Shalom and welcome to Veahavta Israel, a Hebrew phrase which means you shall love Israel. We hope you’ll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher, Dr. Baruch, shares his expository teaching from the Bible. Dr. Baruch is the Senior Lecturer at the Zera Avraham Institute based in Israel. Although all courses are taught in Hebrew at the Institute, Dr. Baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in English. To find out more about our work in Israel, please visit us on the web at LoveIsrael.org. That’s one word, LoveIsrael.org. Now here’s Baruch with today’s lesson.

Dr. Baruch:

If you are like most people, you’d like to be in control. You like to be the one that give the orders and manage everything, especially in those things that are related to your life, because you want things to happen just like you want them to happen. Now, that’s true for most people, but that’s not true for the Lord of Lords, and I’m speaking about Messiah Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth. We have seen in His arrest how He submitted, He did not try to manage things. He simply trusted His heavenly Father. And that’s a good message for us, that we need to be obedient to the word of God, obedient to the will of God, but not trying to control things, leaving the results to Him.

Dr. Baruch:

Take out your Bible and look with me to the Book of Mark and chapter 14. Now, we saw last week, not only was Messiah arrested, but a trial began before the Sanhedrin, that is, the ruling council in Israel. And we also saw that they had an agenda. Now, according to the rules of the Sanhedrin, their protocol, their only desire was justice. But here we see that they began to seek out witnesses with a purpose, witnesses that would speak against Him for the purpose of putting Him to death. That was their objective. And we saw how they sought witnesses, kosher witnesses, that is, those who could testify before the Sanhedrin, and they found none. So they allowed false witnesses, that is, people who were not allowed to testify. They broke their protocol. And in the end, even though these false witnesses spoke, their testimony did not agree. In other words, things were not going as the leadership wanted.

Dr. Baruch:

And it was with this in mind that we begin our study today, as I said, Mark’s Gospel, chapter 14, and look with me to verse 60, because we’re going to see that Caiaphas, the high priest, he begins to take things into his own hands, to manage them in order to accomplish his desire, but not necessarily what justice would demand. Verse 60, “And the high priest, he stood up in the midst.” And the context here is, in the midst of the Sanhedrin, he took over the leadership role for the trial. And notice what he does. He speaks to Messiah. Verse 60, “And the high priest stood up in the midst and he asked Yeshua saying, ‘You do not answer anything what these testify against you?'”

Dr. Baruch:

And we read in the next verse, verse 61, that He remained silent and He responded, He did not answer anything. Now, just like today within the court systems in the United States, one who is accused does not have to provide any testimony whatsoever. He can remain silent. And so true, according to the protocol of the Sanhedrin. So it was really out of the ordinary for the high priest to take over things, but let to question the person who was accused in order that he would give testimony.

Dr. Baruch:

So we see one violation after another, but what’s interesting is what the high priest asked Messiah. He says to Yeshua, look again at verse 61, he says, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Now, that is an important statement, because that’s really at the heart of this entire book. Who is Yeshua ma Nazarat, that is, Jesus of Nazareth? Is he indeed the Messiah? And more than that, we see something so important in this verse. We see a proper understanding of the Messiah. This high priest, who was an expert in Jewish law, an expert in the scriptures, he understood something. He understood the divinity of Messiah, because he says, “Not just are you Messiah,” but he says, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” And of course, that term [Hebrew 00:00:05:32], that means the Blessed One, referring to God.

Dr. Baruch:

Now, here’s the key that I want you to see. I want you to see, even though Yeshua remains silent, when He was asked this question, He responded. And why is that important? Well, we have His own testimony that He said in a very clear manner, not only was He the Messiah, but also the Son of God, that is, His divinity. And there’s going to be something more. He just didn’t say yes, but He answered in a very unique manner. Look again at our verse, verse 61. Messiah says, “I Am.” Now, why is that important? He says, “I Am.” Look again, actually verse 62, Yeshua said, “I Am.” We’ve talked about in our earlier studies of this Book of Mark that that term “I Am” in Greek is a way of referencing something that is written a little bit differently in the Old Testament, referring to the identity of God.

Dr. Baruch:

Very similar, you’ll recall when Moshe Rabbenu, that is, Moses, when he asked God, “Who shall I say is sending me?” God says, in English, “I Am.” So Messiah wants to emphasize. He answers that way in order to make a clear reference to His divinity. And just in case that was lost by anyone, notice how He continues to speak. He simply didn’t say, “I Am,” but He continues and say, “And you,” and this is in the plural. So here the change from first person or second person to the plural, the third person, is significant. Why? Because He’s not just speaking to the high priest, but He’s speaking to all people, especially those who are going to be present in the last days, because they’re going to be the ones that actually witnesses what He’s referring to.

