THE LORD BEFORE CAIAPHAS
WITNESSES, EXAMINATION, CONDEMNATION, AND PETER’S DENIAL
Jesus was taken to meet up with the most loathsome religious people, who were outwardly pious, but were using their religious positions and beliefs for personal gain. They took Jesus to see the Caiaphas, the high priest of the Israelites who was also a member of the Sadducees.
Mark 14:54-72
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.
Here it is Passover time of year, and a chill is in the air. There sat Peter, a Nazarene, dressed as a Nazarene, sticking out like a sore thumb. He was being recognized by his robe and his speech, and his overall appearance.
55 And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none.
They could not find anyone to witness against Jesus. By which act were they going to condemn Him? Feeding five thousand? Feeding four thousand? Feeding a thousand? Giving the blind sight? Healing the lame? Stilling the mighty sea? Which one of these acts are they going to charge Him with when they are all innocent and wonderful things Christ performed when He walked this Earth as the Word of God in the flesh? Everything He did had a purpose and a reason for the betterment of man.
They could not find anyone to witness against Jesus because He had not done anything wrong. Since they could not find anything, they will have to trump something up in order to destroy Him. Here we see a religious community lying to destroy a man.
In the name of religion there are wars, people blown apart, and many troubles. Peace comes from the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ the Messiah.
56 For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.
They could not stick together and agree on what they witnessed, because He was not guilty of any wrong doings.
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.
Now that is a lie. That is not what Jesus said. Then what did He say? In John 2:19 “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
Jesus said, if YOU destroy this temple, I will rebuild it in three days. Jesus was talking about building the eternal temple. (You can learn more about it in Revelation 21 where it talks about the Son and the Father are the temple, not a building.)
When Jesus arose on the Third Day, He began building His church, and on the fortieth day He ascended, and on the fiftieth day the Pentecost came, and the church was established. The Holy Comforter came to us and The Church had one hundred twenty members—the Christian Church. (Acts 1:15) As the Word spread the numbers grew.
59 But neither so did their witness agree together.
60 And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answered thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
Caiaphas asked Jesus to say what these witnesses have against Him. Jesus did not answer. That is prophecy. In Isaiah 53:7-9 it stipulates He would be betrayed; He would be delivered up; He would be tried; but He would not open His mouth in defense. He was innocent.
He was paying the price for us. He paid the price for you, today, so you can have eternal life by having faith, believing in Him, and repenting of all your sins. His body took the stripes as it says in Isaiah 53, and we get the healing.
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?
Are you the Anointed One, the Son of the Blessed? The answer is YES.
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.
Jesus is referring to the Second Advent when He returns, and everyone is turned into their spirit bodies, and He pours out His cup of wrath on the evil ones.
63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?
Caiaphas said they did not need any witnesses, since Jesus Himself said it out of His own mouth.
64 Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.
It was not blasphemy. It was true. They have one big problem though. Legally they do not have the authority to sentence Him to death. Only the Roman courts could do that.
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.
Looking forward to God’s judgment on these people.
66 And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest:
67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also was with Jesus of Nazareth.
He was dressed and looked like a Nazarene.
68 But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crowed.
Peter was a brave soul. He was the one who lobbed the ear off Malchus, when the rag-tag group abducted Jesus.
Peter went through this for us to learn a lesson. This is to remind you the flesh is weak, and you are not to go to sleep on your watch, to never, ever, deny the true Christ, and you must allow the Holy Spirit to speak through you when the false Christ comes.
You are not going to run away like the others did. You are going to take a stand, a stand for what is right.
69 And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.
70 And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreed thereto.
They could tell by his accent he was from Galilea and was a Nazarene. This is the second time they questioned Peter.
71 But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.
Peter loved Christ and was chosen to be the Rock; paradoxically, it is as though Peter was also chosen to do and say these things for our benefit.
72 And the second time the cock crowed. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crows twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.
He wept bitterly because he felt he had let the Lord down.
We have been taught a lesson—we are not to let the Lord down.
Picture: https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/tis-trial-caiaphas/
AMEN 🙏