blessing, salvation, peace in God. Those who come before God in confession find salvation. God merciful, just, loving, quick to forgive those who come before Him. And as we continue to work through the Old Testament, we now come to Nehemiah. And here is a prayer of confession by that remnant returning generation. Nehemiah chapter 9 verses 1 through 8. Now on the 24th day of this month, the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth and with earth on their heads. And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood. and confess their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day. For another quarter of it, they made confession and worshipped the Lord their God. On the stairs of the Levites stood Yeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Buni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Cheniah, and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God, then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hespaniah, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethiah said, Stand up and bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name which is exalted above all blessing and praise. You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. And you preserve all of them. And the host of heaven worships you. You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. You found his heart faithful before you and made with him the covenant you gave to his offspring, the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite. the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Gergeshite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous. People of God, it is our righteous promise-keeping God before whom we come in prayer this morning. Let us pray. Lord, O Lord, You preserve always for yourself a people. You bring back the wandering exiles from far off lands. You break the hearts, the stony hearts of man from one generation to the next. You work in your people. You gather, you protect, you preserve, you keep. your promises. Lord God, we know what a promise is. The world functions with many promises. Promises by government officials, promises by spouses, even promises in one workplace or another. Lord, promises help this world to run. But man is never completely faithful to promise. Man errs in this way and in that way. Civil servants, families, even down to personal promises, these are all broken. These are all forgotten in one way or another, never kept perfectly, even if there is a faithfulness. Lord God, we live in a broken world. We live in a fallen world. But you are not broken. You are just. You are merciful. You are slow to anger and abounding in steadfast, covenant, promise-keeping love. Lord, hold us and establish us. Make us, as your servants, to be those who would keep promises. Promises small, promises great. Make us to do this with an eye upon you and for your glory. Lord, we think of one of your promises that there will always be seasons. And we see this even as, yes, we live in a groaning world, Not every growing season is as good as the last one. But Lord, you are bringing forth the crops. We see it again this year. This year looks to be in abundance. Lord, you are the one who holds all things in your hand. We see it in crops bringing forth bringing forth produce, we see it in our lives. We see it in a child growing older. We see it, Lord willing, in increased maturity of your saints. Hold us, guide us, direct us, always. Again, for you and to you. Lord, hold those who have been here for so many decades. Hold those such as Cal and Bernie. Pray that you would strengthen them. Give them measures of health and strength. Encourage them in this strange year. Think of others who battle, Not so much with age, but with various illnesses. We think broadly of those who suffer from chronic pains. Lord, this can take many different forms. It can affect many different parts of the body. We pray that you would strengthen those who suffer frequently from pain. We think particularly of eight years plus in battling cancer for Keith and Dee by his side. We give thanks for a good report in recent days as the up and downs of that battle continue. Lord God, be with them both and with the family as well. We pray that you would be with those who are far from us. We give thanks that Thomas is with us this morning. We pray that you would be with those who have recently traveled afar. Think of those such as Francois. Pray that he would have a good year of rest, a good year off from teaching. We think of another who travels for what may be a stressful year of teaching. We think of Megan having to teach remotely for the first semester again. Pray that you would be with her in Indonesia and that teaching work. We pray for those who serve the military. We think of Andre. Lord uphold him in Hawaii through all his various trainings. We do give thanks that he has brothers and sisters in Christ, a congregation not too far from his base where he is able to spend much time. The Lord uphold him day by day, not merely week by week. And Lord, that brings us back to, again, that you watch over all things, that you have promised there will be seasons until you come again. And indeed, there are many seasons in the lives of your saints. Be with those who are in the valleys. Encourage them. Be with those who are in the midst of a mountain of blessings. Remind them that every good gift is from you. Lord God, always directing all of us to you. This we pray in Jesus' name, amen. As we prepare to hear God's word, our text, let us stand and sing together 94B, verses one, three, five, and nine. One, two, three, five, and nine. One, two, three, five, and nine of 94B. you The rising of the proud, just what they deserve. How long will they both stand in arrogance for? Oppressing the people you take for granted. They say God will not after what they do, that He will not see the sins they pursue. The widows they murder, the motherless snare, and strangers they kill, thinking God does not care. Oh, you fools, how senseless you