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. Mark 14:55-59

The religious leaders were desperately looking for any evidence they could use against Jesus to legally put him to death, however they couldn’t find anything. Many false statements and accusations were made against Jesus, however none of their stories would line up. Finally one tried to quote Jesus by saying “I will destroy this temple in 3 days” , now we know that this is a reference to John 2:19 “Destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days”

Obviously the religious leaders had no idea what Jesus was talking about, they took Christ’s statement out of context and twisted it to fit their agenda, does that sound familiar? We know that Jesus was prophesying about his own resurrection, Jesus was referring to his own physical body not the physical temple

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. Mark 14:60-62

Finally the religious leaders just ask Jesus straight out, “Are you the Messiah”? Jesus makes it clear by saying “I AM”, notice the reference to the Great I AM statement by God in Exodus 3. Jesus makes 7 “I AM” statements throughout the gospel of John demonstrating his deity

Jesus adds further that he is The Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Father, coming in the clouds! This is an obvious reference to Daniel 7, the religious leaders knew exactly what Jesus was talking about, he is the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecies

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. Mark 14:63-65

The amazing thing is, even after Jesus revealed his deity to them, the religious leaders rejected all the evidence and sentenced him to death! The religious leaders killed their own Messiah! Just as Jesus predicted they would do in the Parable of the Wicked Tenants

All of this was to fulfill the mission that Jesus came to do, to do for the sins of the world. The time was coming for the Lamb of God to be the atonement for our sins, to be the suffering servant, to bear our curse on the tree, Amen!