April 9, 2014
“Condemned by the Righteous”
Mark 14:53-71
I Bogus Trial Mark 14: 53, 55-65
II Lack of Courage Mark 14:54-66-72
(Years ago, there was a wealthy man, who, along with his devoted young son, shared a passion for collecting art. Together, they traveled around the world, buying only the finest art treasures. Priceless works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and many others, adorned the walls of the family estate. The widowed, elderly father, looked on with satisfaction, as his only child, became an experienced art collector. And the son’s trained eye and sharp business mind, caused his father to beam with pride, as they dealt with art collectors around the world.
As the winter approached, war engulfed the nation, and the young man left to serve his country. After only a few short weeks, the father received a telegram. The beloved son was missing in action. He anxiously waited for more news, afraid that he would never see his son again…and within just a few days, his worst fears were confirmed, the son had died, trying to get another soldier to a medic for treatment…
Distraught and lonely, the old man viewed the upcoming Christmas holidays with anguish and sadness, he was afraid the joy of the season was lost to him forever.
On Christmas morning, a knock on the door, woke the bereaved father up. Walking down the stairs to welcome his visitor, he was reminded, by all the art on the walls, that his son would never be coming home again. So, he was startled, when he opened the door, to see a young soldier, standing there, with a huge wrapped package in his arms.
The soldier introduced himself to the man by saying, “I was a friend of your son; I was the one he was rescuing when he died; could I come in for a few minutes: I’ve got something to give you.”
The old man unwrapped the gift, and found a portrait of his dead son. And though, the world, would never consider it a masterpiece, the father recognized his son’s beloved face, in minute detail.
Within minutes after the young soldier left, the father had taken his favorite painting down, from above the fireplace mantle, in his library, and replaced it with his son’s portrait…..and then sat there all afternoon, just gazing at it and peacefully remembering , precious times that they had shared.…
During the days and weeks that followed, the man realized that even though his son was gone, his life would live on, because of those, whose lives he had touched. He found out that his son had rescued dozens of wounded soldiers, before the bullet had stilled, his own caring heart. As the stories of his son’s gallantry, continued to reach him, fatherly pride and satisfaction, began to ease his grief. The painting of his son became his most prized possession, far eclipsing any interest he had had, in the expensive pieces. that museums around the world were always clamoring for. He told his friends that the painting of his son was the greatest gift he’d ever received.
Late in the spring, of that new year, the father passed away. The art world was abuzz with anticipation as to when his collection of paintings would go up for auction, which according to his will, was supposed to be on Christmas day, at the end of that same year…
When the day arrived, art collectors from around the world were gathered there, to bid on some of the world’s most spectacular paintings.
The collectors were bored and a little put out, when the auction began with the painting of the son, which was not on any of their purchase lists. The auctioneer opened the bids, calling for $100 -----the room was silent---nobody said a word…
Several minutes passed, and no one spoke-----until finally, from the back of the room, somebody said, “Who cares about this painting? It’s just a bad picture of his son---let’s forget about it, and move on to the good stuff.” Many voices echoed in agreement.
“No, we have to sell this one first,” it’s stipulated in the will, “it’s stipulated in the will, so who will make a bid?” After another long silence, the father’s next-door neighbor, bid $10, which was all he had to offer, since he wasn’t wealthy----but he had watched the son grow up, and had been very fond of him.
No one else bid, so the auctioneer brought the gavel down and sold the painting to the kind neighbor, for $10. Cheers and clapping filled the room, because the real auction could finally begin….
But the auctioneer announced that the auction was over.
The collectors were stunned---again nobody said a word…there was nothing that they could say, the auctioneer explained that there was a very interesting codicil to the father’s will which stated that “whomever took the son, got everything else….lock, stock and barrel.”
God gave His son over 2000 years ago, to die on the cross… and much like the auctioneer, His message today, is still ---“Here’s the Son, who will take Him….because, when you take the son, you get everything, He has to give---all the blessings of the universe……”
Life is an auction and we are the buyers. There are material thing for us to acquire and more importantly, there are spiritual things, too. How often do we seek after material things, which, as nice and beautiful as they may be, are inconsequential, in light of eternity.
Jesus offers us His free gift, of loving salvation, which brings with it, a deep and abiding relationship with Him, if we will just accept it---
For us, it’s free and we just need to reach our hands out and accept it,
but, it wasn’t free for Jesus, it was acquired at a cost, to Him, spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and physically, that is beyond our comprehension-----that’s why it is important, for us, to never forget what Jesus has done for us, on the cross, and to honor Him, with the way we live our lives.