are, for he who made all can see near and far. Is God who first fashioned your eye and your ear unable to see you? Your justice will go on for all those who do right, and those who are upright will follow His light. The Lord is my God, invincible, strong He punishes all who perpetrate wrong Our Lord will repay them for sins they have sown But He will have mercy and love for His own Amen. We come now then to reading of God's word. Mark chapter 14 and we will read verse 53 to the end of the chapter versus 53 to 72 page 1083 and most of the pew Bibles. Mark chapter 14. Let us hear from God's Holy Word. And they led Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together, and Peter had followed Him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another not made with hands. Yet even about this, their testimony did not agree. And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you? But he remained silent and made no answer. Again, the high priest asked him, are you the Christ, the son of the blessed? And Jesus said, I am. And you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. And the high priest tore his garments and said, what further witness do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision? And they all condemned him as deserving death. And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, prophesy. And the guards received him with blows. And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls, the high priest, came. And seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, you also were with the Nazarene, Jesus. But he denied it, saying, I neither know nor understand what you mean. And he went out into the gateway. And the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, this man is one of them. But again, he denied it. And after a little while, the bystanders again said to Peter, certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean. But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, I do not know this man of whom you speak. And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. And he broke down and wept. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, there's more than one way to speak about being alone, is there not? We might think of a child who says, I'll do it myself. There's a sense of being alone, having independence, being able to accomplish something. Or we might think of someone a little older who says, I'm all by myself. And that is not quite such a joyous declaration of independence, is it? Well, there's more than one way to speak about Christ being alone. We can speak about Christ who alone accomplishes salvation. And that's what one of the five solas is about, is it not? Solus Christus. Salvation in Christ alone, one of the mottos of the Reformation. We can talk about how Jesus, when facing his trial, and certainly when upon the cross, was alone. He was alone. And so we spoke about this last week. He is alone. He is betrayed. He is abandoned. And we're continuing that in a sense. This week, Jesus is accused. He is denied. But we're also speaking about another way in which Jesus is alone. This relates to those two things, especially how God alone can accomplish salvation, but it's slightly different. We're speaking about how God alone is divine. We're speaking about the very essence of who Jesus is. Jesus stands alone. He is God incarnate. He is like no other person. who has ever walked on this earth. He is God. So it is that Jesus alone, this is our theme this morning, Jesus alone can make claims of divinity or of equality with God without committing blasphemy. And indeed Jesus does make the claim even as false accusations are swirling against him. And so we'll look first at lies, then we'll look at truth, and then we'll look at more lies. Lies, point one. Where is Jesus? He is led to the place of the high priest. It is the courtyard of the high priest's house where Peter is. He has followed Jesus, reminding us not only that he is very close to where Jesus is, but that all these things, verses 53 to 65 and then 66 to 72, these things are all happening at the same time. And so Jesus is now standing, he is in the place of the high priest, to Matthew chapter 26, we read that his name is Caiaphas, and they're coming with an insidious purpose. It's clear reading through these verses, isn't it, that there's no desire for justice. And we can think about this, they need witnesses. They need multiple witnesses. The Levitical law spells that out. You need multiple witnesses to condemn someone to death, to condemn someone of committing a capital crime. You need multiple witnesses. Well, they try to get all kinds of witnesses. Where did they come from? They seized Jesus at night and they've had these witnesses come at night. This was all set up. This was all prepared. That's the only way this could be. They have witnesses come in at night and give shady and dark testimony which cannot line up. They are clearly not concerned about justice. All they want to do is condemn Jesus to death. They don't care if they have a right to condemn him or not. They are determined to do it. That's clear in Mark, it's spelled out explicitly in Matthew chapter 26 where in verse 59 we read this, now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death. They didn't care if it was false witness, they just wanted Jesus dead. No concern for justice and so they operate at night and this is This is something that we see again and again in history, right? Usually, if there is a courtroom setting, well, if you compare a courtroom setting at night with shady witnesses coming in under the cover of darkness versus a courtroom setting during the day, well, there's already a difference there, right? I mean, even the courtroom in the day can have problems, but Even the very setting is showing us the shadiness of what is going on here. The wrongness of what is going on here. The very insidious purpose which is clear. No desire for justice. Only a desire to put Christ to death. And in typical pharisaical fashion, they're