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Yeshua is the Most Important Man Who Ever Lived. The Most Important Man brought the world the Most Important Message, a message that must be believed for human beings, who are alienated from God and headed to Hell, not Heaven, to death, not life, to be reconciled to their Creator and live forever. And being reconciled to our Creator is our greatest need.
Everything Messiah did, everything He said, every interaction with others that has been recorded for us in the divinely inspired book of Mark, is extremely important. We want to understand as much as we can about the Most Important Man and His Most Important Message. We want to line up our thoughts and lives with the Most Important Man and His Most Important Message. We want to tell as many people as we can about this Most Important Man and His Most Important Message.
We’re getting close to the end of Messiah’s most amazing life and ministry. Everything is intensifying. Everything is building to a fantastic climax resulting in some of the most important events in history.
It’s still the first day of Passover. It’s still the first part of the first day of Passover – the night. After having observed His last Seder; eaten His last meal; drank His last wine; gave the bread and the wine new meaning about Himself and His greater redemption; after having prayed in the garden and been disappointed by His disciples, betrayed by one of His disciples and abandoned by the rest; arrested by sinners doing something wrong – after all this Yeshua is taken to the home of the high priest and put on trial. Let’s pick up the story in 14:53.
They took Yeshua to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the Torah teachers came together. Yeshua was taken to the house of the high priest, who is spiritual leader of the nation. The other religious and political leaders of the nation were there to give Yeshua a trial with a predetermined outcome. There is something very wrong about conducting a trial in the middle of the night.
All the disciples had abandoned Yeshua in His greatest time of need. One of them had second thoughts and summoned the courage to follow Yeshua. Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire. Peter, alone of all the disciples, had the courage to follow Yeshua. But his courage will not be enough to save Yeshua or prevent Peter from having another failure, a worse failure, and bringing himself additional shame.
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Yeshua so that they could put Him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against Him, but their statements did not agree. And the Torah is clear that the testimony of two or three witnesses must be provided for a conviction. Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against Him: “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
There is a connection between Yeshua and the temple. Who is Yeshua? The ultimate temple – in whom the presence of God is most clearly seen; through whom God is able to most powerfully reveal Himself to human beings; through whom atonement is most effectively provided.
With the inability of two witnesses to agree, the high priest questions Yeshua, trying to get Him to say something that could be used against Him. Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Yeshua, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against You?” But Yeshua remained silent and gave no answer.
Yeshua knew what the high priest was trying to do – to get Him to incriminate Himself, so He wisely remained silent. Yeshua is Someone who is always wiser than His opponents. None of His opponents, be they fallen angels or the shrewdest men, will ever trap Him or outmaneuver Him.
Yeshua is Someone who knew when to speak and when to be silent – a valuable skill we should learn from Him.
Again the high priest asked Him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” This was a question that Yeshua was willing to answer. It was asked by the right man – Israel’s spiritual leader and mediator, who brought Israel closer to God and brought God closer to Israel. And this question was asked before the right people – Israel’s religious and political leaders. And it was asked at the right time – at Yeshua’s trial before Israel’s leaders. This was the right moment to proclaim the truth about who He is. “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” the spiritual leader of the nation asked. “I am,” said Yeshua. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of Heaven.”
Who is Yeshua? The Messiah – the ultimate prophet, priest, king and savior. The ultimate prophet who speaks perfectly and authoritatively for God; the ultimate priest who brings us closer to God and brings God closer to us; the ultimate king who will rule Israel and the nations forever; and the savior of the world.
And Yeshua is the Son of the Blessed One – the Blessed God who is superior to all, and who, out of His fullness, wants to bless His creatures. Yeshua is the Son of the Blessed One – God the Father, sharing His Father’s divine nature, just as a human son shares the human nature of his human father.
And Yeshua is the Son of Man – fully human and the perfect human; the human who is higher than all of humanity; worthy to sit at the place of greatest honor, at the right hand of the Almighty God and with Him, rule the universe.
Yeshua is the Son of Man described by Daniel who will return to Earth and be given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.
Yeshua is that Son of Man who will, one day, be seen in His power and glory by these very same men who were putting Him on trial in order to find an excuse to kill Him.
Yeshua clearly, unmistakably, powerfully declared who He is to the leaders of the nation of Israel. And He spoke the truth.
Who is Yeshua? The fulfillment of the amazing prophecy in Isaiah 53: Someone who had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.
The leaders of Israel should have believed the Righteous One, the Faithful and True One and given their loyalty to Him. But they were far from God, far from truth, and they didn’t believe Him.
