I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven

 And they led Jesus away to the high priest; and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.  But Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest.  And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.  Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree.  Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.' "  But not even then did their testimony agree.  And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But He kept silent and answered nothing.  Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?"  Jesus said, "I am.  And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."  Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "What further need do we have of witnesses?  You have heard the blasphemy!  What do you think?"  And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.  Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, "Prophesy!"  And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands.

- Mark 14:53-65

On Saturday we read that immediately, while Jesus was still speaking to His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.  Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely."  As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.  And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me.  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled."  Then they forsook Him and fled.  Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body.  And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.

 And they led Jesus away to the high priest; and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes.  But Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest.  And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.  Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none.  For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree.  Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.' "  But not even then did their testimony agree.  The Gospels collectively give us a picture of things gone awry, the behavior of the leaders antithetical to the norms then established for justice.  This is a night trial, not appropriate according to the law, and held in the home of the high priest.  We also read of the many who bear false witness that are gathered against Him -- obviously deliberately brought for this purpose.   But their testimony does not agree nor make sense, owing to their misunderstanding of His words (see John 2:18-22).  These circumstances, together with the Roman soldiers and others brought together to seize Him in Gethsemane (see Saturday's reading, above), uniformly describe what would have then been considered unseemly low behavior and conditions, conforming to no standard.

 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, "Do You answer nothing?  What is it these men testify against You?"  But He kept silent and answered nothing.  Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?"  Jesus said, "I am.  And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "What further need do we have of witnesses?  You have heard the blasphemy!  What do you think?"  And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.  Jesus uses the words "I am" to reply to the high priest.  In Greek it is ego eimi, and it is the divine Name of God (Exodus 3:14).  My study bible says that its use indicates a theophany, a revelation of God.   The use of this Name by a human being was considered blasphemy and punishable by death (Leviticus 24:16; see John 8:58).   Because Christ is fully human and fully God, His use of the Name is not blasphemy; rather He is revealing His unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  My study bible notes that it is only in Mark that we find such a direct answer by Jesus.  To sit at the right hand of the Power means to share authority with the Father.  By his response, we know that it is clearly understood by the high priest to be a claim of equality by God.

Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, "Prophesy!"  And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands.  Again, the Gospel gives us the picture of abusive, unjust, and corrupt treatment.

The picture of injustice in the Gospels is clear.  The men who try Jesus do so with the collaboration of the Romans, bringing mercenaries to seize Jesus.  Christ is given a trial that does not conform to standards of the Mosaic Law (and apparently neither does the particular behavior of the high priest; see Leviticus 21:10).  What we are given is a picture of men given over to frustration and rage at Christ, so that they violate the Law they are meant to uphold by their positions of responsibility.  So troublesome is His criticism and the fact that He has many followers among the people that He must simply be stopped, crushed.  He has challenged the authority of those in power on too many occasions.  But overall it is important that we understand themes of human injustice and corruption.  Christ has preached throughout His ministry about judging with good or righteous judgment (John 7:24).  He preached that we should love our enemies, even to "bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven" (see Matthew 5:43-48).  The Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount describe the aspects that make our inner condition blessed; they are all attributes of peace as part and parcel of righteousness.  They describe a way to live and to be in this world that creates right relatedness.  They constitute the pathway to live a life that honors what He calls the two greatest commandments in the Law, and He describes as containing all the Law and the Prophets:  to love God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength, and to love neighbor as oneself  (Matthew 22:36-40).   Issues of true justice -- that is, righteousness and the fullness of peace as integrity of heart, are pertinent to Christianity, to what it means to be followers of Christ.  All of these teachings that Jesus gives us to remind us that real injustice begins in the heart teach us about a fullness of justice that comes from the depths of who we are.  Jesus says, when challenged by the Pharisees because His disciples do not practice a ceremonial hand-washing, that it is not what goes into the mouth that defile a person.  Rather, it is "those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" (Matthew 15:18-19).  He teaches us that issues that are driven from covetousness begin in the heart, such as adultery (Matthew 5:28).  Murder also begins in the heart with unchecked rage that wants to destroy others, embodied in the language that demeans the entirety of a person  (Matthew 5:21-22).  Jesus tells His disciples that He has not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them, and that "unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20).  So essential are matters of true depth of justice and righteousness that Jesus gives us, in fact, a way that describes how to fully live such a life.  It is a recipe that begins with the heart, and leaved no part of us unchanged.  We read here in today's reading of the tremendous injustice done to Christ; everything we read about was a violation of standards already established -- particularly under the Mosaic Law for the Jews.   The leaders fail to uphold their duties and are given instead to corruption, jealousy of position.  They do not act in a way that is strange to the world, but rather in a way all too common; they give us the ills of the human race.  St. John writes in his First Epistle:  "For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world" (1 John 2:16).  Above all, Christ gives us a recipe for true righteousness (that is, the fullness of justice) even when times are bad, things to awry, and all around us is lost to rage, lust, greed, the drive for power, and the passions that demolish justice.  Most importantly, He does not merely give us Law, but also a Helper, a Comforter -- and where One is, there is the fullness of God the Trinity.  It is with the help of grace that we are given the tools not simply to avoid suffering or injustice, but rather to transfigure it.  We are taught to carry our cross, with Him, and to participate in His life, even through crucifixion but to Resurrection, as we shall see.   For with God, all things are possible.  All too often, we hear cries for justice, but without His teaching about where it starts and how it starts -- and without the responsibility for the righteous life He asks us to live.  Let us recall whose disciples we are.  Jesus tells the high priest, "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."   It is a reminder that this is a promise for all of us.