Bibles, and I hope you do, open to Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14, verse 53. Mark 14, 53. It was 16 years ago that I had my come to Jesus moment. I don't know if it was coming to faith or coming back to the faith I once walked in, but I know that 16 years ago, something radical happened in my life. There was a significant change that occurred with me. I was walking in a manner that was ungodly, the way of the world, and Jesus laid hold of my life. The God that I once turned my back on, I no longer did. The sin that I once walked with and the weight of that sin was lifted off of my back. I understood what it meant to be forgiven. Jesus became someone completely different to me. Jesus wasn't the legalistic man that I thought he was. He was my Lord, he was my Savior, he was my sin bearer, and through him I had received the forgiveness of sins. And I was walking in a very bad way at that time. And my burdens were lifted. I had hope in my heart. Joy for the first time flooded my soul. And I was so excited to tell people about this. I was just thrilled. I mean, the cage stage is true. And I should have been locked up because I was just so fired up and so full of zeal and joy. So anywhere I would go and wherever I would talk to people, I wanted to talk about Jesus. I wanted to talk about what had changed in my life. So I went to my friends. Right after this happened, and I meet up with them, and I say, guys, I gotta tell you something that's just amazing. Jesus has changed my life. And they looked at me, and they said, what are you smoking, soul? What are you on this time? Are you on one of these crazy trips that you're going on? What are you doing, man? And I said, no, you don't understand. My sins are forgiven. My life has been changed. I love Jesus. Well, I was introduced to a reality that I think we all know about and face. People will oppose Jesus. And I just want to tell them about the forgiveness of sins and how you can have it too. And how your life will be changed. There's purpose in your life. There's forgiveness. You know why you were created and it's to know your God and walk with him. And my phone stopped ringing. My longtime friends no longer became my friends. And I was struck with this reality. that no matter how lovely you tell people Jesus is, no matter how great you exalt Jesus, no matter how much you tell them of what their need is and why Jesus solves that, people will oppose Jesus. And so the question I have and I pose before us and I hopefully will be explained through this message is why? Why do people, Jesus, the perfect son of God, why do people oppose him? And hopefully this text before us will help us to make sense of that even in our world today. Let us bring us up to speed here. Where are we in Mark's gospel? Judas has betrayed Jesus. Jesus has been taken into custody. His disciples have all ran away, so he's fled. They've all fled. It's the early hours of the morning. It's Friday morning. This is Good Friday here in Mark's accounts. It's still dark. And Jesus is brought before the Sanhedrin bound as a criminal, alone, bound as a criminal. He's brought before Caiaphas. This is the high priest. They wake up Caiaphas in the middle of the night. Maybe he's already awake, but they take him to his house. Peter's traveling back in the distance behind the mob. He wants to know what's happening. He wants to know what's gonna happen to Jesus. And what we have before us here in this passage is the interrogation. I've titled this morning's message, Guilty as Charged, Truth on Trial. Follow along with me, Mark chapter 14, verse 53. 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, to cover his face and strike him, saying to him, prophesy. And the guards received him with blows. This ends the reading of the word of God. I want us to notice here, first and foremost, in verses 55 through 61, Jesus' innocence confirmed. This is what Mark's wanting to do here, and he's gonna show us how he confirms that Jesus of Nazareth is an innocent man. I want you to notice here in verse 55, it's very clear that this whole interrogation is rigged. This whole thing is rigged from the beginning. These supposed men of God here, they already have an end in mind. They want to kill this man. And so they're working backwards, how can we get him to mess up? How can we get charges to stick against him so that we can kill him? They're not trying to be faithful and understand, they just want him dead. So Jesus goes into this interrogation, the whole thing is rigged. And there are three points of failure that Mark shows us here. from this passage when they are trying to charge Jesus with a crime. I want you to notice the first one in verse 56. It is false witness. