During His ministry, many witnesses attested to Christ’s compassionate works and selfless motives. Despite several attempts to build a fictitious case against Him, the religious authorities could not succeed. Being guiltless, Jesus never displayed a defensive attitude nor evidence of His innocence. Only when asked a direct question did He provide evidence of His true identity as the Son of God. Read the trial transcript carefully to see how the false testimony falls apart and the truth is manipulated to create charges against Jesus. This is an excellent example of the totalitarian’s claim: “show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.”
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Mark 14:55–64
Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none. For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree.
Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.’” But not even then did their testimony agree.
And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?” But He kept silent and answered nothing.
Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?”
And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.
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Israel’s religious and political leaders wanted to rid themselves of Jesus, so they tried every means possible to convict Him of a crime. They paid an informant from among Jesus’ own followers, but he returned their money and declared the Lord innocent (Mark 14:43–46; Matthew 27:3–5). They orchestrated an armed mob to intimidate Jesus, but He kept His cool and restrained His followers (Matthew 26:51–54.). The leaders even presented witnesses to testify against Him, but the witnesses perjured themselves and contradicted each other (Mark 14:55, 56).
People tried to convict Jesus of the crime of blasphemy for which they lacked a shred of evidence. They failed because Jesus lived His life in plain sight. Even His own testimony was not self-incriminating because it was true! For every false accusation lodged against Him, there were countless examples demonstrating His love and moral perfection.
This is an example of how we ought to respond to false accusations, as well. ““Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12 NKJV)
We are called to be His disciples — disciplined followers of the Messiah. Just as He silently responded to false accusations, so should we.
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Mark opened his gospel with a short claim about Christ’s true identity: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1)
The rest of his gospel is a series of eyewitness statements reported to Mark or personally observed by him. Notice the difference between the false testimony offered during the trial of Jesus in contrast to Mark’s accurate, defensible reports. His writings rise to the level of legal proof, meeting the test required in a court of law. This is yet another example that Jesus was blameless…never breaking Mosaic or Roman law.
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