Mark 14:53-61

Those who arrested Jesus led him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, to a meeting where the religious scholars and Jewish leaders were assembled. Now, Peter had followed him from a distance all the way to the chief priest’s courtyard. He sat with the guards and was warming himself by the fire. The chief priests and the Jewish council of leaders were doing their best to find false charges that they could bring against Jesus and condemn him to death, but they could not find any. Many false witnesses came forward, but the evidence could not be corroborated. Some came forward and testified against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I can destroy this temple made with hands and then build another one again in three days not made with hands!’ ” Yet even on this point the witnesses did not agree. Finally, the chief priest stood up in the middle of them and said to Jesus, “Have you nothing to say about these allegations? Is what they’re saying about you true?” But Jesus remained silent before them and did not answer. So the chief priest said to him, “Are you the anointed Messiah, the Son of the Blessed God?”