We can learn a valuable lesson from this story-------we need to remember, that, when we have the Son, who was tried and beaten, crucified and buried, resurrected and ascended---- and who’s coming back to get us, one day, to take us home----we have everything…
I Bogus Trial 14:53, 55-65
A night session of the Sanhedrin was highly unusual and highly illegal---according to the Mosaic Law, trials were supposed to be conducted in the daytime…. and I’m pretty sure, that the high priest, Caiaphas, had called for the extraordinary session, at the prompting, of his wily fox, of a father-in-law, the ex-high priest, Annas.
Caiaphas and Annas and their cronies, honestly thought that they were doing the right thing-----they thought it was their right and their responsibility, to get rid of the unwanted, self-proclaimed Galilean, and in their minds, fake Messiah. (How many times have we gotten up on a high horse, in a rage, thinking that someone is disobeying God, and we think, that we have to make sure that they, don’t get away with it, or, at the very least, be shown the error of their ways…..we need to pray long and hard before, we try to be somebody else’s, Holy Spirit, because we can’t be, because there is only 1----- so…. we just wind up having to pull the big fat plank out of our own eyes, not the tiny little splinter out of theirs…. )
Jesus’s 3 trials, were trumped-up travesties and they show us, still, just how abysmally wicked, mankind can be….Many false witnesses came forward----Who paid them off and what their sneaky and devious motivation for doing it, was? as they stood in front of the priests, the elders and the scribes, and spewed out lies…we can only guess…
But God, in His goodness, used it all, to provide the opportunity to save their souls, as well as ours.
In their spiritual ignorance, they took their oath before God, and before the leaders, who had the power to make their earthly lives miserable, and they fabricated testimony against Jesus, the one who had healed their sick; given sight to their blind, cleansed their lepers, exorcised the demons from their demon possessed; and fed their hungry multitudes---not realizing, that, right in front of them, there He stood, the Lord of Glory; the Creator of the Universe, the sinless Son of God and the perfect Son of Man, not saying a word, just watching and listening to it all…
They thought they had caught Jesus in a blasphemous statement, punishable by death, when a witness said they heard him say he would destroy the temple in 3 days, and then rebuild it, without hands, in 3 more days…..but that testimony was refuted, when another witness disagreed with the testimony…and the truth of what Jesus had said was, that if His body was destroyed, that He would resurrect it in 3 days, and that He would be the new Temple…….
They tried to take the truth and twist it to suit their purposes-----the Jewish religious leaders had decided, that Jesus had to die, but the trial and the whole situation was becoming awkward for the Sanhedrin----they wanted to destroy Jesus, but they wanted to be perceived, as doing it as legally, as they could.
If their lying witnesses had been consistent with each other, the whole thing would have come off without a hitch, but it was quickly turning into a 3 ring circus, literally----the false witnesses were telling inconsistent lies…Caiaphas knew that he couldn’t get a conviction, that would stick, or that even looked legal, with the farce he was presiding over----so……he took matters into his own hands…..
When the priesthood was established, the office of high priest, had been the highest and holiest position in the country---it had been planned and presented by God, to Moses, to provide the children of Israel with a prototype of the Messiah ….but it had long since been perverted and exploited, by self-seeking, political opportunists----like Caiaphus and Annas---(there were a few faithful ones, like Zacharuas, John the Baptist’s father, but he was a rarity…)
Caiaphus knew that the trial was illegal in so many was---#1, no trials were supposed to be at night, #2, the accused was always innocent until proven guilty, #3, there was supposed to be a search for evidence to free the accused, till all avenues were exhausted and then, the last resort, was to enter evidence, that would incriminate him…
As the trial started to fall apart around him, Caiaphus, came down from his high seat, to confront Jesus face-to-face----So far, Jesus had maintained a fitting, but to His enemies, infuriating, silence. And that silence seems to have enraged Caiaphus-----he wanted so badly for Jesus to incriminate Himself, with some blasphemy, that would make it necessary for him to be sent to be tried in front of Pilate, the Roman Governor, so that Jesus blood would be on Roman hands--------
Jesus continued to stand silent, even when he was under oath, and He was asked to defend Himself against the false testimony that had been given about Him…
The trumped-up trial went on all night, but in the wee hours of the morning, when the trial would have finally been legal….. Caiaphus, lost patience and he asked the question, that the Lord Jesus just couldn’t, and wouldn’t, deny, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed?” He used the term, ‘son of the blessed”, because he was too superstitious to speak the name of God out loud------he was so sadly blind and a little ridiculous, because the very God, whose name he was afraid to say, was standing right in front of him…
And Jesus didn’t disappoint him----with the two words, “I Am,” He brought the Old and the New Testaments together----------Jehovah and Jesus became one----and Jesus promised that one day Caiaphus and the others would see the overwhelming manifestation of God’s glory, as they saw Him burst through the clouds and then reign from the throne, that would, for all eternity, be the seat of all power. It was an unequivocal declaration of His deity----and, when all was said and done, He wanted them to remember it…
It was more than Caiaphus could have hoped for----he, in an exaggerated show of horror, tore his clothes, as an illegal (the law forbad high priests to tear their cloths) sign of piety and mourning, at what he and the rest of the Sanhedrin believed to be blasphemy---
We know, that they didn’t heard blasphemy, we know that they had heard the truth-----but the high priest’s performance won the day---the Sanhedrin, voted to put Jesus to death, on the grounds, that He had blasphemously declared Himself, to be God.