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. Here's the first problem. They couldn't keep their lies straight. They're bringing up these things. Oh, well, he did this and he did that, but they can't even agree with each other. It's hard to get sinners and liars to agree with each other, right? It's true then, it's true now. The reason why is because truth is singular. Lies and falsehood goes everywhere. There's only one truth, there are many lies. And so their first attempt at getting Jesus, getting charges to stick against them, is they bring forth false witness. Yet they can find no agreement. Not even two sinners could come up with the same fabricated lie against Jesus. So here's the first point of failure. Here's the second one. Verse 58, they come up with false words against Jesus. They said, we heard him say, I will destroy the temple. And we can pause here for a moment. Jesus never said that. There's no account of that written in Mark whatsoever. Now he privately told his disciples on the Mount of Olives that the temple will be destroyed in a future date, that's going to happen, but he didn't say that he was gonna destroy it. What they're doing here is they are taking his words, they're twisting them, and they're ripping them out of context. Well, that happens today all the time, doesn't it? So they take a phrase that he might have said, twist it, and then construct this whole bogus claim against him. Now, John clarifies in chapter two of his gospel, verse 19, that Jesus says to the crowds, destroy this temple, okay, destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days. He doesn't say I will destroy this temple. And John makes it clear, he's not talking about Herod's temple with the stones, he's talking about himself. Chapter two, verse 21 of John's gospel, he was speaking about his body. So they misunderstand him. So they try to bring charges against him. False witness, false words. I want you to see here in this account, they're throwing everything that they have at Jesus. They are leveling everything that they have. This is their opportunity. We have him bound. We have him in custody. We have him in the interrogation. He's not leaving here alive. So false words, false witness. Yet look again, verse 59. Mark just wants to hammer this home for us. Yet even about this, their testimony did not agree. They can't keep the story straight. Mark is emphatically declaring the innocence of Jesus of Nazareth, of any and all crimes. But why are they doing this, we ask? Well, they have to uphold the law. Although these are wicked men who are bloodthirsty, they're still bound to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 17, six tells us on the evidence of two or three witnesses, the one who is to die shall be put to death, but a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. And they couldn't even get two people to say the same story. As they're putting truth on trial, they're coming up lacking. So at this point, this whole clown show of a trial, of a interrogation, it's going south fast. They're getting desperate. They can't get any charges to stick against Jesus. This thing is turning into a circus now. And they're on the brink of failing what they're seeking to accomplish. And I want you to see here the third point of failure in verse 60. and it's deafening silence. So from false witness to false words to deafening silence. It's as though the high priest is getting frustrated and he says, do you have any answer to make? Do you hear these charges that are being leveled against you? What do you have to say for yourself, Jesus? And we see here from this text, he remained silent and made no answer. Jesus knows what he's doing here in this moment. Let the vindictive and the liars and the haters and the sinners just keep talking. The more they talk, the more Jesus' innocence rises to the surface. The high priest here is trying to bait Jesus now. Let's get him to talk. Let's get him to try to incriminate himself through speech. Let's get him to argue. Let's get him to disagree. Brothers and sisters, it's true then as it's true now. It's usually the guilty that talk too much. and Jesus will not sink down to their level. He remains silent, dethrowing all these falsehoods and accusations against him, and he stands there, bound as a criminal, and just looks dead in the face, and says nothing. I'm reminded of a passage of scripture that my mother used to share with me often growing up. Proverbs 26, four, answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Jesus is not gonna be like them and answer them in their folly. Oh, does this not reminisce to Isaiah 53, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, so he opened not his mouth. There's a lesson here I want us to see concerning the way Jesus conducts himself with these people. As Christians, we see this as an example for how we are to conduct our lives. Brothers and sisters, do not compromise your integrity or your character because of weak, sinful, evil people around you. Jesus will not seek to impugn himself, he will not go to their level. Though they act wicked all around him, he remains steadfast, even under trial. And just as Jesus' innocence here in this passage is confirmed, we too are to live lives that are above reproach. We are to conduct ourselves in a manner that is blameless before the world. You know, some years ago, there was this infomercial that was circulating. I don't know if you're familiar with the Gotham Steel pans, these Teflon pans. They advertised them as the nonstick pans, and they got the loud guy late at night, and he's selling you these pans on TV. And they were awesome, at least that's what I thought they were. I got sucked into this. So I'm watching this guy sell these pans, nonstick pans. And you know what they can do? He's like putting cheese in it. Have you ever cooked cheese in a pan? It's like sticky and