here. It could have been John, because sometimes John is spoken of anonymously without his name. Or it could have been Mark who actually wrote this.

[28:29] Because that's actually common. Authors will sometimes reference themselves anonymously. They won't name themselves when they write about themselves. Some people said, oh, this is maybe Lazarus.

[28:41] Others have said, well, maybe this is one of the family members of the house where they had the Passover, who kind of maybe followed them. And then the last one is, maybe this is somebody who was part of the household that owned the garden that they were in, the garden of Gethsemane, who just came out to see what all the ruckus was about.

[29:02] And the reason that is, and the next question is, what's up with the linen clothes? And he's kind of draped in these clothes, and then they end up grabbing these linens, and then he's left running naked.

[29:15] Well, what it sounds like to many people is, it sounds like bedclothes. And so, you know, you can imagine, you're in the middle of the night, they didn't have PJs like we do, right?

[29:27] And so, you just kind of wrap yourself in some linen in your bed. And so, you can imagine that maybe there was this, you know, house near the garden of Gethsemane, and there's this multitude, and this kerfuffle, and you go out to see what's going on.

[29:43] Really, regardless, of who it was, but it says young man, so we know it was a younger man. And it says that he's following after the multitude as they're taking Jesus away, but then they get into a conflict with him, or they decide, well, this is somebody that we don't want following us for whatever reason, or maybe he's with the twelve, or something like that.

[30:14] And so, they go after him, and in order to flee, it's so severe that he has to leave without his clothes, without his bedclothes or his bedlinens. And so, why in the world would this be in the Bible?

[30:28] You ever come to passages in the Bible, and you're like, why is this here? This doesn't make much sense, or doesn't seem to provide much value? And there are, again, all kinds of ideas on this, but I think probably, to me, the most realistic is just to illustrate the intensity of what's going on.

[30:48] Here's a young man, probably not among the twelve, who was following to see where they were taking Jesus, and they weren't having any of it. They're going after him, and to show the intensity of these temple guards, these people with clubs and swords, and how dangerous the situation was, that even a curious bystander, his life would be at risk, and how much more so, his own disciples.

[31:15] We actually find out in a few verses that somebody else was following Peter, but it says he was following at a distance. He was being more careful, keeping at a safe distance.

[31:29] So, that's my idea. If anybody has any other ideas, feel free to let me know, I'd be curious. Verse 53, And they led Jesus away to the high priests, and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.

[31:47] So, we're going to have a trial here among the Jewish courts. This is the, this is the, it's actually the home, they take him to the home of Caiaphas, who was the high priest at the time.

[31:59] And it's interesting, you can actually, they, many people believe that they've identified the house of Caiaphas that's still standing today. I mean, it's not standing, but they found the ruins of it, even today.

[32:13] And the reason they think that, it's like a mansion or a really large house, and it has a basement, what we would call a basement, but really it has all the earmarks of a dungeon, where you see signs of places where you could lock people up.

[32:27] And this was where they took Jesus, because this is where you took criminals, Jewish criminals anyway, those who had offended the Jewish law, and they would be locked up in this dungeon.

[32:41] And so, right there in Jerusalem, you can go today and you can actually see this location, and many have identified it as the house of Caiaphas, the high priest at that time.

[32:53] But Jesus is brought before the Sanhedrin, all the leaders of Israel, they're the ones that had him arrested, and they're having a trial. But is this a real trial? Today, we would call, this is what we would call a kangaroo court.

[33:08] And we've seen things like that, even in our day, right? They're just spurious charges, and it's just an opportunity to try to whatever, whether it's put somebody in prison unjustly, or to ruin their life, whatever it might be, a kangaroo court, where there's false witnesses, a predetermined outcome, and an ignoring of typical rules of jurisprudence, right?

[33:44] You have typical rules that you follow. We have rules that we follow in our day when it comes to making court decisions, and we, even in this country, do the same thing.

[33:55] We'll just ignore certain rules in this special case, for this special person. So, there is, during this time, there is something called the oral tradition.

[34:09] So, the Jews followed, just, I say this loosely, they followed the law of Moses. They were supposed to follow the law of Moses, even though they failed or neglected in many aspects, but they also had an oral tradition, the tradition of the elders, they called it.

[34:24] And these were actually collected into a book that we call today the Mishnah. And, so, even during the time of Jesus, even though this book was not put together until maybe a couple generations after Jesus, these, they were just collections of traditions that existed for actually hundreds of years.

[34:43] And, I wanted to read to you a part of a, there's a verse, and again, this is not in the Bible. This is in the Mishnah, which is not inspired by any means. In fact, I think very much uninspired, but it's in a book called Sanhedrin.

