When the lies of the witnesses were not enough, they condemned Jesus for telling the truth

Mark 14:53-72 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

They led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes gathered together. ⁵⁴ Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire. ⁵⁵ Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. ⁵⁶ For many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not consistent. ⁵⁷ Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, ⁵⁸ “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” ⁵⁹ Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent. ⁶⁰ The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” ⁶¹ But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” ⁶² And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” ⁶³ Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? ⁶⁴ You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. ⁶⁵ Some began to spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in the face.

⁶⁶ As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came, ⁶⁷ and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and *said, “You also were with Jesus the Nazarene.” ⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he went out onto the porch. ⁶⁹ The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, “This is one of them!” ⁷⁰ But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too.” ⁷¹ But he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this man you are talking about!” ⁷² Immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And he began to weep.

In today’s text it says:  The chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. For many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not consistent. Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying,  “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” Not even in this respect was their testimony consistent.  The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, “Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?”  But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”  And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”  Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses?  You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.   When the lies of the witnesses were not enough, they condemned Jesus for telling the truth. In Matthew 10:17-22 Jesus says: “Beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”     In Matthew 24:9-14, Jesus speaking of the time before His return says:  “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.  At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.  But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.  This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”   Surely we can imagine that the time is here that believers could be subject to the same kind of false testimony as Jesus was; a time when they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. Surely we can imagine a time that families would be divided against each other over ideology and even betray one another. Our nation is polarized; divided by age, race, social standing and by both political and spiritual ideology. That division is fueled by politics, media and social media.   We’ve already seen that truth is secondary to achieving an agenda, even in our government and courts.  As with Jesus, we have seen that many false witnesses have been called against people by their opponents. So, the times and circumstances that Jesus warns us about are not beyond our imagination today.

For those who believe; those who are followers of Christ, the question should not be as much about whether it might happen to us, but rather will we like Peter deny knowing Jesus, or will we testify of Him and for Him. In Luke 9:26 Jesus says:  “Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”  We should be in agreement with the psalmist who says:  In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? (Psalm 56:11)   Remember what Jesus says:  “Beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.”   If we should stand accused of being with Christ, will we offer our testimony of Him to those who accuse us?  Jesus says: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations.”   Jesus performed many great works and provided great teaching when He lived, but His greatest act was that He was willing to die on the cross, and His greatest words were offered there, as He died. In Luke 23:34 He said:  "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."  We have the privilege and the responsibility to be witnesses for Christ every day that we live and for some, we may also have the privilege to testify even as we die. In a culture and society where truth is relative, we must decide if we will tell the truth, even if it is the truth that condemns us.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; like the psalmist I say:  In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?  In all that I do may I testify of You. To those who love me and to those who hate me may I always be a witness of Your goodness. May I share the gospel as long as I have breath.   Amen.