stuff. This guy's cooking all kinds of stuff. Nothing sticks. He's flipping his eggs around all the time. And I was like, we got to get one of these. This is amazing. Everything sticks in my house. And so as time goes on, and then Marley jumps in on it, and she's like talking about the Teflon pans. We gotta get the Gotham Steel, Dad. So one day, just randomly, we're walking through Walmart, and there they are. There's the Gotham Steel pan. And I was like, we gotta get one of these. We don't have it anymore, I think it's nasty, but we got, so I got sucked in, and I bought the pan. And I was so happy to go home, and Kate's looking at me sideways, like what are you doing? We got pans. Why am I telling you about Gotham steel pans now? Where does this connect? It doesn't stick. And here's the point. All the charges that were being brought up against Jesus never stuck. It's as though Jesus was the Teflon man. Although they wanted to bring things up against him, they don't stick. So when we talk about being innocent or blameless as Christians, it's not perfection. No, no, no, we aren't perfect people, but the charges don't stick. We need to be like those Teflon pans, Teflon men, Teflon women, as we are honest in our dealings, we are honest even in our repentance, we are honest when we sin, we are honest when we fail, but we treat and we conduct ourselves in a manner of life that is above reproach. That's what it means, because our life is characterized in such a way that when false accusations are brought up against us, they are completely contrary to our character. They won't stick. Matthew chapter 10, be innocent as doves. 1 Peter chapter 2, let your conduct be honorable among the Gentiles. Ephesians chapter 4, give no opportunity to the devil. The Gotham steel pans stink. Because after a while, they just, the chemicals, you don't get them. We threw it away. But for a while, it didn't stick. No, we need to make that characteristic of our lives. As followers of Jesus, we are called to live innocent, holy, godly, upright lives. And when we fail, we model what it looks like to confess and repent. Imperfect, but still to be Teflon men, Teflon women. Let me ask you, are there charges that could stick against you this day? Could two find agreement against you this day? If so, then I would exhort you that you need to deal with that honestly before the Lord. Nothing sticks to Jesus. So Mark here in this first section of this passage, he confirms the innocence of Jesus, but he is guilty of one thing, which we'll see here. Look at verse 61. Jesus remains silent before the high priests. Seeing that they're getting nowhere, they failed three times. It's as though in absolute frustration, the high priest throws his hands up, he gets up from his seated position and he looks at him and he just can't contain it anymore. Tell me then, are you the Christ? Are you the son of the blessed? Where would this question come from? Oh, you've heard the rumblings around Jerusalem the past week. We've heard it said about you, Jesus, son of David. We know what that means. You know these have messianic overtones. Yes, we saw you ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. Zachariah prophesied that. We know what you're saying. We've heard even the rumblings among the people, the common people. They're saying stuff like you are the Christ. So what is it, Jesus? Are you him? Are you he? Are you the one? Are you the anointed of God? And then they ask that question, are you the son of God? I want you to understand here the significance of this question that is asked. It is placed right here in chapter 14 towards the conclusion of Mark's gospel because this is the summit of Mark's gospel. This is the high point, this is the high Christology of Mark. Remember, up until this point, Peter made a confession, demons have made confessions, but Jesus has this kind of secrecy motif that's gone through Mark until now. In this moment, the God-man rips the veil back, and he's standing before the high priest. So this is the summit of the gospel of Mark right here. J.C. Ryle comments, on this passage and says this, the high priest receives an emphatic reply. He was silent to the charges, but he wasn't gonna be silent to this question. And notice with me what Jesus says. Verse 62, I am. I am. This is Exodus three. Who shall I say sent me, Moses says to the burning bush. And he says, tell them I am sent you. And Jesus is connecting to there, to here, and he's saying, I am. Concealed through shadows and types. Promises throughout the Old Testament for thousands of years. People have been praying for this very person. For the coming of this one. And they've been looking at every generation. Is it now? Is this the time? And they're inquiring and they're wondering when the time of the Messiah would come. And now he stands face-to-face. Jesus is standing face-to-face with the most powerful man in Judaism, and he says, I am. Now there's a point of great theological significance that needs to be made right here. In Jesus' statement of here that I am the Christ, the son of the blessed, understand this, that the church did not make Jesus the Christ. This is something that liberal theologians like to believe. That somewhere down the line in church history, the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith, they