The Gospel of Mark – Part 49

Despised and Rejected – Mark 14:53-72

MOSAIC ROCKFORD – LEE ECLOV – AUGUST 30, 2020

Introduction:

Illus.: Years ago Bill Hybels told about seeing a newscast of a big Vietnam veterans parade in Chicago. Part of the commemoration was a mobile Vietnam wall like the one in Washington, DC, bearing the names of all the soldiers who had died there. “One newscaster asked a vet why he had come all the way to Chicago to visit this memorial and to participate in this parade. The soldier looked straight into the face of the reporter and with tears flowing down his face he said, ‘Because of this man right here.’ As he talked he was pointing to the name of a friend whose name is etched in the wall. And as he pointed to the name, he traced the letters of his friend’s name in the wall. And he continued to answer the reporter by saying, ‘This man right here gave his life for me. He gave his life for me.’… As the news clip ended, that sobbing soldier simply let the tears flow without shame as he stood there continuing to trace the name of his friend with his finger.” [#2602; PT#43There is, of course, someone who gave his life for us. I don’t want to grow dull to Jesus’ death for me, but I’m afraid I do. So Mark comes to meet us and remind us of what Jesus has done. Turn to Mark 14.Mark began tracing how Jesus gave his life for us at the beginning of ch. 14. Last Sunday Pastor Dave took us to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus surrendered to the will of his Father. We also saw his disappointment with his disciples who could not stay awake and pray with him. And then Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested. Today we pick up the story in Mark 14:53-54… 

They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together. Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.

So there are two stories before us, two scenes. One is this courtroom scene where all the leaders of the Jews gather to hear the case against Jesus—71 of them. The other is what Peter does while he waits outside. Before we look at those stories I want to take you back to Isaiah 53 because what Isaiah prophesied is what we’re going to witness. Is. 53:7-8 is like a frame for what Mark tells us.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 its shearers is silent,     so he did not open his mouth.By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

    Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living;     for the transgression of my people he was punished.

Now, back to our story in Mark 14:55-65… Trace your finger across that story. Jesus began giving

his life for us when he bowed to the Father’s will in Gethsemane, and again here in these stories. 

I.      JESUS WAS OPPRESSED AND CONVICTED BY THE VERY NATION HE CAME TO SAVE (14:55-65)

Jesus faced two trials that night, one in a Jewish court and the other in a Roman court before Pilate. This Jewish trial was a farce. This one before the High Priest, Caiaphas, breaks so many Jewish laws that some Jewish leaders today say it could have never happened. Mark doesn’t dwell on the illegal hour

(who calls a court to order in the middle of the night?!), or the improper venue, or the unlawful rush to judgment, but he does highlight the false witnesses. Why did they focus their lies on what Jesus said about the temple? In that culture, to threaten the temple was to defame God himself, and was a crime punishable by death. Jesus had said that the temple of his body would be destroyed and raised in three days. Jesus did say that the temple building would be destroyed, torn stone from stone, which happened

in 70 AD at the hands of the Romans. But he didn’t say what they accused him of. [John 2:19-21] 

The obvious question is, w