saying I am". The high priest tears at his clothes and declares that this statement is blasphemy and asks everyone what they think. Blasphemy is defined in Leviticus 24:10-16. They all condemn him and spit on him and then blindfold him and punch him and mock him, telling him to prophesy. The guards then take him and beat him. Jesus has predicted all this will happen so Mark might be using this ironically to have Jesus condemned as a false prophet at the same moment his prophecies are coming true (Brown et al. 627) Mark states the entire group condemned Jesus, but states in 15:43 that Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the council, was perhaps a secret disciple and took possession of Jesus' body. Did he condemn Jesus as well? Luke 23:51 states that he did not. Jesus finally declaring he is the Son of God at the moment it is used to condemn him shows the centrality of the Passion to Jesus' status as messiah. (Kilgallen 274) During this trial and the next, Jesus hardly gives any defense at all except his proclamations he is the messiah and the Son of God and the King of the Jews. Many have seen a link with this and Isaiah 53:7. He gives a short defense and a different less direct declaration of being the messiah in John. The main accusations against Jesus center around the Temple, not Jesus' disagreements with Jewish law. Many scholars believe that it was the incident in the Temple in Mark 11:12-18 that initiated the governmental action against Jesus. Peter's denials Peter is in the courtyard below. According to John he was there with another unnamed disciple. One of the high priest's servant girls walks by him and says that Peter too had been with Jesus. He says he does not know what she is talking about. According to John he denied he knew Jesus to her to gain entry to the courtyard. He walks away to the entryway but she yells to those around him that he is one of Jesus' followers, which he denies. The people around him seem to know he is from Galilee and assume he's with Jesus and start to curse him. According to Matthew, they recognized his accent. He denies knowing Jesus a third time as he hears the second crowing of a rooster. Peter remembers what Jesus had told