Mark 14:53-59

They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders, and legal experts gathered. Peter followed him from a distance, right into the high priest’s courtyard. He was sitting with the guards, warming himself by the fire. The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they couldn’t find any. Many brought false testimony against him, but they contradicted each other. Some stood to offer false witness against him, saying, “We heard him saying, ‘I will destroy this temple, constructed by humans, and within three days I will build another, one not made by humans.’” But their testimonies didn’t agree even on this point.

Mark 14:53-59, Common English Bible (c) 2011

 

As I read and re-read this text I keep coming back to the lies.  One group goes looking for a crime committed by Jesus.  They have been watching and waiting for him to slip up; some have tried to trick him or trap him into teaching against the rules.  But it has not happened so they get a few folks to come in with a made-up tale.   Once we human beings make up our minds, we sometimes do not have enough sense nor enough humility to change our thinking.  We begin to believe the lies we have been telling.

Another thing about lies is that they are hard to keep consistent – especially if two or more people are trying to corroborate a phony story.  The details will vary with each telling; the sequence will change inexplicably.   Besides that, rarely do two people tell a true story the same way.  Eye witness accounts of the same event are often at odds with each other.   As individuals with unique experiences in life, we do not hear or see or notice the same things at any given time.  It is something to remember as we wander through life.

-Teressa Clark, 2012

Lenten Reflections 2019:  Following Jesus from the Mount of Olives to the Tomb ~ Day 32