Dr. Baruch:

So look again at verse 62. He not only says, “I am,” but also, “You shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the Powerful One.” Now, here again, He uses these terms because they’re so important understanding His identity and why He was sent into this world. Now, that citation, if you have a good Bible, in the margin or down below, it’s going to give a scriptural citation. And that citation is from the Book of Daniel 7:13. And I want us to understand how it’s used in its original context, so that we can understand what Messiah is saying and revealing to us, to the Sanhedrin, to that high priest. That passage in Daniel 7 is when the Messiah comes, and He comes in the clouds of heaven. That’s important.

Dr. Baruch:

Now, oftentimes we hear that and we interpret it as it’s alluded to in the Book of Revelation 1:7, where that same scripture from Daniel is referenced. It’s as though He’s coming from the clouds to earth. Now, he’s going to do that, but in its original context, that’s not what’s being emphasized. What’s being emphasized is that He’s coming into the clouds of heaven. Why? To present Himself before the Ancient of Days. Who’s that? God the Father. And in the next verse, we read that He is going to inherit. And that’s one of the reasons why the term “son” is mentioned here, because a son is an heir. So He’s going to inherit, the scripture says, the same passage from Daniel 7:14, He is going to inherit glory and honor, and He’s going to be worshiped by all peoples, nations, tongues, languages, and so forth.

Dr. Baruch:

So He’s quoting a very well-known scripture that speaks to the divinity of Messiah, who He is and what He has come to do. So it’s very important He says, “I Am, and you shall see the Son of Man from the right hand of the Powerful One coming,” and here’s the key, “with the clouds of heaven.” Now, look at the response of the high priest. Verse 63, “But the high priest, he ripped his cloak and said, ‘What further need do we have for testimony?'” Now, that’s the truth. All this verse does is to speak concerning Messiah’s identity, that is, Yeshua is the Messiah. But what is he going to do? The high priest is going to manipulate the situation and say that this is an example of blasphemy, because He has claimed to be God, that is, the Messiah, and He’s not.

Dr. Baruch:

But here’s the problem. There are biblical characteristics of Messiah. Let me say it another way. There are certain things that Messiah, according to the prophets, that Messiah is going to do. For example, He’s going to raise the dead. Well, Yeshua had done that. He is going to cleanse the lepers. Well, He had done that. He is going to cause the blind to see. Well, He had done that. In fact, many of the prophetic indicators of who Messiah will be, Yeshua has already completed. He’s done that. Only those things which relate to the second coming, those things He has yet to do, but He will complete perfectly each one.

Dr. Baruch:

Now, that leads us to the difference between our faith, a faith that’s rooted in the scriptures, both the Old and the New Covenants, and Judaism. Now, what do I mean by that? Well, Judaism of course believes in a Messiah, but today they have denied that divinity of Messiah, a change. They also focus on not just one Messiah, but two Messiahs. What’s the difference? Well, we believe in a divine Messiah, that God took on human flesh. He humbled Himself and entered into this world, becoming a man. Secondly, we believe that there’s certain things Messiah needs to do and has done when He came the first time. But instead of being two Messiahs, we only believe in one, but He will come at two distinct periods and do two distinct works.

Dr. Baruch:

So the high priest, he simply, he didn’t investigate this testimony to see if there was any merit to the fact that Yeshua said, “I’m Messiah, I am the Son of the Living God, and I’m going to be the one that you see coming in the clouds.” Rather, when he heard this, look at verse 63, he simply tore his garment, a sign of being in shock, a sign of regret, meaning that blasphemy was made. And he says, “What further need do we have for testimony?” Verse 64, “For you have heard the blasphemy.” And then he asks, “What is shown to you?”

Dr. Baruch:

Now, that is an idiom. What he’s saying here, the high priest, he’s addressing the full Sanhedrin, and he says, basically, “Based upon this testimony, how do you see it? What is manifested from all the testimony that you’ve heard?” And what did they do? Well, notice how unique the word of God is. It uses a conjunction. Oftentimes it’s probably translated as “and,” as in verse 64, “And they all condemned Him.” But really, that word should be translated “but.” It’s that word which shows a conflict, a contradiction. What it tells us here is that their decision to condemn Him to death was in conflict. It did not agree with the evidence provided, with the truth of the testimony.

