Gospel of Mark Study #50

“Lying Witnesses in a Kangaroo Court”

Mark 14:53-65

Study #50 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

Wikipedia, that infallible online fount of all things true, defines the term “kangaroo court” as: A colloquial term for a sham legal proceeding or court. The outcome of a trial by a kangaroo court is essentially determined in advance, usually for the purpose of ensuring conviction, either by going through the motions of manipulated procedure or by allowing no defence at all. A kangaroo court’s proceedings deny due process rights in the name of expediency. Such rights include the right to summon witnesses, the right of cross-examination, the right not to incriminate oneself, the right not to be tried on secret evidence, the right to control one’s own defence, the right to exclude evidence that is improperly obtained, irrelevant or inherently inadmissible, e.g., hearsay, the right to exclude judges or jurors on the grounds of partiality or conflict of interest, and the right of appeal.

From West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, we learn the history of the expression: A “kangaroo court” is an unfair, biased, or hasty judicial proceeding that ends in a harsh punishment; an unauthorized trial conducted by individuals who have taken the law into their own hands, such as those put on by vigilantes or prison inmates; a proceeding and its leaders who are considered sham, corrupt, and without regard for the law. The concept of kangaroo court dates to the early nineteenth century. Scholars trace its origin to the historical practice of itinerant judges on the U.S. frontier. These roving judges were paid on the basis of how many trials they conducted, and in some instances their salary depended on the fines from the defendants they convicted. The term kangaroo court comes from the image of these judges hopping from place to place, guided less by concern for justice than by the desire to wrap up as many trials as the day allowed. (From West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, Second Edition. Copyright 2008, The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.) 

TRANSITION:

Today, as we examine the trial proceedings of Jesus that led up to His crucifixion, we can clearly see that He was the victim of a “kangaroo court” and a “kangaroo trial.” Moreover, the witnesses against Him lied through their teeth and yet their testimony was accepted as gospel truth. This was one of the most egregious examples of jurisprudence gone horribly wrong in all of history. Let’s look at the details. 

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 53: And they led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes gathered together.

• After Judas kissed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, thus marking Him as the man they were looking for, He was shackled and taken away to face His accusers. The text says that He was taken to the high priest, a man named Caiaphas. However, John 18:13 adds that they first took Jesus to Annas, Caiaphas’ father-in-law, who was the previous high priest and who still wielded a great deal of authority and influence over the Sanhedrin. After Annas examined Jesus, he told the guards to take Jesus to see Caiaphas. Their two houses were joined, separated only by a courtyard. For that second audience at Caiaphas’ house many of the Jews leaders assembled, along with many interested onlookers. But where were the disciples? 

Verse 54: And Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire.

• Under cover of night, Peter followed Jesus and the guards into the courtyard area, and he hung around to see if he could pick up any scraps of information. In the darkness, apparently, he had not been identified as the one who had lopped off the ear of the high priest’s servant.
• These “officers” were the temple police officers, not the Roman soldiers who had helped with the arrest. Most likely the Romans had already returned to their barracks, although they got involved again early the next morning.
• So, Peter was sitting there among the temple guards and the servants of the high priest, warming himself before that bonfire, hoping that no one would recognize him. But at least HE WAS THERE! The other disciples had all high-tailed it and were in hiding.
• Mark’s account is very thorough, but we must compare it with the other three Gospels to put the story together with the correct chronology. In our next study we will look specifically at how Peter swore three times that he did not even know Jesus, as recorded in Mark 14:66-72. But what you need to understand is that Peter’s denials of Jesus all occurred while Jesus was in the house being interviewed by the high priest, as described in verses 53-54. 

Verses 55-56: Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death; and they were finding none.  ⁵⁶ For many were giving false testimony against Him, and yet their testimony was not consistent.

• The first two “kangaroo trials” took place in the houses of the high priests, first Annas, then Caiaphas. Then Jesus was held under arrest, probably right there in the courtyard, until the whole Sanhedrin could assemble in their chamber. Later that night when all the religious leaders had gathered Jesus was led to the Temple area and into the Sanhedrin’s meeting chamber, known as the “Hall of Hewn Stone.” This was the first of two trials before the Sanhedrin. The second occurred early the next morning.
• What you must understand is that the Jews did not have the authority to execute Jesus. As a conquered people, they were subject to the rules of their masters, the Romans, who kept that authority for themselves. All the Sanhedrin could do was serve as a kind of Grand Jury to prepare an indictment against Jesus, but they could not pronounce judgment or carry out the sentence of death.
• The 71 members of the Sanhedrin had cooked this thing up well in advance and were all in on it. Again, Mark does not use the word, “Sanhedrin,” but rather describes it by listing the three groups that comprised this high court of the Jews.
• Even before Jesus’ arrest they had been trying to locate credible people who would testify against Him but all they could come up with were either people who loved Him and had been healed by Him, or, lying witnesses who could not even keep their stories straight. Not only were they lying, but they were lying badly, which must have really frustrated these religious leaders. They knew they had to come up with some believable witnesses if they were to win the help of the Roman governor in condemning Jesus to death.

Verses 57-59: Some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, ⁵⁸ “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’”  ⁵⁹ And not even in this respect was their testimony consistent.

