Mark 14:55-59 55Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, and they found none. 56For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony were not in agreement. 57And some stood up and gave false witness against him, saying, 58“We heard him saying, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another not made with hands.’” 59And not even in this was their testimony consistent.
The chief priests had some integrity to at least find people who could testify against Jesus. The question is why they did this. There are two more obvious possibilities. One was because of the presence of the Romans who would not let the Jews take things into their own hands and execute someone (John 18:31-32). The Jews had to have a good case against someone, such as an obvious crime. They needed to build such a case against Jesus, whom they knew had done nothing wrong except challenge their authority. A second motive was because of the general crowds who liked Jesus (Mark 12:12). The Sanhedrin had to do things quickly and behind closed doors lest they created a riot that could lead to rebellion, which the Romans would respond to and crush, thus leading to political problems for the Jewish leaders.
The key word in this section is testimony or witness (martyrian), which occurs seven time in various forms. The key issue that the Jewish leaders felt could condemn Jesus was testimony about what he said. Many of these leaders had heard Jesus teach in the temple courts, but the Sanhedrin consisted of seventy-one members, and not all had been present. The chief priest had to do these proceedings carefully and corporately because they’re perceived Jesus’ authority and popularity. According to the Jewish Mishnah (later recorded teachings of the rabbis recorded in AD 200), there were many inconsistencies in how the Sanhedrin went about Jesus’ trial, including having it at night, during a festival and before the Sabbath, holding the meeting at the chief priest’s house, and calling false witnesses. They were basically breaking all their rules to get rid of Jesus. Their facade of integrity becomes apparent in how they went about this trial.
Mark does not record where the false witnesses came from, whether from the members of the Sanhedrin who were present when Jesus preached in the temple (more likely), or outsiders brought in for just this occasion. Either they did not pay attention to what Jesus said, or they deliberately changed their testimony in order to condemn him. The imperfect verb tense (ongoing activity) of seeking in verse 55 shows their efforts to pin down Jesus with a false accusation. The witnesses could not agree, which created a conundrum for the council because according to the Law (Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15), at least two witnesses need to agree in order to execute someone. They had no clear and valid reason to kill Jesus because the truth spoke for itself. They could never disagree with his teachings (12:34).
What must have really made the Sanhedrin angry was the testimony about Jesus saying he would tear down the temple and rebuild it in three days. Mark does not record Jesus saying this, though he may have said something like this when he was teaching in the temple courts. John records Jesus saying this in 2:19-22. The temple refurbished and rebuilt by Herod the Great was one of the ancient wonders and impressed everyone. It was still being completed built at that time. The Jews took any threat to the temple very seriously, as indicated in the past experience of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:7-24).
The disciples would later come to realize that he was referring to his physical body through resurrection and how the church was an extension of this new temple (John 2:21–22; Acts 4:10–11; 1 Corinthians 3:11, 16; 1 Peter 2:4–8). Second Samuel 7:12–14 connects the building of the temple with the Messiah. The scribes in the group may have picked up this connection and noticed the implied messianic claims. In the end, they could not find any testimony to pin Jesus down with, which likely made them even angrier and frustrated. They had an opportunity to connect the dots but failed again out of their prejudices and efforts to keep their power.
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