C.S. Lewis is well-known in the Christian world. He lived during the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. His journey from Christianity to atheism and back again caused him to ask “hard questions” about faith and life. His writings made a significant contribution to our understanding of how to integrate truth into daily living.
In his essay, “God in the Dock,” C.S. Lewis wrote, “The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man, the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. [Man] is quite a kindly judge: if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god who permits war, poverty, and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God’s acquittal. But the important thing is that man is on the bench and God is in the dock.”
While Lewis was describing the modern age, with its rejection of absolute truth, the supernatural, and anything unable to be duplicated in a laboratory, mankind sitting in judgment of God is nothing new. In the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry, this happens in the most literal sense. Jesus, the Son of God, is on trial before a human tribunal, the Sanhedrin. God is, literally, “in the dock.” That’s the title for our study this time, “God in the Dock.”
The text for our consideration this time is Mark 14:53-65. This section deals with the illegal, nighttime trial of Jesus and the unlawful verdict that was reached. Listen prayerfully as I read this portion of God’s Word.
In this sham trial that Jesus experienced, the Jewish leaders engaged in several unlawful ACTIONS. We will examine this perversion of justice and its impact on our lives today.
The First ACTION was,
The Unlawful Arraignment
To set the stage for understanding the events described in this text, consider the following verses from Deuteronomy 16:18-20. “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”
The group of men who put Jesus on trial was known as the Great Sanhedrin. The Romans allowed this court to try such cases and pronounce judgment. However, as we will see, a death sentence had to be confirmed by the Roman procurator.
These 70 men, joined by the High Priest, met almost daily in Jerusalem and functioned as a kind of Supreme Court. While this court had been founded on the principles of the Mosaic law, by the time of Jesus, it had become notoriously corrupt. Members of the court used their power and influence to secure favorable positions for other family members. Social prominence and political connections also significantly influenced their choices. These corrupt leaders were the ones who arrested Jesus.
After being arrested, long before daybreak, Jesus was led to the home of the High Priest to be tried. This was the first unlawful act because Jewish law guaranteed the right to a public trial during daylight hours.
John tells us that Jesus was first taken to Annas. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the High Priest at the time. History tells us that at one time or another, five of Annas’ sons and one son-in-law held this position. These men operated like a first-century Mafia, controlling the lucrative Temple operations. This included exorbitant exchange rates in money-changing and the sale and resale of sacrificial animals. Now you know why these men hated Jesus for disrupting their illegitimate business.
Mark’s record gives us the details of Jesus’ appearance before Caiaphas. However, before he continues to develop the scene, he interrupts the narrative with a comment about Peter, who followed Jesus at a distance. The picture of Peter entering the courtyard of this place is fascinating. He followed Jesus at a distance, even into the palace…” This is a redundant yet expressive combination, suggesting the idea of someone stealthily feeling their way into the palace court, venturing further and further in, and gaining courage with each step. We will examine this more closely in our next episode.
As mentioned in the introduction, the first unlawful act in this whole procedure was Jesus’ arraignment. Arraignment is a legal process in a court where someone is accused of a particular crime and is asked to plead guilty or not guilty. It is the first appearance signifying the start of the criminal trial process. According to Jewish law, the Sanhedrin could not initiate charges. They could only investigate and rule on cases that were brought to them. They acted illegally as prosecutors, searching for charges with which to indict Him. There were no witnesses for the defense, only for the prosecution.
Further, and more significantly, they had already reached a guilty verdict. This was not a search for justice; this was what we call “a witch hunt.” It reminds me of a saying by Lavrentiy Beria, Joseph Stalin’s secret police chief: “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.” We have seen examples of this nowadays, both in politics and religion.
Notice verse 55. “Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.” They set up this bit of judicial theater to try to maintain at least a façade of justice. This illegal arraignment, with its presumption of guilt, leads us to the following unlawful action.
The Next ACTION was,
The Unlawful Testimony
Again, I introduce this action with words from the Mosaic Law. “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” Deuteronomy 19:15-21.
The text clearly states that although the court sought reliable witnesses to confirm their predetermined guilty verdict, it was unable to find any. Oh, there were plenty of witnesses, many witnesses, but no two witnesses could be found whose testimony agreed on essential points. Interestingly, the verbs in this sentence are in the imperfect tense. That means there were repeated attempts to bring testimony that could warrant a conviction, but they all failed.
Finally, among the many false witnesses, at least two of them said, “We heard Him say ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.’” They were misquoting Jesus by adding to what He had said in John 2:19. There, in response to their demand for a sign, Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” He was speaking of His body, but they added words and twisted His meaning to suit their ends. Yet despite their best efforts, even this testimony did not harmonize. This unlawful testimony was a clear perversion of the evidence. So now, the High Priest is facing a conundrum: what should he do?