This declaration was exactly the kind of thing Yeshua’s enemies wanted. The high priest did not believe that Yeshua was the Messiah and the Son of God and considered His claims to be blasphemy, something very dishonoring to God, something he could use to convict Yeshua of a crime and have Him executed. The high priest tore his clothes (a gesture of grief for having heard God dishonored). “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned Him as worthy of death. The leadership of the Chosen People who should have known the Messiah the best and been the most loyal to Him weren’t. They did not esteem Him. They didn’t value Him for who He is. They despised and rejected Him and made the worst mistake in our history, a mistake that has the most devastating consequences for our people for almost 2,000 years; but thanks be to the mercy of God, a mistake that will one day be corrected – and may it be corrected soon. Amen?
Fallen humanity is far from God, ignorant and cruel. After the conviction and the sentence of death, comes humiliation and infliction of suffering for the Innocent One. Then some began to spit at Him; they blindfolded Him, struck Him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took Him and beat Him.
Who is Yeshua? Someone who was willing to undergo humiliation; Someone who was willing to be spit on; mocked as a false prophet; and beaten – all in order to obey the will of God and make salvation for us available.
While Yeshua is in the house of the high priest, courageously telling the truth and suffering for it, something altogether different is taking place outside with one of His disciples. While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. “You also were with that Nazarene, Yeshua,” she said. But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway. The creature-Creator relationship is the most important relationship we have. Loyalty to the Creator comes first, before anyone and anything. Yeshua is the Son of the Blessed One, and to deny Yeshua is to deny God; to dishonor Yeshua is to dishonor God. It is blasphemy and carries with it the most serious consequences. Perhaps Peter could be forgiven one denial. He was scared. He was caught off-guard. The dishonoring words blurted out of his mouth before he could think things through. But there was more than one denial.
When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, “This fellow is one of them.” Again he denied it. This second denial makes the denial deliberate and purposeful.
After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this Man you’re talking about.” This third and very strong denial makes the denial unmistakable and intentional. Peter has denied his Rabbi, his Messiah, his Lord, his King.
Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Yeshua had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown Me three times.” Yeshua was right. He knew Peter better than Peter knew himself. He knew Peter was not as spiritually strong as he could be; he was overconfident in who he was and in his abilities; overconfident about his commitment to and loyalty to Yeshua. Even though Peter thought it impossible, Yeshua knew Peter would deny Him three times before that day was over – and it happened, exactly as Yeshua predicted. Yeshua is never wrong.
Who is Yeshua? A true prophet. One who knows us better than we know ourselves. Someone we should believe when He tells us something about ourselves or something about the future.
After hearing the rooster crow and remembering the words of his Rabbi, Peter realizes how foolish he has been; how arrogant; how weak; how disloyal he has been to Yeshua; how much he has dishonored God. And he broke down and wept – indicting genuine remorse, which is part of true repentance.
Who is Yeshua? Someone who will graciously forgive Peter, even though Peter sinned a great sin; Someone who will restore Peter and help him become the great leader he will become, a leader who will never deny Him again.
Someone who will graciously forgive our sins, our hubris, our arrogance, our foolishness – if we show genuine remorse and repentance, like Peter.
It’s still the first day of Passover. After having observed His last Seder; eaten His last meal; drank His last wine; gave the bread and the wine new meaning about Himself and His greater redemption; having prayed in the garden and been disappointed by His disciples, betrayed by one of His disciples and abandoned by the rest; arrested by sinners doing something wrong; tried before the Jewish leaders and condemned to death for speaking the truth – that He is the Messiah and the Son of God; after being beaten and humiliated, Mark tells us that very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the Torah teachers and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans – plans which included the execution of Yeshua. Since the Jewish nation was under the authority of Rome and the Jewish leaders didn’t have the right to execute criminals, they decided to turn Yeshua over to the Romans for execution. The plan was to accuse Yeshua of claiming to be a king. No one proclaimed himself a king without the permission of Caesar. If a person did, he was a rebel and could be executed. So they bound Yeshua, led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate.
The Roman governor wanted to hear from the accused if the charges against Him were true. “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“You have said so,” Yeshua replied – a very shrewd answer indicating He is the king of the Jews, but He is not actively proclaiming His kingship in defiance of Rome. Yeshua is always wiser than His opponents. None of His opponents, be they a fallen angel or the shrewdest man, will ever trap Him or outmaneuver Him.
Who is Yeshua? The king of the Jews. So, if a Jewish person understands who Yeshua is and becomes loyal to the king of the Jews, is that person no longer Jewish? Of course he is! He is more Jewish than ever! He is a loyal Jewish subject of the king of the Jews! And what are Christians, but subjects of the king of the Jews? You don’t like that? Being a subject of a Jewish king? Go find some other Messiah to follow. Round one goes to Yeshua.
