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Study 23 - Suffering at the hands of His Enemies

M ARK CHAPTERS 14:53-15:15

Questions 1. Did you have any enemies when you were growing up? How did they
become your enemies?

READ Mark 14:53-15:15

2. In vv.55-59 what do we learn about the leaders of Israel and about Jesus?
3. Jesus was charged with saying, "I will destroy this man made temple and in
three days will build another.” In what ways was this charge false and in what
ways did it point ironically to profound truth?
4. What does Jesus reveal about who he is during his trial before the Sanhedrin
and Pilate?
5. What is blasphemy and who is guilty of committing it?
6. How are Jesus and Peter contrasted in this passage? What are the
implications of this passage for our own witness to Jesus? How do we get
strength to avoid the failure of Peter in our own life?
7. Why do you suppose the once receptive crowd now turns hostile toward him?
8. What was the significance of Barabbas being released from prison instead of
Jesus?
9. According to this passage, who is responsible for putting Jesus to death?
What does this tell us about ourselves?

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LEADER'S NOTES M ARK 14:53-15:15

Main Points This passage concerns itself with the trial of Jesus. There are two main
purposes. The first is to show us who Jesus really is. He is the Christ (14:61-62),
the King of the Jews (15:2) who through his substitutionary death (15:11, 15) and
resurrection was creating a new people of God (14:58). The second purpose is to
present Jesus as a role model of the kind of courageous and faithful behavior we
are to emulate in the event of going through such a trial ourselves.

Commentary on the 1. Did you have any enemies when you were growing up? How did they
Passage and Notes on become your enemies? Approach question.
the Questions
2. In vv.55-59 what do we learn about the leaders of Israel and about
Jesus?
It is immediately obvious that Jesus is not going to get a fair trial because the
outcome is rigged. The Sanhedrin is a group of 71 leaders of the Jews, composed
of the leading priests and respected men. They had arranged for false witnesses
to be at preliminary interrogation which was taking place in the middle of the
night. They were not merely asking for evidence with which to convict Jesus,
they were creating it. Truth is not their concern. Their purpose is the execution
of Jesus. The sentence is a foregone conclusion thus their wicked deceit is clear.
Equally clear is Jesus' innocence. The Law required two witnesses to convict a
person (Num. 35:30; Deut. 17:6; 19:15). But the testimonies of the witnesses do
not agree. Three times Mark lets it be known that Jesus is innocent (v. 55, v.56,
v. 57-59). Interestingly, Jesus responds to their false charges with silence. In so
doing he fulfills Is. 53:7, "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open
his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before
her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth." Only to the charges
which are true does he give a verbal response. This similar pattern of responding
with silence to false charges and with words to true charges is repeated before
Pilate. Jesus deliberately picks the charges upon which he will be condemned.
3. Jesus was charged with saying, "I will destroy this man made temple
and in three days will build another.” In what ways was this charge false
and in what ways did it point ironically to profound truth?
In none of the gospels does Jesus make the statement that he is charged with
making. Nowhere has he said that he is physically going to destroy the temple.
He has only said that it will be destroyed (Mk. 13:2). The charge is false.
However, he had claimed authority to pronounce judgment on the temple which
would lead to its utter destruction. This destruction would come by the will of
God as judgment upon the Jewish leaders for their rejection of Jesus' message
(12:1-10). He had also prophesied a new temple (12:10). Mark has presented
Jesus as the replacement of the temple. He is the means by which we gain
access to God. Jesus' death is the new sacrifice which renders the temple ritual
useless. Therefore, the charge brought against Jesus, while false, is not without