Dr. Baruch:

But notice what it says at the end, verse 64. “And when they heard this, the high priest, he says, ‘How do you see things?’ And they all answered that He needs to die.” Well, what I want to emphasize to you is one aspect that’s true in this verse, and that is, Messiah needed to die, because what He was referring to in this passage, why He came into this world, why He ascended up to Jerusalem for Passover. Remember what we learned about Passover in our beginning of the study in Mark 14. Passover is synonymous with death, so we’re seeing here that He had to die. But the leadership, they did not obey God’s will, they did not see the truth, and they were not acting in a just manner. But He did need to die, not from their standpoint, but in order to be the Redeemer.

Dr. Baruch:

Move on to verse 65. Now, after this verdict, so to speak, that the Sanhedrin all in one unity said, “He needs to die,” notice what happened. Verse 65, “And certain ones began to spit upon Him and they covered His face and they struck Him, saying to Him, ‘Prophesy.’ And the servants,” these are the servants of the high priest, they would have been Gentile Roman soldiers that were assigned to the Sanhedrin and the high priest, “they began to literally lift up their hand against Him.” Now, what I want you to see is this. All that’s written in verse 65, it appears there in order to inform the reader of something that’s very important. All of this were violations of the protocol of the Sanhedrin, spitting on people, striking them in the manner they did, bringing terror. Why do I say bringing terror? Covering someone, putting a bag over their head so they cannot see, and then hitting them is a very fearful thing. You can’t brace yourself. You don’t know when the next blow is coming.

Dr. Baruch:

So all of this was forms of torture and abuse and humiliation, and it all was forbidden by the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin had five things that they could do. First of all, they could exert a fine, what’s called in Hebrew a [Hebrew 00:16:53], on someone, that they would have to pay money. Secondly, they could put that person in jail for a period of time until he settled things or until they believed that the punishment had been met. The third thing they could do was excommunication, cause the person to be thrown out of the community and out of the land of Israel. There were two physical punishments that they could do. One was called [Hebrew 00:17:21], which means that they could beat them with clubs, but in a certain manner. And the fifth and final thing that they could do was to put the death sentence, which would have been carried out by stoning. Only those things.

Dr. Baruch:

But if you check the protocol of the Sanhedrin, they always had to treat the individual on trial with the utmost respect, in order to show in a public manner that it was not personal. They did not have any animosity from a personal way against this individual. So to spit on them, to torture them, to do any of the things that we read about in verse 65, it was a violation. The fact that they allowed it was a violation of the protocol. And what is being loudly taught to us in this passage by Mark is how, to what extreme, the Sanhedrin did not follow their own rules, and therefore justice was not obtained. But the outcome of death, well, that’s what Messiah came into this world to do.

Dr. Baruch:

Let’s move on to verse 66. Now, for the rest of this chapter, there’s going to be a focus on one man, and that’s Peter, the individual that set himself apart from all the other disciples. When Messiah says, “They’re going to strike Me and the sheep,” that is, the disciples, “they’re going to scatter,” Peter was the one, the first one, the loudest one to say, “Well, they may do so, but not me.” In fact, he says, “I’m ready, I’m committed, even if it should mean that I would have to die with You.” He’s speaking to Yeshua personally. “I’m willing to die with You.” So up until this time, Peter, although he scattered at the beginning, he came back, he was at this location, but he had no connection with Messiah Yeshua. He wasn’t sitting with Him. In fact, he was far removed from Yeshua.

Dr. Baruch:

Why do I say that? Well, look on to verse 66, “And Peter was down below in the courtyard,” meaning when all of this was going on, he was not near Yeshua. He wasn’t with Him and sharing in that suffering. He wasn’t trying to stop them from doing anything. This was against. Why didn’t he speak up and said, “This activity, this behavior is forbidden”? Where was he? Well, he was in the courtyard, for he had done something. Notice what it says, “For during this time there came one of the servants of the high priest,” verse 66. Now, that’s important. Verse 66 tells us that a maidservant, a young woman who served the high priest. Why is that important? Because she could take information to the high priest. She knew that the high priest, the entire Sanhedrin, was set. They were set against Messiah and this movement, the disciples. And therefore she could have taken information.

Dr. Baruch:

So she comes and presents herself before Peter. Look at verse 67. We read, “And seeing Peter… ” And what was he doing there? Well, he wasn’t thinking about Messiah. He wasn’t focusing in on that suffering, that torture that he was going through, being beaten and such, but he was warming himself, as we saw, with the very ones who had arrested Messiah. And we read in verse 67 that she cast her eyes upon him and says, “You are with,” and don’t miss this, “You are with Yeshua the Nazarene.”

