F.E. Marsh :: 233. Jesus Before the High Priest

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MARK 14:53-64

IF there is one thing more than another that impresses one in the life of Christ, it is the revealing power of His person, as He comes in contact with men. His presence was the searchlight to shew men in their real character.

There are seven characters in which Christ is seen in the portion of Scripture before us.

1. The Passive Victim. “They led Jesus away” (Mark 14:53; Isaiah 53:7-8; Acts 8:32). There is no resistance on the part of Christ, but meekly and humbly He allows Himself to be led away. What majesty there is in His passiveness! With a look He could have made His enemies fall back (John 18:6); with a word He could have called twelve legions of angels to His aid (Matt. 26:53), and by His own power He could have escaped (Luke 4:30), but He wills to allow Himself to be in the hands of wicked men, that the purpose of God may be accomplished (Acts 2:23).
2. The Neglected Lord (Mark 14:54). Where now is Peter’s willingness to go even to death with Christ (Mark 14:29)? Alas! Peter, instead of following close to the Lord (Psalm 63:8), is following “afar off.” Christ is neglected by the man who professed so much. How true are the words of Cecil, “Our very virtues, left to themselves, bear us down, like weights to destruction.”
3. The Falsely Accused (Mark 14:55-59). There are three things about the false witnesses who spoke against Christ. They had to be sought or hired for the occasion; their witness was contradictory; and they told a lie in relation to the destruction of the Temple. If we compare John 2:19 with Mark 14:58, it will be found that Christ did not say that He would destroy the Temple, but if the Jews destroyed it, He would build it again in three days.
4. The Silent Saviour (Mark 14:60-61). “He opened not His mouth” to vindicate Himself. He might have defended Himself from His false accusers. How truly was “silence golden” in the case of Christ, and herein the Holy Spirit points Him out to us as our Example (see 1 Peter 2:21-23). Euripides was wont to say, “Silence was an answer to a wise man.” What an answer we may see in the silence of Christ, if we are made wise by the Spirit of wisdom.
5. The Blessed Christ (Mark 14:61-62). Christ never hesitated to answer when the question touched His Deity. For Him not to answer then, would be to betray Himself. There is no hesitation in the reply of Christ when the High Priest asks Him if He is “The Christ.” Like a clear trumpet blast, the answer comes: “I Am.” Thus Christ says He is The Great I AM (Ex. 3:14). It has often been said that Christians claim for Christ what He never claimed for Himself, namely, that He was God. But if the “I AM’s” of Christ in the Gospel of John are studied, it will be seen that He claims to be God again and again.
6. The coming Man (Mark 14:62). Christ proclaims that there is a day coming when He will be the Judge and not the judged; when Caiaphas will stand before Him, instead of Christ standing before Caiaphas; when the Prisoner will be the Potentate; when the Despised will be the Honoured One; and when the Weak One shall come in power.
   There is no truth so prominent in the New Testament as the coming of the Lord Jesus, but of one thing we must be careful, and that is, to note the character in which He is coming. Here He says He will come as “The Son of Man,” and hence in judgment (John 5:27), and not in grace, as when He comes as our Hope (1 John 3:2-3), and Saviour (Phil. 3:20-21).
7. The Condemned Man (Mark 14:64). They condemned the Son of Man, and God the Son, as being guilty of blasphemy, and therefore worthy of death. Can we not see beneath the hatred and cruelty of the authorities who condemned Christ to death, that He was delivered for our offences (Rom. 4:25), that we might be freed from condemnation (Rom. 8:1), and be able to say, “Who is he that condemneth” (Rom. 8:34)?