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considerable ironic truth. The aspect of the charge which makes it clear that
Mark means us to see truth in the statement is the reference to building another
temple "in three days." This is an obvious reference to the resurrection which
Jesus has already predicted three times (Mk. 8:31; 9:31; 10:34).
Elsewhere Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three
days"(Jn. 2:19). However, no one understood what he was saying at the time.
Although the Jewish leaders were wrong to accuse Jesus of threatening the
temple himself, on a more profound level this is precisely what he was doing.
Mark means for his readers to see that Jesus' death is the end of the Jewish
temple and that his resurrection is the raising up of a new temple which offers a
superior redemption - one in which the certainty of the forgiveness of sins is
known with a new fullness. (see Lesson 20)
4. What does Jesus reveal about who he is during his trial before the
Sanhedrin and Pilate?
Unable to get the results he wanted from. the trial, the High Priest appeals to
Jesus for help. He asks, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed One?"
To this Jesus responds, "I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the
right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
In this response Jesus brings together statements he has made earlier in a
concentrated and explicit way. He is the Christ - the promised Messiah of the
Old Testament. He is the Son of the Blessed One, which is a reverent way of
saying that he is the unique Son of God. It is quite possible that he is here making
a claim to deity with the words, "I am" , which was God's self-designation in the
Old Testament (see Lesson 9 ,Question 6). He is David's Lord who will sit at
God's right hand (as in Psalm 110). He is the Son of Man of Daniel 7:13-14 who
is given rule by God in order that he might judge the world.
Before Pilate he accepts the designation, "the King of the Jews." He
acknowledges that he is the king of God's people. It turns out, of course, that he
is the rejected king. But that makes him no less a king. Instead, it is a forfeiture
of their standing as his people. A new people is being established which includes
both Gentiles and Jews. It is made up of those who have acknowledged and
believed in Jesus as the messiah. Jesus was not making the kind of kingship
claims of which Pilate was accusing him. He was not claiming earthly political
power. He is not a revolutionary intent on overthrowing the government. His
kingship is more profound and substantial than that. He is the King of the
universe. Although it is being used as a form of mockery, the fact that the
phrase, "the King of the Jews" or "the King of Israel" occurs six times in this
chapter is meant to convey that to Jesus belongs a true kingship.
5. What is blasphemy and who is guilty of committing it?
Though in later history the charge of blasphemy was restricted to an irreverent
use of God's name, it most likely referred to a larger range of offenses during the
time of Jesus. Jesus was most likely accused in this manner of making a
mockery of God. Jesus' claims and his words seemed to the religious authorities
to be a serious affront against their belief of what God had promised. While a

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false claim to be the messiah was not necessarily viewed as blasphemous, making
that claim and investing it with a divine status would have been. In addition to his
claim, Jesus had engaged in practices which they considered a breach of the law.
His claim to being the messiah in conjunction with those actions would have the
effect of giving those violations divine justification. Those who followed him
would then be led astray. For these reasons Jesus was charged with blasphemy.
Although Jesus was the one charged with blasphemy Mark intends us to see that
actually it is the leaders of Israel who are guilty of it. The cry of blasphemy is so
wrong as to make the cry itself blasphemous. Jesus is only guilty of blasphemy if
he is not God. But Mark has made it clear that Jesus' claim is true. The religious
leaders are the ones who are disparaging the Son of God. Their charge against
him is a blatant rejection of the one who God has acknowledged (1:11; 9:71).
Jesus warns them that one day they will have clear proof of who he is (vs. 62);
turning a blind eye now to the evidence that he is sinless, and so must be God, will
be fatal then. Mark will become quite explicit about the fact that it is they who
are guilty of blasphemy in 15:29-32. Throughout the trial, the religious leaders
unwittingly fulfill prophecy (Jesus' predictions which are themselves based on the
OT) which confirms Jesus' claims and their own guilt.
6. How are Jesus and Peter contrasted in this passage? What are the
implications of this passage for our own witness to Jesus? How do we
get strength to avoid the failure of Peter in our own life?
Because Mark is writing to Christians who are undergoing trial and persecution
themselves, his account of Jesus and Peter before their respective inquisitors are
meant to be an example to follow and an example to avoid. The familiar
technique of sandwiching one account (Jesus' trial; 55-65) in between another
account (Peter's trial; 54 and 6-72) tells us that we are should relate the two
accounts together.
Jesus, having prayed three times in the garden of Gethsemane faces the whole
Sanhedrin and shows unhesitating courage. Peter, having fallen asleep three
times in the garden, faces a mere servant girl and anonymous bystanders and
falters shamefully. He is full of cowardice. Jesus meets rigged evidence with
either silence or confession of the truth. Peter meets true allegations about being
Jesus' companion with denial three times. Each of the denials is worse than the
one before. First he is evasive. Then he denies being a follower of Jesus.
Finally he denies even knowing him. That three denials are recorded underscores
his utter failure. Jesus is beaten by guards. Peter sits with guards and warms
himself. Jesus takes up the cross and loses his life now. Peter shuns the cross
and saves his life now. Peter fails with behavior similar to Judas. Jesus holds a
straight line. The message is clear: Peter is not like Jesus, and with all of us, is
dependent upon Christ's merciful forgiveness.
Further, Jesus is an example to us all in situations where we too must witness to
the truth. We must not be undisciplined and prayerless. We must know we are
in a battle and be regularly on our knees asking God for strength. We must not be
cowardly or ashamed like Peter. We must be courageous. We must not let the
immediate consequences of speaking the truth control our behavior. Instead, we