And then, it was a free-for-all---the spiritual leaders of the nation, 71 of the wisest and most religious men of the time, spat on Jesus, they beat him, they blindfolded Him and pummeled Him, they jeered at Him and challenged Him to tell them who had struck Him----then after having their fill, they turned Him over to their servants and let them, take turns slapping Him----and sweet, humble, uncondemning Jesus, endured their abuse, without saying a word, sick to the heart, with sorrow, for their disbelief, and their blasphemy…. knowing that He was going to die for them, the next day…
II Lack of Courage 14:54, 66-72
(One day, a bus driver was driving along his usual route. He didn’t have any problems for the first few stops; a few people got off and on, and things went pretty smooth.
At one stop, though, a big hulk of a man got on----he was 6’8”, built like a wrestler, and his arms were so long that they seemed to touch the ground…
He glared at the bus driver and said, “Big John doesn’t pay…”
Then he made his way to the back of the bus and sat down…
The driver was 5’3” and scrawny, very meek and timid, so he didn’t argue with Big John----but he wasn’t happy about it…
The next day, the same thing happened---Big John said the same exact thing, and sat down----in fact, it became a daily occurrence…..
The bus driver started losing sleep over how Big John was taking advantage of him----he felt bullied and embarrassed….so he decided to do something about it---he signed up for body-building courses, judo and karate classes, and a seminar on self-esteem…
By the last weekend in August, the bus driver had become quite strong and felt really good about himself----When John got on the bus that Monday morning and said, “Big John doesn’t pay…” the newly empowered bus driver stood up, looked him the eye and shot back…”and why not?”
With a surprised look on his face, Big John said, “Big John has a bus pass…”
Fear can cause us to do crazy things, and to behave in uncharacteristic ways------when we feel like we’ve lost control, we grab for a component of life that we can manage---- our diet, the tidiness of our home, alcohol, work, exercise, the armrest of a plane, the hand of a loved one or a friend-------anything, to keep us from spinning out of control…)
Peter ran from the garden just like everybody else did, as Jesus was being arrested…but he must have, at some point, halted his headlong flight, and plucked up enough courage to follow Jesus and His captors.
But, even though he followed Jesus….Peter was careful to keep his distance, he didn’t go right into the palace, itself, he just went into the palace courtyard, where the servants were gathered, some were running errands for their masters, but most, were huddled around fires, trying to stay warm, while they waited-----the unusual circumstances, must have had everyone wired with anticipation, as they waited for the outcome of the trial…
Peter’s desire to be near the Lord proved his heart was right even if his courage was weak, but his disobedience, of the Lord’s command to scatter, put him in a dangerous situation. What Peter thought he could accomplish, by hanging around with the Lord’s enemies, we won’t know----- till we can ask him personally------ maybe he thought he would get information; or maybe he thought he would be able to help Jesus escape, or maybe he just wanted to be near Him, cause He couldn’t bear for Jesus not to have somebody, who loved Him with Him….
Whatever his reasons, Peter, was standing warming his hand’s by the “world’s” fire, holding his tongue, for once, and hoping against hope that Jesus would be set free…. Instead of being being bullied and beaten, by Caiaphus and his thugs, just a few yards away.
When the young servant girl looked at him searchingly, and then pointed out that he was a Jesus follower, I don’t think Peter even thought about his response, her question caught him totally off-guard, and I think he just reacted, and blurted out the bold-faced lie…..saying that he didn’t even know what she was talking about…(I think if a guard or the high priest had asked him, he would probably have admitted his relationship with Jesus, I think that he was prepared for that, he had just lopped off a man’s ear, but, the servant girl’s accusation, was just so unexpected, that she tripped him up----that’s the way we are… the little things in life are what trip us up----we can steele ourselves for the big things, but the unexpected, day to day things, are what blow us out of the water------that’s why I believe that the Lord told us in Joshua 1:9 “…do not be discouraged, do not be terrified, for the Lord your God, will go with you wherever you go.”)
