Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Elements of the story:
Sandwich
Peter by the fire
Jesus on trial
Peter by the fire (the three denials)
By Mark structuring this passage this way he wants us to see
that both these stories are happening at the same time
that these two stories are related and that they add meaning to each other.
Location: The High Priest’s Palace (Slide)
The fire where Peter was warming himself was in the priests’ courtyard
Jesus was on trial in a room above the courtyard
Chamber where the Sanhedrin typically met, though they could also gather in other places
Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin
The supreme council in charge of Jewish affairs in Roman Palestine.
The supreme council in charge of Jewish affairs in Roman Palestine.
The Sanhedrin consisted of the chief priests, the elders and the scribes
The High Priest’s role in the Sanhedrin
The high priest was the leader of the sanhedrin
The supreme council in charge of Jewish affairs in Roman Palestine.
The Trial
Looking for witnesses to testify in order to put him to death
You see, the Sanhedrin had no power to execute anyone, capital crimes could only be judged by Rome.
So this was not a formal trial, but rather it was a preliminary hearing to see if they could gather enough evidence against Jesus to bring him to Pilate, the Roman governor.
So the scene is set,
Jesus is taken from the garden and brought to the house of the high priests
Peter follows and sneaks into the courtyard and warms himself by the fire as the sanhedrin looks for people to testify against Jesus
Outline
14:53-54 - Peter follows Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest (53-54)
14:55-59 - The council looking for a testimony against Jesus
14:60-64 - Jesus questioned by the high priest and condemned to die
14:65 - Jesus beaten and accused of being a false prophet
14:66-72 - Peter denies Jesus three times
Peter Begins to Crumble
Mark 14
Peter, the bold and self-confident disciples who told Jesus that he would die for him before he falls away is not playing the role of the coward.
He follows at a distance so that he would not be recognized as being a friend of Jesus.
He goes to the fire in the courtyard of the high priests house and sits with the guards and warms himself by the fire.
I think interesting that Marks tells us that Peter went to the fire and was sitting with the guards.
One biblical scholar says, “Fire breeds community”
When you gather around a fire its hard not to be brought into community
Campfires, bonfires, even fireplace fires all have a social effect of cultivating community
And here Peter goes to the fire and he sits with the guards
Peter is not interested in being a disciple who is bold in his allegiance to King Jesus, he is trying to blend in with the people who want to kill Jesus.
We will look at this more in the second half of the sandwich.
So here is Peter, warming himself by the fire, while the sanhedrin is seeking to find just cause to kill Jesus
And the scene shifts now from the courtyard to one of the upper rooms in the high priest’s house where the high priest and the whole council were looking for a testimony against Jesus
The Witnesses
Mark 14.55
You see, this preliminary hearing was not about finding the truth.
Rather, they gathered for a purpose, and that was to put Jesus to death.
They were looking for people to speak a testimony against Jesus, but they were unable to find any that would hold up in court.
They couldn’t take Jesus to Pilate for the death penalty without having just cause.
You see, the testimonies against a criminal had to be consistent in order for it to be admissible in court.
So many people were willing to lie about Jesus, or give a false witness, but the sanhedrin could not get people to agree.
Some people, said, “we heard him say, ‘I will destroy the temple that is made with hands, and in three days i will build another, not made with hands.’”
The funny thing, Jesus actually did say this,
However, the witnesses could not agree about Jesus words, therefore it would not hold up in court.
more than likely Jesus words caused such a buzz that people remembered hearing about how he talked about destroying the temple, but they themselves were not there when Jesus said these words in .
So Jesus is standing in the midst of the sanhedrin and they run around like blind fools trying to find a witness that would give them just cause to put him to death.
you see, according to the law they needed the testimony of at least two or three witnesses in order to charge him.
But they could not find any 2 or 3 people who’s testimony agreed.
If Jesus just stood there and didn’t say a thing they would not have been able to bring a charge against him.
Now if Jesus wanted to he could have turned that courtroom upside down by just quoting to them what the law says about witnesses in court.
According to the law that they are trying to obey by finding two or three witnesses, they have actually condemned themselves to death as they should receive the punishment they were trying to hand out to Jesus.
And if Jesus would have called upon the law, he could have purged the evil from his midst.
False testimony is a big deal, lying is a big deal, and they all deserved to be punished for it.
Just a side note, as people come forward to give a false testimony about Jesus inside the house of the priest, outside Peter is at the same time give a false testimony about himself concerning Jesus.
Peter’s evil also should be purged from their midst.
And this is exactly what Jesus plans to do, he is going to purge evil, he is going to destroy the power of evil and the penalty of evil, and ultimately he will destroy the presence of evil.
But he does so under the judgement of a much greater authority than the sanhedrin, or the Roman government.
So back inside.
The high priest finally moves on from trying to find witnesses and begins interrogating Jesus himself.
Maybe he can get Jesus to confess of something that will allow them to bring Jesus to the romans for execution.
The Interrogation
All throughout the gospel of Mark we have seen the Pharisees, elders, priests, scribes and so on try and catch Jesus in some sort of falsehood.
They have tried to denounce him as a false prophet
They have tried to catch him as a rebellious rebel wanting to sit on the throne
They have accused him of doing only what the priests are allowed to do.
So this is the nature of the interrogation, this is the nature of the trial as a whole.
If he is a false prophet, priest and king, then he is guilty of Blasphemy
60-
What was Caiaphas the high priest charging Jesus with in his interrogation?
Jesus False Prophet
The bottom-line charge - and one that is repeated in later Jewish sources - is that Jesus was a false prophet, leading Israel astray.
There were warnings that false prophets would come and do all sorts of miraculous things and teach in such a way that would lure people away from God.
Do you remember the story in ?
Do you remember the charge the Pharisees brought against Jesus in ?
Jesus was healing people and casting out demons and thousands of people were following Him.
so scribes come down from Jerusalem (which is where they are now), and determine that Jesus is actually possessed by Satan himself.
And throughout the rest of the gospel the scribes and the religious leaders believed that Jesus was indeed a false prophet.
Jesus was a false priest
Throughout the gospel we see Jesus presenting himself as a priest, and doing only what priests can do.
He also claims to have authority over the temple, the place where priests serve God.
Throughout the gospel we see Jesus presenting himself as a priest, and doing only what priests can do.
He also claims to have authority over the temple, the place where priests serve God.
Chapters 11 and 12 we see Jesus claiming authority over the temple
He also prophesied that the temple would be destroyed.
and that it was under God’s judgement.
The first miracles Jesus did were priestly miracles
He cast the demon out of the man in the synagogue (priests job)
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