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must let the long term consequences determine our actions. Rather than avoiding
scorn and rejection, we must accept them as inevitable.
7. Why do you suppose the once receptive crowd now turns hostile
toward him?
The crowds have been thronging around Jesus from the very beginning of Mark's
gospel. However, at no point has Mark led us to believe that they are actual
followers of Jesus. Like the dwarves in the Tales of Narnia, although they
evidently enjoyed seeing the religious authorities put in their place, they are not
interested in throwing in their lot with Jesus. They are content to be on the
sidelines. This indifference to Jesus or simply a favorable attitude are not
adequate. The crowd's fickleness leaves them on the outside. That they are on
the outside is seen in how quickly they turn on Jesus. They had been sufficiently
on Jesus' side to arouse the envy and fear of his enemies. Even Pilate assumes
they will support Jesus. Now, ironically, the envy and fear prove groundless at
the very moment when his enemies initiate His murder.
Confronted with a humiliated Christ who will defend neither himself nor them, the
crowds reject him. This messiah failed their expectations along with the religious
leaders and even his own followers. He was not seeking to overthrow the
Roman oppressors. Jesus was not who they thought he was. Influenced by paid
agitators he becomes to them a somewhat pathetic figure and they now call for
him to be crucified. It is imperative that we ourselves understand who Jesus is,
what he is seeking to accomplish in our lives and in the world, and how he is
seeking to accomplish it. If we operate under false assumptions in these areas,
then like the crowds and the disciples, we will find ourselves disappointed and
faithless when troubles arise.
8. What was the significance of Barabbas being released from prison
instead of Jesus?
Two things are evident in the account of Barabbas' release from prison. The
first point is the ugly attitude and sheer guilt of the leaders and people in
preferring Barabbas to Jesus. Three times Pilate seeks to release Jesus, but each
time the offer is rejected. Ironically, they find Jesus guilty for claiming to be the
very thing they most wanted him to be but which he refuses to be - a political
liberator. The second point of the Barabbas account is that it is a picture of
substitution. Barabbas was the true criminal. He was the insurrectionist who
was guilty of murder. But Jesus is charged with the crime instead and sentenced
to die by crucifixion. Jesus was not deserving of death. Barabbas was. But
Jesus takes his place. Jesus had earlier said that he was going to give his life as a
ransom for many. As the innocent one, he dies in the place of the guilty. We
ourselves are all Barabbas. We are delivered from the guilt of our sin by virtue of
the death of Christ on our behalf.
9. According to this passage, who is responsible for putting Jesus to
death? What does this tell us about ourselves?
Jews, Gentiles, and even his own followers are seen as participants in the death
of Jesus. It is important to see this lest we fall into mistakes that have plagued

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the church in the past. Oftentimes, the Jews alone have been charged with
having killed Jesus and it has led to a great deal of ugly anti-Semitism. The
Gospel writers had no intention or desire to justify anti-Semitic attitudes of later
generations. After all, the majority of them were Jews themselves. One must
not fail to realize that not all the Jews were against him even at the time his death.
Luke tells us that as Jesus carried his cross “a large number of people
followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him" (Luke
23:27).
We also know that there were 120 Jewish Christians before Pentecost, 3000
Jewish converts at Pentecost and another 5000 who followed shortly after that.
In Acts 6:7 we are told that many Jewish priests were "obedient to the faith."
Assigning collective guilt to the Jews on the basis of the Scriptures does not fit
the totality of the evidence. Justifying anti-Semitism and atrocities against Jewish
people on the basis of the cry, "His blood be on us and our children" (Mt.
27:25) is a clear misuse of Scripture. We must distance ourselves from such
attitudes and actions. According to this passage, among the Jews, it is the leaders
who bear the brunt of the responsibility for Jesus' death. They reject him as
God's Christ, the true fulfillment of the ancient Jewish hope for messianic
salvation. They initiate the proceedings against Jesus and are vehement in their
opposition to him from the start. However, they apparently do not have the
authority to carry out the death penalty (Jn. 18:31).
Therefore, having accused him as deserving of death, they hand him over to the
Roman authorities. Pilate seeks to release Jesus. And although his hand is
somewhat forced by the Jewish leaders, he is still treated as sharing in the
responsibility for Christ's execution. Both Pilate and the Jewish leaders are
spoken of as “handing Jesus over" to death. In aftermath of the trial before the
Sanhedrin and the trial before Pilate, guards mock, beat, spit upon, and mistreat
Jesus. Eventually the Roman guards oversee his crucifixion. The clear teaching
of the scripture is that all mankind is in rebellion against God. The whole world
was in opposition to Jesus and is guilty of killing Him. Gentile and Jew, secular
and religious, leader and those led all participated in the crucifixion.
Christianity addresses not a Gentile problem or a Jewish problem, but a human
problem - sin. We all wish we could kill God and live without His authority over
us. Mercifully, the execution that we carried out is that which brings us healing
and forgiveness. Just as none of us are free from guilt, so none of us are without
the need of Christ and the benefits which his death and resurrection bring.