Dr. Baruch:

Now, it’s very important that we pause for a moment and we understand that term “Nazarene.” Now, many people will want to say that Yeshua, He’s a Nazarene, meaning that He had taken this commitment, this vow upon Himself, as we read about in Numbers 6. That is not the case. This word is not the word for the Nazarite vow that we read about in that passage from the Book of Numbers, but rather it is a reference to His hometown, the city of Nazareth. It is not saying that He’s a Nazarene under that vow, but He’s from the city of Nazareth. And why is that important? Because of the meaning of that word. The term “Nazarat” in Hebrew, “Nazareth” in English, it is a word that means to guard oneself, to keep oneself from sin. And what is being emphasized is that Messiah, this one who is being shamed, humiliated, spat upon, beaten, this one has kept himself from sin.

Dr. Baruch:

This is how the world responds to holiness. Earlier on today, I was speaking to another group and we were speaking about King Hezekiah. And during the first year of his administration, he saw how far away removed the people were for the things of God, from worshiping Him. And in the same way, we see in this passage how far they are from knowing the truth and responding to it. So she says to Peter, “You know, you’re one of them. You were with the Nazarite,” that is, Yeshua. And verse 68, that same word to show a contradiction, he lies. He begins, it says, “He denied, saying, “I do not know what you are speaking of. I don’t comprehend what you’re speaking of.” He says it in two ways: I don’t know, and I don’t comprehend what you’re speaking. A denial, the first denial.

Dr. Baruch:

And what happens? Well, look at what it says. As he begins to do this in verse 68, he goes outside to the outer courtyard. Now, it’s literally probably a reception area for someone who wants to go into the inner courtyard. And he goes out into this location, and notice what it says, verse 68, “And the rooster crows.” Now, Messiah had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you’re going to deny Me.” And he had just done the first time and the first sound of the crowing. And notice, he didn’t put any significance on that whatsoever. Why? Well, it’s hard to remember the words of God, it’s hard to remember the teachings of Messiah when we’re all consumed with ourself.

Dr. Baruch:

Move on to the next verse, verse 69. “And a young maidservant, seeing him, began again to say to those who were standing, ‘This one is from them,'” meaning the disciples. But again, that word that shows a contradiction. “But again, he denied. And yet a little further,” that means a little bit more time, “again, those who were standing there said to Peter, ‘Truly.'” Now, that is a term which means tell the truth, we’re interested in the facts. So they say, “Truly you are from them, for you are a Galilean.” And one scripture, that is, one tech says, “for your speech, your accent gives you away.”

Dr. Baruch:

And what happens? Look at verse 71, “But he began” to do two things. “He began to curse,” that ought not be done by a man of God, “curse them.” And then secondly, he took an oath to strengthen that claim. And what was that claim? Notice how he refers to Yeshua here. He says, “I swear that I do not know this man whom you are even speaking of.” It’s like he’s saying, “Not only do I not know this individual, I don’t even know any of the things that’s going on at this time, things that are happening in Jerusalem regarding Yeshua.” Now, that’s how far he fell away from that proclamation that he was going to be faithful, that all others might deny Him, but he would never do so.

Dr. Baruch:

And no sooner did he do that, than the third time. What happens? That third denial, and the rooster crowed the second time. Look at verse 72, “And immediately the second time the rooster crowed, and he remembered,” that is, Peter remembered, “the word which Yeshua had spoken to him, that before the rooster crows twice, three times you will deny Me.” And what happens? Well, he goes out and he begins to utterly burst out in tears, knowing that he failed.

Dr. Baruch:

Now, I want to close with this. All of this is to tell us, in the same way Messiah was at hand to accomplish His work the first time, and the disciples, they blew it. Peter, the one who was the closest, the one who understood things the best, he also failed. Why? Because he was not prayerfully prepared for what was going to take place. And this 14th chapter comes after chapter 13, speaking about the last days, because equally when Messiah returns that second time to accomplish His work, it’s to tell us if we’re not prayerfully prepared, if we’re not discerning what’s going on, the prophetic truth, we are going to fail our Messiah, our Savior. We are going to deny Yeshua. And remember what the scripture says. If we are ashamed of Him, He’ll be ashamed of us.

Announcer:

Well, we hope you will benefit from today’s message and share it with others. Please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of LoveIsrael.org. Again, to find out more about us, please visit our website, LoveIsrael.org. There you will find articles and numerous other lectures by Baruch. These teachings are in video form. You may download them or watch them in streaming video. Until next week, may the Lord bless you in our Messiah Yeshua, that is, Jesus, as you walk with Him. Shalom from Israel.