“53 They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes convened. 54 Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the high priests courtyard. He was sitting with the temple police, warming himself by the fire.

55 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but they could find none. 56 For many were giving false testimony against Him, but the testimonies did not agree. 57 Some stood up and were giving false testimony against Him, stating, 58 ‘We heard Him say, I will demolish this sanctuary made by human hands, and in three days I will build another not made by hands.’ 59 Yet their testimony did not agree even on this.

60 Then the high priest stood up before them all and questioned Jesus, ‘Don’t You have an answer to what these men are testifying against You?’ 61 But He kept silent and did not answer anything. Again the high priest questioned Him, ‘Are You the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’

62 ‘I am,’ said Jesus, ‘and all of you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.’

63 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, ‘Why do we still need witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy! What is your decision?’

And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. 65 Then some began to spit on Him, to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, saying, ‘Prophesy!’ The temple police also took Him and slapped Him.”

Mark 14:53-65

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When someone is already convinced of something before they even begin investigating, it makes it almost impossible to find out the truth. The only thing that could have taken their minds and brought it around would have been an appearance of a legion of  angels and a theophanic confirmation that peeled the roof off the meeting hall. And even then, some might have doubted. 

When someone is hard-hearted, there is no getting through to them. Try as you might, they have silenced the voice of God enough that there is no chance of them hearing from Him simply because you point out their spiritual deafness. It is sad and painful to watch, and Jesus received no joy from this conversation. These 72 men in the Sanhedrin are the one group of people in all of Israel who should have known better, who should have understood the evidence laid out before them. But their hearts were hard and their love was cold. They were spiritually blind, spiritually dead. 

This is one of the most painful things to experience, when we look someone in the eye who truly knows better but is outright refusing to acknowledge the truth. They have rejected God’s will for their own, their selfish pride putting blinders on their heart. They have chosen their own course, and no one can tell them any differently. For that time, they have been resigned to their own sin and selfishness. Romans 1 talks about people who have rejected God in order to do their own thing, and it’s not a pretty picture. But it’s not impossible to come back from. I’ve seen it happen time and again. Prodigal children, sleeping around, getting into drugs, choosing homosexual lifestyles only to shake their heads one morning, wipe the spiritual crud out of their eyes and have their hearts awaken. 

Usually this is because a team of people who love them have continued to be open and honest with them, bluntly speaking love to them and teaming up to pray for them relentlessly. They encounter God and are given an opportunity to see where they stand. It doesn’t always happen, as much as I wish it did, but when it does, it is a glorious homecoming!

These men who gathered to condemn Christ in this illegal nighttime gathering were not in a place to hear the truth, although not everyone in the Sanhedrin was hard-hearted. A few had been listening, one visited with Him at night to ask questions, others were told they were not far from the Kingdom of God, but they did not take part in this kangaroo court. 

When we GoLove people, we must be consistent in how we live and speak. Our example may be the only bit of Jesus they ever see. For others, our consistency and love may be the only thing keeping a foot in the door of their hearts. But we can never back down from the truth. We must continue to boldly speak it, in love, to them so that the message of God is loud and clear. This requires wisdom, tact and grace in our words. Pray over your meetings before they begin, lift up your friend/relative/loved one before you speak the first word to them, and make sure that you are rooted firmly in the Word yourself, and not operating from sinful, human opinion.