[34:59] It's the name of the book. Sanhedrin is part of this larger collection called the Mishnah. And it says this in chapter four, verse one. In capital cases, it's talking about criminal proceedings.

[35:09] In capital cases, so where execution is on the line, they begin with arguments for acquittal and not with arguments for conviction. So, you start your arguments looking at, are they innocent, not are you guilty.

[35:22] Is that what happened here? In non-capital cases, a verdict must be reached on the same day, whether for acquittal or conviction. But in capital cases, this is what Jesus was under, a verdict of acquittal may be reached on the same day, but a verdict of conviction must wait until the following day.

[35:45] So, you're allowed to adjudicate or to have your trial, basically, on one day, but you can't actually complete the verdict until the next day. Kind of give everybody a time to cool down.

[35:56] Sounds like a good idea. Is that what happened here? Therefore, they do not judge capital cases on the eve of Sabbath or on the eve of a festival.

[36:14] Do they follow that here? And in all cases, they may reverse the verdict of conviction to an acquittal, but they may not reverse a verdict of acquittal to conviction.

[36:27] We have the same thing, right? Double jeopardy here in the U.S. But this is happening on the eve of the Sabbath. In fact, we know they are intentionally rushing through this because they can't have a guy on a cross when the Sabbath comes.

[36:47] So they need to push this one through. Even though their own laws said, no, this is not how we do things. So again, there's a pretense of justice, a fake pretense of justice, hypocrisy.

[37:04] And it says, verse 54, And I'm not going to get into this because I think next week we're going to be looking specifically at Peter and what happened with him.

[37:21] But this is kind of the threading through the story of where Peter was at during this whole thing. And then it goes into this whole section about, I'll just read verse 55.

[37:33] Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. They were looking for people who would testify against him so that they could charge him with something that would stick.

[37:44] And they couldn't find anyone. It says this, for many bore false witness against him, but their testimonies did not agree.

[37:56] So they found some people, but they were not credible, and it was obvious to everybody. So they had a problem here. They really wanted to convict Jesus on something, especially a capital crime.

[38:08] But they couldn't find anybody that would really convict on that criminal case. And one of the primary reasons is because even though they probably had false testimony, they didn't align.

[38:23] And this is something that's actually part of the law of Moses in your Bibles, that every word of testimony it talks about shall be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

[38:35] And so if somebody testifies in court, you have to have two or three people to agree to that testimony in order for it to be entered into or accepted as a legitimate evidence.

[38:50] Then some rose up and bore false witness against him, saying, so they finally found something. And I can't remember if it's in Matthew or one of the other gospels. It mentions they found two people that could agree, at least mostly.

[39:04] It says, then some rose up and they bore false witness against him, saying, we heard him say, I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.

[39:16] Did Jesus say that? He didn't. Now, did he say something kind of like that? He did. Turn to, well, you can turn there if you'd like, but John chapter 2 verse 19, I'll just read it for you.

[39:32] John chapter 2 verse 19, this is Jesus in Jerusalem, interacting. This is before, I'm not sure exactly how long before, but not at this same week.

[39:43] But Jesus answered and he said to them, this is to the Pharisees, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then the Jews said, it has taken 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?

[39:58] Did Jesus say, I'm going to destroy the temple? No. He just said, hey, if this temple is destroyed, I'm going to raise it up in three days. Now, what was he talking about? He was talking about his body, right?

[40:10] And isn't that so interesting, that Jesus talking about his own death, that that's the evidence that is used to convict him to die? That's wild.

[40:30] But then it says, in verse 59, but not even then did their testimony agree. So even with these two, they were kind of close, but not really. But, ah, what does that matter?

[40:44] That's all we need, and so what does it say next? And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, do you answer nothing? What is it these men testify against you? But he kept silent, and he answered nothing.

[41:01] And again, another reference, go back to Isaiah 53. Here's verse 7. It says this about Jesus' silence. Isaiah 53, verse 7. This is what the prophet said. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.

[41:16] He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shears is silent. So he opened not his mouth. That was the design. That was how it was intended that he would suffer and die, as a sheep is silent.

[41:31] A sheep is silent before his shears. But finally, he asks him the question. He just gets right to it. Again, the high priest asked him, saying to him, are you the Christ, the son of the blessed?

[41:43] And really, this is two questions. Are you the Messiah? But then the next one, the son of the blessed. And there was a dispute among the Jews, who is this Messiah figure that's coming?