tended to make them together. But they're separate people. That's liberal theology, it's bad. It's not true. It's not even true according to Jesus. What we need to understand and see here, especially a young person, to be influenced by some of the talking heads in the world today, understand this, that the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith is one and the same person. And it is by his own declaration that that is true, that Christ is not an invention of the church to unify under Constantine. The truth of the matter is that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, because he claims it. It's as though he says to the high priest, I am he, guilty as charged. But that's not all. He's remained silent. He's heard three accusations against him, and now he's about to give three points in his explanation of being the Christ. It's as though in this moment here, Jesus is answering the question. We see Jesus flexing now. R.T. France calls it defiant authority. Notice Jesus' response. He has laid hold to the claim of deity. He has laid hold to the claim and the title of Messiah. and he gives them three realities, three realities of Jesus the Messiah. He says, you will see, what he means by that is you will realize something that you aren't seeing right now, you are going to see this. You will realize and understand what I'm about to say to you. You will see the Son of Man. Now to the Jewish hearer, they know what this means. This is Daniel chapter seven, the one who stands before the ancient of days, who receives all authority in heaven and on earth. And so when Jesus uses this title and says, you will see the son of man, he is laying claim that he rules. He's saying, I rule, not just that. So he rules, you will see the son of man, but where will you see the son of man? seated at the right hand of power. This is the exaltation of Christ. This is Philippians chapter two, therefore God is highly exalted on him and bestowed on him the name that is above all names, so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He's saying I rule and I reign. And he finishes this statement, coming with the clouds of heaven. Brothers and sisters, he's the rider on the white horse. This is Revelation chapter 19, where he is called faithful and true. He has a name that is written on his robe and on his thigh, King of kings and Lord of lords. So in this statement, he is saying, I am the Christ, I rule, I reign, and I will return. Oh, this is a glorious promise to all of us. This is scary for them who are receiving it, who oppose him. And the irony in this entire scene right now is that the most powerful man in Judaism is face to face with the most powerful man in the universe. This is Jesus, the one through whom all worlds were created, spoke galaxies into being, formed in fashion man from dust, who upholds the universe by the word of his power. For from him and through him and to him are all things. I am he. I am the Christ, he says. He lays hold of the claim. He lays hold of the title. He lays hold of the throne. In this singular statement that he gives here, this one sentence, he says, I am God's son. I am the anointed one. I will reign, I will rule, and I will return. And we know the glorious truth of how the story ends. When he returns, he is bringing with him the new heavens and the new earth, and every eye will see him. A terror for some, glory and redemption and final salvation for others. So, as Jesus lays out this statement before the high priest, he places a fork in the road. And there's a fork in the road right now before all of us, as there were to him. What will you do with what he has said? There are two directions that everyone goes in at this moment. Mark has brought us there, and there are these two directions. There is submission and belief. There is rebellion and unbelief. Why do so many people oppose Jesus? Why was it when I was Seeking to just share with my friends what God has been doing in my life. Talking to them about the most lovely, beautiful, gracious person I've ever met in my life. Why do they reject him? Why do they push back against him? Because it's this, and here's the reason. Because they have to step off their thrones. And they have to make room for another. Because in order to receive, to believe, to trust, to submit to Christ, he must reign on the throne. Because they rebelled because of unbelief. It's the reason why everyone, when it reduces all the way down to it, it's the reason why everyone opposes Jesus and will not come. It's because of unbelief. All manner of sin will be forgiven. There is one that cannot be forgiven, and that is unbelief. We see it here. How did these, the Sanhedrin, how did the high priest respond? How did this council respond to Jesus? Notice with me in verses 63 through 65. And the high priest tore his garments and said, what further witnesses do we need? Shouldn't we expect them to fall down before the God man and worship him? We've made a terrible mistake here. No, instead they harden their hearts in rebellion and unbelief. They reject Jesus. They charged him with blasphemy. Verse 64, you've heard his blasphemy. Not because he claimed to be Messiah, but because he claimed to be the son of God. They could not stomach this. They could not dare to even comprehend or