Law, if it is to be just, demands evidence of wrongdoing.  Here we have the best brains of the Jewish civil service and seventy-two of the top religious academics - on the horns of a dilemma.  They had arrested a man who did no wrong, with no evidence - except that nobody could point to any fault in Him (John 18:38).  How could the banner holders of truth do such a thing?  They had no more interest in truth than the Roman Governor, Pilate (John 18:38).  Despite their religion they were not interested in upholding the honour of the God of truth and faithful promise-keeping (Psalm 31:5 – words used by Jesus in His last breath, “Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.”)

The false witnesses who were put under cross examination demonstrated that their statements were contradictory and worthless.  Presumably there were more bounty-hunters willing to sell their souls to satisfy their greed, or to gain corrupt approval (Proverbs 30:8).  But the more stooges they brought into the witness box, the more obvious their lies.  That is because lies have no resting place in truth; they chase themselves around in circles, until they fall over like dizzy children.

You may ask why the prosecutors did not look at all the evidence for Jesus being the Messiah, the anointed Son of God.  Mark has presented us with much of it in this gospel.  But they did not want objective truth or justice.  They simply wanted Jesus out of the way so that they could continue to have their own way (John 15:25).  If they had found fault with Him, they would have the satisfaction of knowing that justice was being done.  But they were not looking for justice: they wanted Jesus dead (John 19:15).  They hated Him, because His righteousness was impenetrable and exposed their own unrighteousness (John 3:19).

How these verses show the darkness of the self-obsessed heart.  And that was why Jesus chose to die - so that proud-hearted people might have a just release from their self-slavery, the wanderer might return to a Father's welcome (Luke 15:24) and the spiritually blind, see.  He died, the just for the unjust so that He might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).  Today, gospel men and women are still subjected to hateful prejudice ... just because they love Jesus (2 Timothy 3:12).  But don't forget that Jesus died for their persecutors too!  So, don't back down from Jesus when the going gets tough - He is the only hope for those who taunt you (Romans 1:16).  If you are a gospel person, a sinner saved is far more important than avoiding suffering (1 Corinthians 9:22-23).  That was Jesus' attitude, and our example (Philippians 2:4-11).