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Sound & Season is a daily audio devotional designed to connect the routine moments of life to the rhythms of the Church seasons.
This is Sound and Season. It's Maundy Thursday, 38th day of Lent. Our passage today comes from the gospel of Mark chapter 14 verses 53 through 72. And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests, and the elders, and the scribes came together.
Jeffrey Heine: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 3 days I will build another not made with hands. Yet even about this their testimony did not agree.
Jeffrey Heine: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.
Jeffrey Heine: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 garment and said, what further witnesses 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 strike him saying, prophesy, and the guards received him with blows. As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of 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.
Jeffrey Heine: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 3 times. And he broke down, and wept. This is the word of the Lord.
Jeffrey Heine:Thanks be to God. Jesus is being tried by his accusers. They called his answers lies, and condemned the truth as blasphemy. These leaders, the rulers of the house of Israel began to spit on the face and strike the face of God. The 4th century theologian Saint Hilary wrote, if you will not learn who Christ is from those who receive him, at least learn from those who rejected him.
Jeffrey Heine:The ironic confession his adversaries were inadvertently forced to make stands as reproof of their mockery. His accusers did not recognize Christ when he came bodily, yet they had grasped firmly that the true Christ must be the Son of God. Thus, when the false witnesses whom they had hired against him did not score any blows, the priest interrogated him. Are you the Christ, the son of the most high God? They did not realize that the mystery was already being fulfilled in him, but they did ironically recognize that the divine nature was the condition of its fulfillment.
Jeffrey Heine:They did not question the assumption that Christ would be the Son of God, they only asked whether he indeed was the Christ, the Son of God. They were mistaken about the person, but not about the Son of God. They had no doubt that Christ would be the Son of God. So while they asked whether he indeed was the Christ, they did so without denying that the Christ is the Son of God. Lord, hear our prayer and let our cry come to you.
Jeffrey Heine:Let us pray. O God, you have delivered us from the dominion of sin and death and brought us into the kingdom of your son. We pray that as by His death He has called us to life, so by His love may he raise us to eternal joy. This Lent, O Spirit, renew the joy of our salvation, so we might join with the angels and the archangels declaring together, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of your glory.
Jeffrey Heine:O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.