The contrast between the Lord Jesus, inside the palace, fearlessly telling the truth of His identity, knowing that He was condemning Himself to death, with his admission---and Peter, outside, mouthing a cowardly careless lie, to save his own skin, is unmistakable------and what a lesson is to us, of just how weak we are, and just how strong Jesus is and just how much we need Jesus, to do even the simplest thing….
The girl left him alone, but it scared Peter, so he moved away from the fire---- he didn’t leave, he was still loyal to Jesus, but he moved over to the porch that led from the courtyard to the outer gate----getting closer the an escape route----it was then, that the rooster crowed the first time----that first, early morning sound, didn’t seem to register with Peter, probably because he was consumed with fear…
The servant girl caught sight of him again, and this time she voiced her opinion of his identity, to the other people who were standing around waiting----she drew everybody’s attention to Peter and he quickly denied it again, but when the people heard his voice and realized he was a Galilean, they started to point fingers at him too….
And Peter, bless his heart, in what I think, was his lowest moment, began to curse and swear-----he filled the night air with the sound of his blistering sailor’s mouth, his fisherman’s oaths…
and we’re told that in that instant, the rooster crowed again….and then, Peter caught Jesus’ eyes, as the soldiers were leading him out, to take him to his trial before Pilate-----the love, the forgiveness and the compassion in those eyes, prompted Peter to remember Jesus’s words to him, and Peter’s heart broke, into a million pieces, I believe he was a changed man after that----and he began to weep tears of deep repentance.
It’s true that Peter was loud and profane and cowardly in the courtyard that night------------but it is also true, that underneath it all, he loved Jesus, and was there, present, in the courtyard, ----he should have been at Jesus’s elbow, but at least, even with all his faults, he was close by…. ….at heart, Peter was a good man…who in that moment, failed, to live up to the best intentions of His heart.
It wasn’t Peter’s faith that failed him and prompted his denials that night, it was his courage that had failed him….Jesus said in Luke 22:32, “I have prayed for you, that your faith might not fail.” And His prayer was answered---Peter never lost his faith-----in the moment of crisis, he lost his courage-----but after the Holy Spirit came and indwelled him, Peter’s courage never wavered again….
Jesus knew about Peter’s denial long before it happened, it was not a surprise----He knew what Peter would do, and how he would react, and He knew the kind of man that Peter would be afterward…
From my medical background, I read about an interesting phenomenon that effects broken bones----a bone that is broken, often becomes stronger after its healed----something in the healing process, actually makes the breakpoint stronger than it was before----well the same is true about our failures----the Lord can take us where we’re broken, and make us stronger than we were before---even though we fall and fall and fall, by God’s grace, we can get up again and again and again, and keep putting one foot in front of the other, as long as our eyes are fixed on Jesus.
Peter’s guilt, was turned into grace, which forgave him over and over again; and his shame ,was turned into a preacher’s heart for the lost; and his failure, was turned into a faith that made him the Rock, that Jesus built His church on…
In his failure, Peter lost:
His Vanity
His Pride
His self-confidence
His rash impulsiveness
His unreliability
But in his repentance and the Lord’s forgiveness, he gained:
Humility
New confidence in God
Tested courage
New determination to serve the Lord Jesus
A willingness to use his experience to help others---not only with his lifetime of preaching and shepherding God’s people, but allowing John Mark to immortalize it, in the pages of scripture, for all generations to learn from…
The things Peter lost, he didn’t really need anyway; and the things he gained, he couldn’t have found them any other way. And God redeems our mistakes and our lack of courage in the same way----he redeems our mistakes by removing the things that brought us down and by replacing them with the qualities that we always wanted to have, but couldn’t seem to find.
Jesus, even in the middle of His suffering, loved Peter, and He loves us so much, that it doesn’t matter what we’ve done, or how we’ve denied Him or how many times we’ve lot our courage, or how often we’ve failed, or how ugly our language has been, even under our breath, or how we’ve hurt somebody else with our attitude or our thoughtless words----if the Lord could forgive Peter, He can forgive you and me-----the cross makes the difference----it’s all level at the foot of the cross-----failure, suffering, sin, trouble, brokenness, discouragement -----that’s where our hope is, that’s what the Lord Jesus did for us on the cross---if we fall, He picks us up; if we’re broken, He makes us whole again; if we fail, He makes us useful again, and if we lose courage, He gives it back to us….
And all this brings us back to the truth, that we learned, in the story about the art collectors----“When you have the Son, you have everything.”
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