10th June 2010

Mark 14:53-65 – Jesus Before the Sanhedrin

§ The Sanhedrin had 71 members made up of the Chief Priest, the elders and the teachers of the law.

§ Witnesses in Jewish law functioned as the prosecution and although the Sanhedrin was granted a lot of power by the Romans, they could not impose capital punishment.

§ They taunted him by telling him to smell who struck him – there was a Jewish tradition that the Messiah would be able to judge by smell alone based on Isaiah 11:2-4.

§ Why did Jesus keep silent? Why did He not fight back?

§ Some thoughts from the line and the dot on this:

o   The Kingdom comes when extra miles are disclosed and when evil intentions are exposed. Jesus’ ministry was all about revealing hidden things.

o   Jesus purposely provoked; He said and did things to stir up evil. Where He went, demons were exposed and so were the religion, laws, and systems behind which they hid.

o   Why would He do this? So that observers would be presented with the opportunity to make a choice.

o   The attitudes, motives, and instinct for self-preservation that limit right living are often camouflaged. Evil lurks like a sniper whose goal is to blend into his surroundings by painting his skin and wearing a disguise to conceal himself.

o   Jesus the pioneer had a plan of action…He provoked. This forced that which was hidden to be exposed. The camouflage of religion, the disguise of law, the cover-up of systems began to fall away as people came out of the shadows to attack Jesus.

o   The second part of Jesus’ plan was to react in a godly way. As He was persecuted, lied about, and beaten, He kept quiet, and eventually those around Him were able to see what they could not see before. Jesus provoked evil into the light. By being good and exposing evil as evil, a contrast became evident for all to see.

o   If Jesus had provoked evil into the light and then reacted in the same way as His opposition, although He would have been right, most of the onlookers would have simply been confused.

o   As followers of Jesus, I must fix my eyes on Jesus, not simply on what He achieved, but on who He is. Not simply His vision but how He conducted Himself when given a vision.