• Mark points out that they had their stories all fouled up. This accusation was based on Jesus’ words uttered three years before on the occasion of the first cleansing of the Temple, during His early Judean ministry as recorded in John 2:19. From their statement it is easy to see that they either totally misunderstood Jesus’ words on that occasion, or deliberately twisted His words in order to falsely condemn Him.

Verses 60-61a: And the high priest arose and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, “Do You make no answer to what these men are testifying against You?”  ⁶¹ But He kept silent and made no answer.

• The inconsistencies among the testimonies of these so-called “witnesses” and their inability to get Jesus to say anything at all must have frustrated the daylights out of the Sanhedrin, and especially the high priest, Caiaphas. He undoubtedly saw this as a threat to his leadership if he could not get the best of this backwoods preacher from Galilee.

Verses 61b-62: Again, the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”  ⁶² And Jesus said, “I AM; and you shall see the SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”

• In verse 61 we see the high priest pulling out his secret weapon. Mark does not give us the details, but Matthew does, in 26:63. He writes: “But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, ‘I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.’” In other words, the high priest placed Jesus under solemn oath, which made it obligatory for Him to answer. He had no way out. He was forced to utter the words that would condemn Him.
• In doing this Caiaphas broke one of the rules laid clearly laid down in the law—he asked a leading question designed to get Jesus to incriminate Himself. Bluntly he asked Jesus if He was the Messiah.
• But look at how He did it. Mark records that Jesus invoked the most holy phrase in Judaism. When the high priest asked Him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus’ answer rocked them back on their heels: “I AM!” By that statement Jesus equated Himself with the God of Israel who revealed Himself to Moses back at the Burning Bush, as recorded in Exodus 3:13-15. From there He invoked Daniel 7:13-14 and Psalm 110:1 to declare that He was indeed the promised Messiah of Israel.

Verses 63-64: And tearing his clothes, the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses?  ⁶⁴ “You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.

• This act by the high priest was the traditional response to hearing what he believed was pure blasphemy—he ripped his clothing. In his mind, for anyone to claim to be the Son of God was nothing short of blasphemy and was punishable by death. Unless, of course, the person was telling the truth, a possibility he did not consider worth a second glance.
• Jesus had just done Caiaphas a great favor because now he no longer had to come up with witnesses. Jesus had condemned Himself by His own words. Inside his shriveled up little black heart, the high priest had to be giving himself high-fives. This was going to be so easy, a piece of cake, he thought to himself.
• Immediately he turned and made his appeal to the assembled Sanhedrin. “You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” The answer was obvious— “He is guilty! Crucify him!”

Verse 65: And some began to spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in the face.

• This is interesting. Suddenly, this group of fine, religious church people turned into a pack of vicious animals. They spit on Jesus. Then they jumped on Him and began to beat the tar out of Him. In that moment, their vitriolic hatred spilled over the top, and they became not only judge and jury, but executioner as well. Some of them covered His head and then beat Him repeatedly, saying, “Prophey for us if you can. Who hit you? Come on and tell us. Give us a name if you are so great.”
• Once the religious leaders had their fill of fun the Temple police guards took their turn at abusing Jesus.

CONCLUSION:

When I read about that night and those shameful events, I am embarrassed to be a human being, connected to those people in any way. However, Jesus is not the one that we should feel sorry for. Of all the characters in that drama He was the one who was most together and serene. He was in control of what was going on. He was not some sort of a poor victim. He was the Lord of lords and King of kings who had come to this earth on a mission, and He was seeing it through to the end.

This was not something that “kangaroo court” was doing to Him. Had Jesus not allowed it they would not have been able to even lay a hand on Him. If He had not been willing, they would not have had any power over Him whatsoever because He was clearly in charge.           

We see a glimpse of that fact in Matthew’s account of what went on in the Garden of Gethsemane. When Judas and the mob showed up, to protect Jesus, Peter pulled a sword and went to work. However, all he managed to do was to lop off the ear of a servant. In Matthew 26:52-54 we read: “Then Jesus said to him [Peter], ‘Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen this way?’” By the way, a Roman “legion” equaled 6,000 troops. Times 12 that comes to 72,000 angels.           

In these verses we can see Jesus’ amazing courage. He knew very well that to answer Caiaphas’ question the way He did would seal His fate and take Him straight to the cross, but He did not waver, and He did not falter. Think about it… had He simply denied the charges they would have been powerless to touch Him. They had no proof, nor any credible witnesses.  

Here we can also clearly see Jesus’ amazing confidence. In verse 62, even with the cross now a certainty He continued to speak with complete confidence of His ultimate triumph. Again, the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”  ⁶² And Jesus said, “I AM; and you shall see the SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.” Jesus knew that the war was already won. There was nothing that these wicked men could do to Him. His course was set, and the wheels were already in motion. Soon the job would be finished, the price would be paid, the work of redemption would be complete, and salvation would be available to “whosoever will come.”

And it is in this last fact that we see His amazing compassion. The fact that He was laying down His life for these very scoundrels who were manipulating and scheming to kill Him is truly amazing. It is counter to everything that we are in our humanness. We understand vengeance, anger, getting even, etc. but we do not understand pure love, grace unbounded, and mercy that is free-flowing and abundant. Yet those are the things that Jesus demonstrated here in the hours before His crucifixion. Hallelujah, what a Savior!