entertain the thought of the Messiah being the son of God and that they are standing before him. No. What Jesus does when he says that I am the son of the blessed, he's claimed the rights and quality of God and they do not believe him. So what's the result? Verse 64, they all condemned him as deserving death. They got what they wanted. We're gonna charge him with blasphemy because he claims to be the Christ, the Son of God. Guilty as charged. So as the curtain closes, even on this scene right here in Mark, what we see is the perfect son of God condemned by his creation, spit on by the very saliva he gave them, beat with the very hands that he fashioned, mocked with the mouths that were created for praise, all because they refused to believe in him. So here stands Jesus of Nazareth. So they spit on him, they covered his face, they struck him, saying, prophesy, and the guards received him with blows. Here is Jesus of Nazareth, very God of very God, suffering under the hands of his own creation, innocent of all crimes, guilty of being God's son, unjustly condemned. I want you to behold this king and all his beauty. So let me ask you, what about us? What about you? How are you responding to Jesus today? Since you are here today, I have good news for you. And it's what we call the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, innocent of all crimes. He was tempted in every way like us, yet without sin, walked upon this earth, lived in perfect obedience to obey every command, every law, every statute, every precept of the Word of God. By virtue of him doing this, it puts him in a category unlike any other. There's only ever been one who kept God's covenant. There's only ever been one perfect law keeper, and his name is Jesus. The innocent one. Guilty of only being God's son, this one goes to the cross unjustly condemned. And there, friends, I want you to understand, there on the cross, he bears the penalty for sinners. There on the cross, he bears the shame, the sin of the guilty, so that they whom he dies for do not bear their penalty. Here's the irony of the gospel. The innocent one is treated by God as the guilty, so that the guilty could be treated as innocent. That is the glorious truth. That God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Or to say it another way, for Christ's sake, God made us who are guilty to be counted as innocent so that in Jesus he would be the savior of all. And as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, on behalf of Jesus, I extend to you his invitation this morning, which is come. Come, he says. Come with all your burdens. Come with your sin. Come with your brokenness. Come with your failures. Bring your shame. Bring your fears and come and lay them down before Christ at the cross. He can and will bear them. Jesus gave his life to redeem and forgive all manner of sin. You are not without hope. You are not too far gone. You have not rejected Jesus too many times. The free offer of the gospel is for you. So let me ask you, how are you responding to Jesus? My prayer for you, beloved, is that it would be with a soft heart. Not like these wicked men who rebelled in unbelief. Oh, but cast yourself at his mercy and at his grace. Lay yourself down before the foot of the cross. And with faith lay hold of the promise of salvation, the forgiveness of sins through his life, death, and resurrection. Jesus' invitation is come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Will you come? Will you believe? Will you turn from your sins and lay hold of Christ by faith and there find forgiveness? Understand this, in Christ, your life is forgiven. Christ forgives your past, your present makes sense, and your future is sure because of the promise which he accomplished in his redemption of salvation for all who will believe. Jesus gives hope to the hopeless. And for us who are trusting in Christ, believer here, May the reminder of this gospel soften your heart to the love that Jesus has for you. We cannot grasp the magnitude of Jesus's love for us. You will be lost in that holy amazement all the days of your life. Dwell there. Find your joy in pondering the love of Jesus for you, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is now seated at the right hand of God. May this also be this passage an example for how we are to conduct our lives. As we look to Jesus in the face of trial, as we look to Jesus in his opposition that he faced. Brothers and sisters, our lives too are to be marked by innocence in our conduct. People often oppose Jesus. Let us not be the reason why. We do not need to add a further stumbling block. If we are to be guilty, let us be guilty of being followers of Jesus Christ. So if asked by others, are you a follower of Christ, we can say yes we are. Yes we are. and that my hope and that my confidence rests in this reality, that he rules, that he reigns, and he is returning. It would be fitting to close our message with a quote from Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon said, quote, the clouds are the dust of his feet. He shall come with clouds and they who have dared to reject him shall look upon him and wail because of him. Let us bow before him now with reverent adoration for one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And we now get to sing of his praises. you