- 53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. 54 And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire. 55 And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none.
- 56 For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together. 57 And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, 58 We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. 59 But neither so did their witness agree together.
- 60 And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? 61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? 62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
- 63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? 64 Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death. 65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.
- Compare: Matthew 26:57-68; Luke 22:54 183; John 18:12-14, 19-24
Jesus on Trial
Jesus’ first trial takes place before the Temple priests. They have been plotting against him for some time and finally have him — but can they convict and execute him? Their plan nearly falls apart because of the unreliability of witnesses.
The priests have gathered a group of people willing to testify against Jesus, but their stories don’t match so they can’t be used to convict. It’s ironic that one of the witnesses actually tells the truth: the Temple will be destroyed and Jesus will, after three days, create a new one that is not built of hands (i.e., it won’t be a physical Temple; instead, it will be a spiritual one created by the community of believers).
Why does Mark describe this witness as false? Mark’s audience knew the story was true — after all, they constituted the new Temple, the new covenant, and the new chosen people of God. Mark must have had something in mind when he wrote it (he certainly wasn’t present to take down a transcript), but exactly what is unclear.
Mark’s description of the proceedings is troublesome. Almost everything contradicts what we know about the rules of such trials: they weren’t permitted either on a feast day or the eve of a feast day, there was supposed to be a second session the following day to confirm the sentence, and Jesus is convicted of blasphemy even though he doesn’t technically blaspheme. Blasphemy involves uttering a divine name, which Jesus definitely does not do — and even if he had, the sentence would have been stoning (assuming that the priests had the authority under the Romans to execute people, which is debatable).
Some have argued that Mark deliberately portrayed the Temple authorities as breaking their rules to put them in a bad light, but this is unlikely. Mark’s audience of Hellenized Jews probably wouldn’t have known all the rules anyway, and thus wouldn’t have made the connections. It‘s probably due to such problems that the gospels of Luke and John depict the proceedings as more like informal hearings than formal trials.
A better explanation for Mark’s depiction of a full trial is that it minimizes the Roman role in Jesus’ execution. The Jews are depicted as trying and convicting Jesus of blasphemy while the Romans merely carry the sentence out. Thus, the blame for Jesus’ death rests with Jews than with Romans.
It is important to note that when Jesus is asked directly about whether he thinks he is the Messiah, he answers in the affirmative. This is the first time he is open about his messianic claims. He also qualifies it slightly by bringing up the vision of the “Son of man.” For Mark, the theme of the “Son of man” is significant because he is one who, in obedience to God, must suffer and die before being vindicated.
This is the key to Jesus’ messianic nature for Mark, something not otherwise found in Jewish scriptures. It is also the key teaching in Mark: Christian followers of Jesus will discover their true nature if they are obedient to the Will of God and follow Jesus — even unto death, if that is what God wants. Only through such absolute obedience will they achieve vindication and victory over sin.
At the end, servants mock Jesus and demand that he offer some prophecies — likely to emphasize how they consider him a false prophet. It is no coincidence that immediately after this Mark places a passage depicting one of Jesus’ earlier prophecies coming true.
