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March 19, 2003
Midweek Lent
Mark 14:53-64
Pastor Ben Berger

The High Priest's Palace

Have you ever thought or said this before: "It's not fair." It's not fair that I do all my own homework and get a B or C when I know that she is cheating and getting an A. It's not fair that I give an honest 40 work week when I know that he is lazy but got the promotion. It's not fair that she eats whatever she wants and looks like that, and I look like this.

We want life to be fair, don't we? We want to be treated the same as our siblings, spouses, coworkers and the people around us. When we do something, we want to get the same reaction as everyone else. If we don't, it's not fair. We even want God to treat us fairly…right? Tonight we have the privilege of following Jesus into the High Priest's Palace. There we will see 1) an unfair trial and 2) an unfair verdict. As you watch Jesus on trial, I want you to ask yourself whether or not you really want God to be fair to you. And, I want you to think about how you will respond to God's verdict.

I. The Unfair Trial
The first verse of our text reads, "They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together." The "they" was Judas and his army of bandits that arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. As you heard in the passion reading, they first took Jesus to Annas, who used to be the high priest, and then to Caiaphas, the current high priest. The high priest was the leader of the Sanhedrin. The chief priests, elders and teachers of the law were the men of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the religious ruling council of the Jews. They weren't the government; the Romans were the government. You might call them church government with a lot of authority.

From the very beginning the Sanhedrin conducted an unfair trial. As far as we know it was even against their own laws to try someone in the middle of the night, but that's exactly what they did to Jesus. They drug him into court in the late hours of the night, away from the crowds, to do their dirty business. That wasn't even the worst part about it. The worst part was their motive. Mark clearly states, "The chief priests and whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death," (v. 55). The only reason they put Jesus on trial was to find a way, some way - any way, to kill him.

Because they didn't have any evidence to convict Jesus and sentence him to death, because he was completely innocent and had done absolutely nothing wrong, they tried to bring false witnesses against him. That didn't work because none of the false testimony agreed. They finally found two men who said something similar. They both said that Jesus claimed he could rebuild the Temple in three days if they destroyed it. Even their testimony didn't agree, but if it did, so what! You can't kill a man for making a claim. From beginning to end the trial was a farce; it was not fair.

Why did the men of the Sanhedrin hate Jesus so much that they wanted to kill him? Two reasons. First, Jesus threatened their power, their popularity, and their prestige. These men were the movers and shakers among the people. They were the leaders. Everyone looked up to them. When Jesus came onto the scene, the people stopped praising them and began talking about Jesus. They were jealous.

In addition to jealousy, unbelief led them to hate Jesus. All of their lives they had been looking for the promised Messiah. They put their faith in him and lived their lives for him. Now Jesus claimed to be that Messiah and they weren't buying it. Jesus was not the Messiah they wanted. They were looking for someone like they were, someone who followed God's law and led the people. Jesus, on the other hand, broke the Sabbath and associated with prostitutes and tax collectors, sinners and those despicable Gentiles.

Worst of all, Jesus had the gall to call them sinners. They weren't sinners. They were descendants of Abraham, followers of Moses; they kept God's law and his covenant. How dare Jesus put them in the same group as the sinners and Gentiles! How dare Jesus treat them like sinners and call them to repentance! How dare Jesus claim to be their Messiah!

Such pride led to hatred. Hatred led to wanting to kill Jesus, which led to the unfair trial. Finally, the unfair trial led to an unfair verdict.

II. The Unfair Verdict
Frustrated with the lack of testimony against Jesus, the high priest, Caiaphas, finally brings the whole question to a head. He point blank asked Jesus, "Are you the Christ?" Very simply Jesus answered, "I am." That was it. Caiaphas tore his clothes and accused Jesus of blasphemy, of claiming to be God. Forget that Jesus was God. Forget that there was no evidence to refute Jesus' claim. Forget it all. Caiaphas had already made his verdict: guilty. He then turned to the rest of the Sanhedrin and asked what they thought. They agreed, "He is worthy of death."

If ever anyone had the right to claim, "It is not fair," it was Jesus right then. How would you have reacted if you were in Jesus' place? What would you have thought? What would you have said? In a way you have been in that place before; you've probably felt like a verdict was handed down to you. And, I'm pretty sure I know how you reacted. It's not fair! It's not fair that I am always sick, constantly in the hospital, never able to find out what's wrong! It's not fair that God took away someone I love so dearly so early! It's not fair that I have to live with this family! That I have to live with myself! Why me? It's not fair!

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to live our lives with our heads lowered and our eyes down? How easily and often we think more about life on this earth than life eternal? When we are looking down, what usually happens to the blame for all of the unfair things in our lives? It goes up, doesn't it? God gets the blame.

I'd like to changer your perspective if I could. At least for the next few moments, and as long as you can, I'd like you to raise your head and your eyes to look to the heavens. I want you to think about life eternal rather than our temporary life on this earth. When we look up, what happens to the blame? Doesn't it come back down? When we look to life eternal, we have to admit that everything we suffer through on this earth is the result of sin, our sin - your sin and my sin. Let's be honest. We were born sinful into a sinful world and have been sinning since our conceptions. For that sin we only deserve one thing: eternal death - death of our bodies and of our souls. We certainly deserve whatever happens to us on this earth and worse! Do you really want God to treat you fairly? I don't think so.

So, then, keep your eyes focused on heaven. There you will see and hear God's verdict, his unfair verdict. His unfair verdict comes first to Jesus. Although Jesus was holy, pure, and blameless, tempted in every way we are yet without sin, God declared him guilty. He laid the sins of the entire world, including your sins and my sins, on Jesus' shoulders. And for those sins Jesus died and suffered through hell. Not fair!

But, because Jesus willingly suffered that unfair verdict in our place, God is able to pronounce another unfair verdict for us. Although we are guilty in every way, although we continue to sin against God and our neighbor, God declares all of us Not Guilty! Because Jesus provided the holiness God demands and took away your sins, God declares you Not Guilty! It's not fair, but it is God's verdict.

How will you respond to this unfair verdict? First, I hope you fall to your knees and repent of your sins. Admit your guilt and confess your need for a Savior. Then trust God to forgive you because he said he would and because Jesus took your verdict for you.

Then, when you have to bring your eyes back down to this earth to live in this world, remember God's unfair verdict. Surely sometime someone will sin against you. At that time you will have the wonderful chance to pronounce a Not Guilty verdict to him/her. It may not be fair, but it will be the same verdict God gave to you.

As you continue to receive God's forgiveness and to return that same forgiveness to those around you, you will be taking opportunity after opportunity to thank your God. Thank him for sending his Son to endure and suffer through an unfair trial and an unfair verdict. Thank him for the unfair verdict he has pronounced to you. And the next time you feel, "It's not fair," remember that it's not. It's not fair that God forgave your sins and declared you Not Guilty, but that's exactly what he did. Amen.