Lesson 923

(Lesson 923)(03-21-14) Mark 14:53-72

"And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. 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. And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none. For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together. And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, 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. But neither so did their witness agree together. And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? 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? 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. Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death. 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. And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest: And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew. And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak. And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.

There are three very important elements within today's quote. First, one of the witnesses against Jesus recalled Him as having said, "I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands." Jesus did, in essence say, He would tear down the old temple and build another, "not made with hands". The old temple, referred to in this quote, represents the governance of the Law of Moses. The new temple, referred to herein, represents the Church. The reference to the three days it would take Jesus to rebuild the temple represents the three day duration of His death, burial, and resurrection. During those three fateful days, Jesus fulfilled the law of Moses and sanctified His Church, the "new" temple, and assured eternal life to all would will accept His grace.

In the second element of today's lesson Jesus relates to the high priest that He is indeed the Son of God and that all power had been given Him to sit at the right hand of God.
The third element, verifies the prophecy Jesus made concerning the fallacy of Peter's boisterous loyalty. As we read in the quote, before the rooster crowed twice, Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times.~