"The Passion of Our Lord: Truth on Trial" (Lenten sermon on Mark 14:53-72)

It’s Thursday night, late. Overnight, really. Heading into Friday. And truth is on trial. Jesus is on trial. So is the Sanhedrin that is trying him. So is Peter, his disciple. And so are we, frankly. Who will pass the test? Let’s find out. And so our theme tonight: “The Passion of Our Lord: Truth on Trial.”

Jesus is on trial. He’s appearing before the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin. The council is comprised of the high priest, the chief priests, the elders, the scribes, and other representatives of the Jewish people. The council as a whole was already predisposed against Jesus. They hated him, because he had been exposing the mis-leadership they had been giving the people. Now they were just seeking a way to finally get rid of him, without looking too bad in the process. So they had arranged with one of his disciples to betray him and have him arrested and brought to trial. That’s what had just happened in the Garden of Gethsemane. Judas betrayed Jesus, Jesus was arrested, his disciples scattered, and Jesus was taken in to appear before the Sanhedrin.

So Jesus is on trial, but it is really the Sanhedrin who are on trial. Because this whole thing is a farce. It’s a joke. This court is a kangaroo court, not following legitimate legal procedure. They’re meeting at night, overnight, in secret, in a big hurry, which they’re not supposed to do. They’re calling in false witnesses. They even physically abuse the defendant, spitting on Jesus and striking him and having the guards beat him up. In court! Some due process! So really, it’s the council members themselves who are on trial. And they are showing themselves to be quite guilty.

But ostensibly, at least, it is Jesus who is on trial. And so, truth is on trial. Because Jesus himself is the truth, Truth with a capital T. He is the way and the truth and the life. He comes from the Father, full of grace and truth. God sent his own Son to us, to reveal the truth to us, the truth about God and us, neither of which we know on our own.

As natural-born sinners, we don’t know God aright. We have wrong beliefs about God. We think he’s either too strict or too lenient, and we think we know better than God. And we don’t know ourselves, either, our lost condition from which we cannot save ourselves. We are in great need of the truth, which we do not have within us.

But Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the flesh, come to reveal the truth to us. He makes the truth known to us--the truth about God, the truth about ourselves. Jesus comes to bring us back to God, from whom we had been separated by our sin. And so no one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ, through faith in him.

But now, for doing that, for revealing the truth to us, Jesus is on trial. He has stirred up the hornets’ nest, telling people what they don’t want to hear. And so now they’re going to get him, one way or the other. And this is the way they have chosen, a phony trial, at night, under the cover of darkness.

They’re trying to find some sort of testimony that will sound like he’s guilty of death. If that takes some false witnesses, so be it. Whatever works. But even that isn’t working out so well. The witnesses can’t agree. They do get some witnesses who misquote something Jesus did say. He had said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” But Jesus there was talking about his own body, not about the building in Jerusalem. Jesus was predicting they would kill him--which they’re about to do--but that then he would rise again. Which he will do in just a few days.

So this bogus trial is turning out to be a bust. But they don’t care. They’re going to ramrod a guilty verdict through, in spite of the facts. So the high priest himself gets up and challenges Jesus: “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” No answer. Jesus knows what’s going on, and he’s not going to make it look like this is some sort of a legitimate trial. So now the high priest asks him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” OK, now we’re coming to the big issue. Where does this Jesus get the idea he has this kind of authority, to be the arbiter of truth? “Do you come from God? Do you claim to have divine authority? Do you think you are the Messiah himself, the very Son of God?”

Now Jesus replies: “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Whoa! This is too much! Jesus is claiming to be the Messiah! Jesus is claiming to have full divine authority! “The Son of Man”? A messianic title, from Daniel 7. “Seated at the right hand of Power”? A messianic prophecy, from Psalm 110. “Coming with the clouds of heaven”? A portent of divine judgment that will come upon them, these rejecters of the Messiah.

So now it’s all out there in the open, the inevitable, unavoidable clash between truth and falsehood. Jesus has confessed the truth, and his enemies can’t stand it. They won’t put up with it. The high priest tears his garments in disgust at this outright blasphemy! “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” Well, it’s pretty obvious what the outcome will be: Jesus is a blasphemer. He is guilty of death. Go ahead and beat him up a bit before we hand him over to the Roman governor. Truth is on trial, and the falsehood wins.

Meanwhile, down below, out in the courtyard, someone else is on trial. It’s Peter, one Jesus’ disciples. His lead disciple, you might say. The one who, when Jesus had asked them, “Who do you say that I am?”--the one who spoke up and confessed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter--the one who had said earlier that evening: “Oh, these other disciples might deny you, but I never will! I will remain true to you! You can count on me!”

Oh, really, Peter? Mr. Rock? Mr. Reliable? Mr. Resolute? But how will you do under fire? Out here in the courtyard, keeping yourself warm by a fire? How bold will you be here, now that your master is on trial?

A servant girl comes by, and she thinks there’s something suspicious about this guy sitting by the fire. “Say, aren’t you one of his disciples?” “Oh no, not me! You must have me confused with some other guy!” And a rooster crows in the background.

“No, no, I don’t think I’m mistaken. I do think I’ve seen you with that man, the guy on trial inside.” So she tells the other folks nearby: “This man is one of them.” Peter doubles down on his denial: “Listen, lady, I told you once, I’ll tell you again: You’ve got me mixed up with somebody else! I don’t know the man!”

The bystanders say, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” Apparently, Peter’s northern accent has betrayed him. Peter curses and swears to God: “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” He won’t even bring himself to mention Jesus’ name, that’s how cowardly this bold disciple has become. And the rooster crows again.

The rooster’s crows are a wake-up call for Peter. Now he remembers how Jesus had predicted his denial: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And, our text says, “he broke down and wept.” Thank God, the Lord is working repentance in Peter’s heart. Peter failed the test, but the Lord will restore him.

Friends, isn’t that how it is for us? Time and again, we fail the test. We are on trial, but we do the denial. Like Peter, we’re more fearful than faithful. We’re out in the courtyard, sitting by the fire, but we get challenged on our discipleship, and we get cold feet. Our mouths do not confess the truth about God and Jesus, not when it could be risky. It’s safer to keep silent. You know, if there were roosters around us, they’d be crowing all night long!

So thank God that he works repentance in our hearts for all the times we have denied our Lord. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Joy, because our good Lord does restore us. He forgives our sins and our denials. He, Jesus, the truth in the flesh. Jesus, the one who stood faithful, in the face of outrageous injustice. Jesus, who goes to the cross for you, to suffer and die in your place, to win your forgiveness! Jesus, who rose from the dead on Easter morning, to restore you and give you life with him forever. Dear friends, this is the truth that sets you free!

Mark 14:53-72 (ESV)

And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.

And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

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