56 Plenty of people were willing to bring in false charges, but nothing added up, and they ended up canceling each other out. 57 Then a few of them stood up and lied: 58 "We heard him say, 'I am going to tear down this Temple, built by hard labor, and in three days build another without lifting a hand.'" 59 But even they couldn't agree exactly. 60 In the middle of this, the Chief Priest stood up and asked Jesus, "What do you have to say to the accusation?" 61 Jesus was silent. He said nothing. The Chief Priest tried again, this time asking, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed?" 62 Jesus said, "Yes, I am, and you'll see it yourself: The Son of Man seated At the right hand of the Mighty One, Arriving on the clouds of heaven." 63 The Chief Priest lost his temper. Ripping his clothes, he yelled, "Did you hear that? After that do we need witnesses? 64 You heard the blasphemy. Are you going to stand for it?" They condemned him, one and all. The sentence: death.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Mark 14:56-64
Commentary on Mark 14:53-65
(Read Mark 14:53-65)
We have here Christ's condemnation before the great council of the Jews. Peter followed; but the high priest's fire-side was no proper place, nor his servants proper company, for Peter: it was an entrance into temptation. Great diligence was used to procure false witnesses against Jesus, yet their testimony was not equal to the charge of a capital crime, by the utmost stretch of their law. He was asked, Art thou the Son of the Blessed? that is, the Son of God. For the proof of his being the Son of God, he refers to his second coming. In these outrages we have proofs of man's enmity to God, and of God's free and unspeakable love to man.