Focus:
kjv@Revelation:14:12 @ Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
(
FaithOfJesus thread begun by r
RandyP )
Today's Verse:
kjv@Mark:14:53-65
kjv@Mark:14:53 @ And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes.
kjv@Mark:14:54 @ And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire.
kjv@Mark:14:55 @ And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none.
kjv@Mark:14:56 @ For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.
kjv@Mark:14:57 @ And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying,
kjv@Mark:14:58 @ We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.
kjv@Mark:14:59 @ But neither so did their witness agree together.
kjv@Mark:14:60 @ And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
kjv@Mark:14:61 @ But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
kjv@Mark:14:62 @ And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
kjv@Mark:14:63 @ Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?
kjv@Mark:14:64 @ Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.
kjv@Mark:14:65 @ And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.
Today's notes:
Context:
- Before - as against a thief
- After - cock crow twice.. deny me thrice
Key Concepts:
sl[kjv@Hebrews:9:11-24]
What is God's righteousness observed doing?:
- Putting Son Jesus through the mockery of man's trial so as to prove the condition of man's heart.
- Revealing man's judgment before revealing HIS.
What does this tell us about God's righteousness?:
- Man first and foremost condemns Jesus on the claim of who He is. It is seen as His offence and not theirs. Man wants to disprove the claim, but there is no consistent evidence; the case has to be made from falsified testimony that they themselves have set out to collect. Man believes that they are in the seat of judgment and not Jesus. The way for the Father to reveal this is to momentarily make it seem that they themselves are in the seat of judgment, to show how they'd go about it, to show the extremes to which they would go to execute their judgment even though the authority is not fully in their hands.
- Man's judgment is revealed first so as to show it in it's clearest form. The form will take many divergent forms as it branches out, but always stems from the most basic root. God's judgment will be revealed in two stages, the Resurrection/Ascension of Jesus impossible by any other hand and the Triumphant Return of Jesus in final judgment on clouds of glory and power. The first revelation should be enough proof of Jesus' claim for all sincere and trusting hearts which is what the Father most wants. The second revelation is when it is too late for any other, the opportunity to agree to His terms is closed off. Note that the first revelation of the judgment is non-forceful pointing square on the answer out of it allowing men the time to process it, yet it is judged by man to be too passive. The second revelation of judgment is instantaneous and all encompassing, yet is judged by men as too harsh.
How is man reacting?:
- Because Jesus is God's judgment upon man, man's judgment is against Jesus. Man feels no need to be judged, especially religious man. Individually man chooses his form of religion by the form that least judges him individually. Jesus represents salvation yes, but salvation from His own judgment which man instantly confuses.
- All present voted the death sentence. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus and other known supporters were likely excluded from the late night gathering.
- Peter has followed as closely as is safe within sight of Jesus, John is present in the room as witness being known by the counsel kjv@John:18:15. The other disciples are scattered.
Notes:
Destroy temple kjv@John:2:19
God has to judge man for the sake of bringing man back in to HIS good graces where it is righteous for him to be and to have been brought back to. For all that man has done man deserves to be judged. It is by God's mercy (which is also righteous) that Son Jesus is offered as salvation. To offer it by any other means or individual choosing is unequal, discriminatory if to judge anyone else. The terms of Jesus and Jesus alone represents God giving to us terms that are most favorable to the largest numbers of possible people as a matter of HIS grace/our faith and not our meaningless gestures of religion and works. It is righteous in terms of both judgment and mercy and by HIS hand fully alleviates us from the inescapable burden of our corrupted natures that currently are at enmity with His claim and plan.
The question becomes what if Jesus had remained totally silent? would they have had enough votes to sentence Him? The answer is that the trial is not in their hands, they are the one being tried and they just purged themselves and will continue throughout. They have sentenced Him to death in reaction to His absolute truth (with some suggestion of it knowingly) and not having the power themselves must further coerce the Roman authority and the public into executing Him. Jesus is not attempting to save Himself, He is attempting to save His followers from the more certain death to come by a new and better covenant kjv@Hebrews:9:11-24.
Key Messages:
What does this say about our present condition?
- The fact that for all their power not even the high priest has the authority to execute the counsels judgment is representative of critics even today. They must seek the agreement and authority of Roman government in order for their judgment to mean anything more than words legally. They must seek coalition and confederacy to powers greater than they. Even those high powers have tremendous difficulty and strain and must seek popular support from their citizens and triangulation from blame. To put away the claims of Jesus and the effect of it upon it's believers requires great alliance, craft and propaganda which only frustrates the disbeliever but further buttresses the case of the few faithful.
- Leave it to men to take what they think that they heard, what they wanted to hear, what was convenient to hear, and condemn Jesus based on that. Leave it to other men that are so desperate to have something substantial to convict Jesus by to collect these men for testimony. Thereby failing their own purposes they are left to provoke the defendant by his right not to have to testify.
Further Resources:
Comment Board:Mark:14:53-65
index:FAITHOFJESUSDEVOTION - Devotional Index
strkjv@Mark:14:53-65 rwp@Mark:14:53-65 mhcc@Mark:14:53-65
FaithOfJesus2 - Devotion Index