Round two begins: The chief priests accused Him of many things. So again Pilate asked Him, “Aren’t You going to answer? See how many things they are accusing You of.” But Yeshua still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. Pilate was amazed because most people when accused lose their composure and say something to defend themselves – but not Yeshua. He didn’t lose His composure and wisely remained silent in order not to incriminate Himself. Yeshua is Someone who knew when to speak and when to be silent.
Who is Yeshua? The One who fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 53 about the suffering Messiah who is silent while being unfairly treated and headed to execution: He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.
Round two goes to Yeshua. Round three begins: Pilate knows that Yeshua is no threat to Rome and is being falsely accused by the Jewish leaders who are motivated by self-interest, not by justice. So, the governor tries a maneuver to release an innocent man. Now it was the custom at the holiday to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did. “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Yeshua over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead – which reveals that the crowd was far from God and easy to manipulate. How could they not be far from God when preferring an accomplis to murder over a good and innocent man?
“What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them. Maybe he hoped the crowd would ask for Yeshua to be released along with Barabbas and Pilate could make an exception and release two men that year.
“Crucify Him!” they shouted – revealing their spiritual depravity and their cruelty.
“Why? What crime has He committed?” asked Pilate – knowing Yeshua was innocent and trying to reason with the crowd and change their mind so he could release Yeshua.
The crowd was stirred up and couldn’t be reasoned with. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!”
Pilate knew that Yeshua was innocent but was a man who cared more about pleasing the crowd and keeping order than justice and preserving the life of an innocent man. Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Yeshua flogged (and a Roman flogging was a very cruel, tortuous ordeal), and handed Him over to be crucified.
It wasn’t enough for the godless and cruel Romans to whip and crucify Yeshua. Between the horrendous whipping and the torture of crucifixion, they wanted to humiliate Him. The soldiers led Yeshua away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on Him (purple being the color of royalty), then, instead of a crown of precious metals and jewels they twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on Him – causing Him further pain. And they began to call out to Him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Many kings have a royal staff, so these Roman soldiers provided Yeshua with a staff, but used it to beat Him. Again and again they struck Him on the head with a staff and spit on Him. Most kings demand their subjects bow before them. These men did that too. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to Him. All of these actions were designed to ridicule this man who acknowledged being the king of the Jews. And when they had mocked Him, they took off the purple robe and put His own clothes on Him. Then they led Him out to crucify Him.
Who is Yeshua? Someone who was tried, condemned, humiliated and beaten by the people of Israel; and Someone who was tried, condemned, humiliated and beaten by the people of Rome.
Who is Yeshua? The King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Someone before whom these Roman soldiers will appear one day.
He is Someone before whom the whole world will appear one day – including all those who have mocked Him. Make sure you are not one of them.
Someone who is willing to endure this kind of suffering, pain and humiliation – to make salvation possible for His chosen ones.
So, who is Yeshua according to these parts of the 14th and 15th chapters of this divinely inspired book of Mark?
The Messiah – the ultimate prophet, priest, king and savior.
The ultimate temple of God.
The Son of the Blessed One – sharing His Father’s blessed and divine nature.
Someone who is always wiser than His opponents.
Someone who knows when to speak and when to be silent. The One who fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 53 about the suffering Messiah who is silent while being unfairly treated and headed to execution: He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.
The Son of Man – the perfect human who is higher than all of humanity; worthy to sit at the place of greatest honor, at the right hand of the Almighty God and with Him rule the universe.
Who is Yeshua? The Faithful and True One. Someone who spoke the truth, even in the most difficult circumstances. The fulfillment of the amazing prophecy in Isaiah 53: Someone who had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Who is Yeshua? A true prophet. One who knows us better than we know ourselves. Someone we should believe when He tells us something about ourselves or something about the future.
Who is Yeshua? Someone who was tried, condemned, humiliated and beaten by the people of Israel; and Someone who was tried, condemned, humiliated and beaten by the people of Rome.
Who is Yeshua? The king of the Jews. And the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Someone before whom these Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers will appear one day. Someone before whom the whole world will appear one day – including all those who have mocked Him. Make sure you are not one of them.
Someone who is willing to endure this kind of suffering, pain and humiliation – to make salvation possible for His chosen ones – which should make us want to love Him and serve Him with all our hearts, souls and might. Amen?
Who is Yeshua? Someone who will graciously forgive Peter, even though Peter sinned a great sin; Someone who will restore Peter and help him become the great leader he will become, a leader who will never deny Him again.
Someone who will graciously forgive our sins, our pride, our foolishness – if we show genuine remorse and repentance, like Peter did.
May God enable Yeshua to be all these things to us and may we respond faithfully to all that He is and become all that we should be. Amayn? Amayn!