The Next ACTION was,
The Unlawful Interrogation
Now, the trial is at an impasse. Verse 60 says that the High Priest stood up in the middle of the council. One writer views this as a graphic feature in Mark, suggesting that the high priest rose from his seat and advanced into the semicircle of the council towards Jesus. It was the action of an irritated, baffled man.”
He tried to compensate for the lack of evidence by bluster and the force of his personality. I can almost hear the snarling hostility in his tone of voice. “Are you not going to say anything in response to these witnesses?” But Jesus maintained his silence, remaining innocent, tranquil, and majestic. He refused the opportunity to deny the charge or justify the words as if they were His.
In this, He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.” I can only imagine how frustrating Jesus’ silence must have been for Caiaphas. People who exercise their authority in domineering ways are often accustomed to cringing subservience. They are accustomed to people wanting to defend themselves. When that isn’t forthcoming, their anger turns to rage.
Matthew records the High Priest as saying, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!” In our text, the question is “As for you, are you the Anointed One, the Son of the Blessed?” These questions were an attempt to force Jesus to incriminate Himself. This was unlawful in a Jewish court! The hypocrisy of Caiaphas is stunning! Here he was, demanding Jesus speak the truth while perpetuating lies against Him and breaking the law that he was appointed to uphold.
This was the first legitimate question that had been asked during the entire sham trial! However, if Jesus had refused to answer, it would have been tantamount to a denial of His deity. Throughout His ministry, Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and to be one with His Father, although He often downplayed this fact publicly. Caiaphas needed Him to repeat that claim before the whole Sanhedrin.
Jesus’ answer was “As for myself, in contradistinction to all others, I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” His answer combines prophetic messages from Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13. The Jews considered both statements as claims of messiahship. The words of Jesus are a solemn warning that His position and that of His judges would one day be reversed. In this, He gave them a final but ineffectual summons to repentance and faith.
With full knowledge that the High Priest had the power to order His execution, Jesus announced to Him that He was their Messiah and the Divine Judge. Though they would kill Him later that day, He would rise again and ascend to the right hand of the Father. Though they judged Him unjustly, one day, He will judge them in perfect righteousness.
The effect of His answer on the High Priest was instantaneous and leads to the final action in this text.
The Final ACTION was,
The Unlawful Sentence
“Then [with feigned outrage] the high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy! He has incriminated Himself. What do you think is the appropriate penalty for such blasphemous speech?’ ”
Tearing one’s clothing was a sign of righteous indignation. Caiaphas pretended to honor God by tearing his tunic in mock horror, but inwardly, he cared nothing about honoring God. He had finally found a way to condemn his arch enemy.
Like a rubber stamp, those under his malevolent leadership “…all condemned Him to be deserving of death.” However, according to Luke 23:51, Joseph of Arimathea was not present at this gathering. Nicodemus, too, seemed to be absent. They were not consenting to His death.
According to Leviticus 24:16, the penalty for blasphemy against God was death. However, Jesus was not guilty of blasphemy. He was the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Son of God. Therefore, the sentence of the Sanhedrin was unlawful. In reality, the High Priest and members of the council were the ones guilty of blasphemy. Their verbal abuse of Jesus led directly to the physical abuse that their underlings now began.
The soldiers and Temple guards began spitting on Jesus. According to Scriptures like Numbers 12:14 and Deuteronomy 25:9, spitting on someone was the most detestable form of a personal insult. This, too, was prophesied in Isaiah 50:5-6. “The Lord God has opened my ear; And I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away.I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide my face from shame and spitting.” Instead of attempting to protect Himself, Jesus took this insult openly.
This abuse was followed by their blindfolding Him and striking him with their hands and fists. Both slaps and clenched-fist blows rained down on the head of our Savior. As those brutal blows fell, His tormentors mockingly cried out, “Tell us who struck you?” Jesus, the sinless Son of God, endured all this abuse, this indignity, for you and me and all mankind.
However, this was just the beginning. By the time Jesus was nailed to the cross, the words of Isaiah 52:13-14 had been graphically fulfilled. “Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men.”
So, what are we to take away from the reading and review of these unlawful actions of the Sanhedrin? First, not all religious people are godly people. They may appear outwardly righteous, but inwardly are full of all kinds of sin. In addition, they perceive themselves as being above ordinary people and will not allow their authority to be questioned. Anyone who attempts to violate their autonomy will experience the full power of their wrath. Many a person has had their reputation ‘crucified’ because they dared to expose the hypocrisy of a leader.
More importantly, we see the example of Jesus, as He responded to the injustice, insults, and violence directed against His person. He is the example we are called to follow. We must remember, too, that while many sit in judgment of God and His Word today, it will not always be this way. Those who put “God in the dock” now will one day “see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” However, it will be too late to repent of their unlawful actions. May God have mercy on their souls!