Further Notes MARK 14:53-72

Despite already having decided that Jesus has to die the authorities apparently
need at least the appearance of legality in their actions, although there is no sign
of any attempt to give Jesus a fair trial.
The events proceed apace, possibly to preclude any objections from "the
people?” (11:32, 14:2). From now on power seems to be in the hands of the

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Jewish and Roman authorities, with Jesus strangely passive. The emphasis on
fulfilled scripture functions to show that God is still in control.
v53-54. This seems to have been a preliminary hearing prior to a formal session
at dawn (l5:1). Despite the hour, the council and witnesses are already gathered.
Several details are clearly contrary to Jewish legal practice, such as meeting at
night, using suborned witnesses and the High Priest's pre-judgment of the verdict
(v64). Peter follows, if cautiously, making at least some attempt to fulfill his rash
disbelieving promise of v31.
v55-65. The attempt is to justify their attitude towards Jesus, rather than decide
what that attitude should be but the their most serious charges and best witnesses
are, to say the least, feeble. There is no attempt to pursue the early accusations
of Sabbath breaking or demon possession (3:2, 3:22). Even their clearest
indictment is garbled (13:2, Jn 2:19), leaving them no usable evidence. Having
thus totally failed to incriminate Jesus, he is invited to incriminate himself. He
does not make one of his devastating replies. Jesus’ role as leader and teacher is
over and he now assumes the passivity of a sacrificial lamb (note "led' v53, 15:1,
16, 20, Isa 53:7).
The marked exception to this is in his reply to the High Priest's formal question.
This was not a random inquiry. Jesus' identification as Messiah and also as Son
of God was known despite his injunctions to silence (possibly through Judas?).
The High Priest as was normal uses the term "Blessed" as a circumlocution for
the name of God. Jesus treats this, the central question of Mark (8:29), with full
respect, neither ignoring it (e.g. 7:5-6) nor turning the tables on his questioner.
The answer is positive and Jesus adds a corrective to the probable
misunderstanding of the term “Messiah” by also claiming the majesty of the Son
of Man in Dan 7:13 (see also Psa 110:1). Jesus is proclaimed Son and Heir (12:6-
7) but the priests, convinced of their authority, instantly dismiss this as false and
blasphemous, the rending of the garments being a formal reaction to heresy. The
ensuing violence is a mocking of the “Messiah”, who was supposed to be able to
discern without seeing (Isa 11:3)
v66-72. Jesus, on trial, confessed who he was and was condemned. Peter now
fails to confess his allegiance, to his self-condemnation. The challenge is a
common one today: "You're one of those Christians, aren't you?". Peter
progressively gives in under pressure. His first reply although dishonest, is merely
evasive (and unconvincing, given the location!) and he promptly retreats to avoid
further threat. Having started, he finishes, solemnly promising (''invoke a
curse"), that he does not know Jesus, exactly as Jesus foretold, even to the
timing. Peter instantly breaks down and it is in his brokenness that he still has a
future. He knows what a dreadful thing he has done, unlike those examining
Jesus, who are confident in their own righteousness (Jn 9:41, 1 Jn 1:8). Peter's
fall is recorded particularly vividly, as Peter has nowhere spared himself in his
recounting in Mark.
While teaching Jesus' authority and the importance of listening to him, this story
gives both a stern warning and a strong encouragement. Jesus has already
spoken about the fate of those who are ashamed of him (Mk 8:38), yet it is our

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almost constant temptation to avoid identifying with Christ, by silence and evasion
as well as by denial (2 Tim 1:8-12). The great encouragement is in seeing what
became of ruined, fallen Peter: the Holy Spirit is able to do so much with so little
even (or especially?) after such a failure (Acts 2:14, 36, Ezra 10:2).

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