going to try to hold to the political law as much as purpose. So we're going to try to have multiple witnesses. We're going to try that. It's not going to work. Their testimony is going to contradict one another. It's going to be clear they are false witnesses brought in for the purpose of bearing false testimony. And that's something which is always true about lies, isn't it? It's harder to lie than to tell the truth. You're going to be caught in your lies because it's harder to tell a consistent lie than to tell the simple truth. And that's what we have here. Although these characters are so shady that even when they try to witness about something that Jesus really did say, even then they cannot be consistent. And that's what we say when they're talking about the verses 58 and 59. He said, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands. In three days, I'll build another not made with hands. And yet, even about this, verse 59, their testimony did not agree. Even about this? Even about what? Well, John chapter 2 reminds us that Jesus really did say this. John chapter 2. Verse 19, John chapter 2 verse 19, Jesus answered them, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. And the Jews said, it has taken 46 years to build this temple and you will raise it up in three days? But he was speaking about the temple of his body. So even about this, even about something that Jesus really did say, the witnesses cannot get it straight. They cannot agree. There are false witnesses brought in for the very purpose of bearing false testimony. They are failing miserably. So what is the high priest gonna do? He's like, well, I'm trying to remember Leviticus 24, Deuteronomy 17, that we need multiple witnesses to put someone to death, but this isn't working. I'm gonna have to step in myself, won't I? Caiaphas, the longest ruling high priest. Of all the high priests between 150 years before Christ and decades after Christ, he's the one who held the office the longest. What is Caiaphas going to do? Well, he's going to step in. He's going to ask a question Jesus has to answer. Of course, Jesus is not giving an answer to these worthless accusations. Why should he speak? The witnesses are showing their own falsehood. So Caiaphas will attempt to trap Jesus one more time, even as they attempted to trap Jesus so many times. Do you see what is going on here? God is being put on trial. That's what they're doing. They're putting God on trial. It's not going very well. This is the only time in the history of the world, seizing Christ under the cover of darkness, bringing false witnesses against Him, that man could ever try to do this, because this is a time when Jesus was incarnate, when He was walking upon the earth. But you know, there are many times when we try to put God on trial, don't we? When we try to sit in the seat of judgment and say, God, you're the defendant. And I'm gonna judge who you are, what you've done. You see, this was a real trial. Jesus really was dragged out at night. Jesus really was asked these questions. And trials against God are still attempted all the time. What do those trials look like? God, I don't like what has happened or is happening in my life. So clearly, you are not holy, righteous, loving. I sit in the judgment seat and I look at what you have done. I put you on trial. I find you guilty of not giving me the life that I want. It is true. The psalmist reminds us that we can cry out to God and say, I do not understand, but we can never look up to God and say, God, I judge. We can say, God, I do not understand. We cannot say, God, I judge. God, I judge that you could not be a loving God and fill in the blank. This is putting God on trial. It is to be like the false witnesses of the night. It is to be like Caiaphas. Other ways to do this. God, I don't like your laws. They restrict me. I would rather love sin in the world than love your law in the church. Who are you to decide what's right and wrong for me to do in the 21st century? I will put you and your laws to the test, the test of what I want to follow and not follow. In other words, I will be the judge of my life and I will do what I want. We cannot put God on trial. We cannot put God on trial through the difficulties and the pains of what we see in this world. We cannot put God on trial because we love sin. We cannot put God on trial for any reason. Now we can read the book of Isaiah where there's a picture of a courtroom constantly in view in Isaiah. What does God say? He says, come, let us reason together. Don't stand on your own and judge me. Listen to me. Reason together, and I will show you that I am just, that I am loving, that I am slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. We can say, I do not understand, but we can never say, God, I judge you. So the direct question comes now from Caiaphas, and this brings us into our second point. End of verse 61. Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? Now what is blasphemy? Blasphemy is something which requires the death penalty. Political law spells this out. Blasphemy is to dishonor the name of God in any way. Cursing, taking God's name in vain, these are forms of blasphemy. Another form of blasphemy is to claim to be God or to claim to have equality with God, right? Because you're dishonoring God. You're dragging God's name down to your level. It's blasphemy. is blasphemy. God is not on your level. There is a great chasm between God and man. God is infinite. We are finite. We are made in the image of God. We are finite creatures. God is eternal. God. And so, since the Christ, the anointed one of God, is equal with God, to claim to be Christ To claim to be equal with God, to claim to be God, have some kind of divine authority in any way, if you are not God, is blasphemy. And so the high priest says, well I will ask him this question. Because he's claimed to be the Christ, hasn't he? And when he says, I am Christ, then I can say, look, you're putting yourself on an equal footing with God. That's blasphemy. I