[41:54] Is he a man, or is he more than a man? There's divinity involved there? But he's asking both, right? Are you the Messiah? And are you saying that you are the son of God?

[42:12] And what does Jesus say? I am. That's it. And then he doesn't stop there.

[42:23] He says this. And you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power. He's just talking about the right hand of the father and coming with the clouds of heaven.

[42:34] Notice what he calls himself. He just said, I am the son of God. But what did he call himself right after that? He said, you'll see the son of man coming. And if you actually read through the Bible and what Jesus calls himself, he loves to call himself the son of man.

[42:51] He's the one. He's the God made flesh to become as one of us. He is the son of man. I just think that's so neat that he used that label for himself in talking about him coming, sitting at the right hand of the father with authority, right?

[43:09] That's a position of authority and coming with the clouds of heaven. This is a warning to them. Yes, I am. And I know what that means for my trial. But I want you to know that I'm going to be coming with my kingdom in the clouds of heaven.

[43:23] And this is a reference that they would understand. In Daniel chapter 7, verse 13, there's a prophecy about the Messiah coming.

[43:34] And it says this, Daniel 7, 13, I was watching in the night visions and behold, one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him.

[43:45] Then 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, the one which shall not be destroyed.

[44:02] So you can kill me now, but just so you know. Then the high priest tore his clothes, which by the way, was just a symbol. That was a symbolic thing.

[44:12] It was a lot of drama back then. I guess there's drama in every age, right? But this was a symbol that they would do. And it would maybe for grief or outrage, I think in this case, indignation.

[44:24] He rent his clothes. What further do we need to have any more witnesses? He said, this is enough. We don't need any more witnesses because we can't find any good ones anyway.

[44:37] You have heard the blasphemy. And so this is the charge that he's charged on. Blasphemy. Claiming to be God. What do you think? And so he's asking. This is the Sanhedrin.

[44:48] It's not just him. He's not the one that decides. It has to be decided among the entire Jewish leaders. They all have to put in their vote against him.

[44:59] What do you think? And they all condemned him to be deserving of death. And then it finishes off with this verse. Then some began to spit on him and to blindfold him and to beat him and to say to him, prophesy.

[45:14] And the officers struck him with the palms of their hands. So they blindfolded him and they hit him in the face and they said, hi, if you're a prophet, if you're the son of God, you can tell us which one of us hit you.

[45:27] And so this is just the beginning of a several hour long episode in which Jesus will be abused.

[45:39] There will be contempt, the spitting in his face, just like it is now. That's a sign of utter contempt. Abuse and mockery and ridicule.

[45:51] This is just the beginning of that and more is to come. I'll end with this. Have any of us ever experienced mockery, ridicule, abuse, contempt by others?

[46:07] You know, we all suffer. And sometimes we ask why, right? Why am I suffering? Why is my family suffering?

[46:20] And, you know, sometimes we suffer. Sometimes the answer is easy. Sometimes we suffer because we're morons. We're an idiot. We did something we shouldn't. And we're paying the consequences for our own sin.

[46:31] Isn't that true? I think all of us can look back and think of all the things that we suffered through because we did something dumb. But, you know, in a sin-cursed world, God has determined that he's going to allow suffering not only on the unjust, not only on the unrighteous, but even on the righteous.

[46:52] And so sometimes we suffer not because we did anything. A lot of times it's because somebody else did something to us. And so sometimes we sin, or excuse me, we suffer because of the sins of others.

[47:06] But you know what? Sometimes others suffer because of our sin. Right? I mean, even right now, just saying that, I can think, racing through my mind, it's people that I've hurt and I've seen endure suffering because of something that I did.

[47:29] And so God, he wanted, God wants to deal with this suffering problem. But he determined that the answer would not be just to try to magically remove all the suffering.

[47:45] I'm not even sure if that's even possible. Without what? Destroying the whole earth? I mean, you could do that, right? Death star.

[47:57] It's all gone. No more suffering. Suffering's over. But he designed that he would deal with the very source of the suffering, the sin that's in the world.

[48:10] And he would, the sin that's in the world that comes from where? From us. From our own hearts. And he would do it by entering into the suffering himself.

[48:24] And dying for the sins of the world. He is a great savior, isn't he? We'll end there. Father, thank you for what you endured for us.

[48:36] You didn't have to. But I'm so grateful. And so many of us here in this room are so grateful that you did. Thank you for enduring all of this for us.

[48:46] And may our lives be pleasing to you. May we become more like you every day. Because of our gratitude and love for you. And what you've done for and in us.

[48:58] In Jesus' name. Amen.