can put you to death. But of course, Jesus is God. Jesus can accomplish salvation of your souls, which you cannot accomplish. can claim to be equal with God because he is God. It's blasphemy for you to say this. It is blasphemy for me to say this. It is truth for Christ to say this. It would be blasphemy for Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, who is Emmanuel, who is God with us, who is the Christ, who is the anointed one. It would be blasphemy for him to answer it in any other way. And so now to this direct question, not to those worthless false witnesses, but to this direct question, Jesus will speak. Now his silence will be broken. He has been silent before the shearers. He has been silent before the mockers and, oh, lying lips. This is part of the trial of our Lord and Savior. We cannot say his trial was only nails piercing his skin and thorns upon his head and lashes upon his back. It is also a trial to stand and hear lies. And God on earth has stood before all the lies, the worthless lies of men under the shade of darkness. He has heard them all. He has been silent because they are worthless. They are not worth responding to. But to this direct question, Jesus will speak. And what does he say to this direct question? He says, I am. And, and I'm the son of man. Who's the son of man? The Son of Man is the one who comes, what in dominion and authority upon all the earth. What is he saying? Caiaphas, you're the high priest. You've ruled longer than any other high priest, and you think that you can stand here and condemn me to death, but who am I? I am the judge of all the earth, and I will come again in glory, and I will judge all, including you, including every king, including every judge, including every high priest. Jesus Christ is leaving Caiaphas without excuse because of course Caiaphas knows what Daniel chapter 7 is speaking about. But he is blind to it. He is blind to the fact that he is trying to judge the judge. And so when Jesus speaks, we see the truth. When Jesus speaks, we are reminded on no uncertain terms that he is the judge of all the earth will come again in power and glory upon the clouds and sit at the right hand of the ancient of days because he is equal with God. He is the son of God. He is God. But the high priest is blind to the truth and in twisted joy, because the whole purpose of this night charade was to be able to find an excuse to condemn Jesus to death. And so in twisted joy, in what's supposed to be a sign of sorrow, he tears his clothes. Oh, how could you blaspheme? He's not sorrowful. This is the entire purpose of this night meeting. There is no true sorrow and repentance or anything the like. It is twisted joy. I'm going to tear my clothes. Look, there's blasphemy. Let's condemn him to death. What a worthless action. a fake gesture of sorrow which accords with the fake trial and a false condemnation. The only truth is what comes out of the mouth of Jesus. He is mocked, he is spit at. Luke 22 specifies what they're saying. They've got him blindfolded and they're saying, prophesy, who struck you? Oh, you're the son of God, you should be able to tell who's striking you and spitting at you and pulling at your beard, as it says in Isaiah chapter 50. But now again, It's all worthless. And so Christ again is silent. He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. Who is this one? He is the innocent one. And so taking that in other words from Isaiah 53, And remembering this night, the Apostle Peter would later say in 1 Peter 2, verses 21 to 23, for to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you and examples that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was there deceit found in his mouth. He was innocent, yet, verse 23, when he was reviled, he did not revile in return. That's when Jesus is silent. Worthless reviling deserves no response. The only time Jesus will open his mouth is to answer the direct question about who he is. And he is the judge of all the earth. He is the judge of Caiaphas. He is the judge of each one here and everyone who has lived in every time and every place in between and going forward until that day when he comes again on those clouds of glory. But of course, it's not only the world that delights to put God on a false trial, that delights to lie. By placing the denial of Peter here, we are reminded again that we too are sinners. We too are prone to lie. We too can only have salvation in Jesus Christ. Of course, Peter knew who the Nazarene Jesus was. It is a lie to say, I neither know nor understand what you mean. Plain language, plain question. The one Peter has followed here, the one Peter has known for three years, he lies. He's asked again. He lies again. He's asked again. They say, certainly you are a Galilean. You're sitting here in the court of the high priest where there's no other Galileans. Your speech is giving you away. You are one of them. No, now I'm going to invoke a curse upon myself. I'm even going to swear. Which, by the way, is a form of blasphemy. God alone is the judge of all the earth. God alone. is the one who saves. Peter, the representative of the disciples, sinner. You and I, sinners. We have a tendency to put God on trial, and when we ourselves are put on trial, we are found also to be liars and sinners. once, twice, three times, and then he wept, and then he wept. Let our sins drive us to weeping. Let our sins drive us to our need of that one God, that one Judge, who is also the one Solus Christus Savior. If we deny, God is gracious. He will forgive the backslider. He will go again 16 verse 7, Go tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. Why is Peter spelled out in Mark 16? Because it's a reminder that the one who has been spelled out as a picture, a reminder that we too are liars and sinners. We weep before Jesus. He bore all this. He bore all the lying. He bore all the accusations. He bore The cross itself for sinners who would look to Him, depend upon Him, know that life is in Him alone. People of God, let us pray.