‘Now the chief priests and the whole council sought witness against Jesus to bring about his death, and did not find it. For many bore false witness against him, and their witness did not agree together. And there stood up certain and bore false witness against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands'.” And not even so did their witness agree together.'
It is clear from this how tied they found their hands. They had to obtain external testimony from independent witnesses if they were to condemn Him. And try as they would the independent witness of two agreeing together was not forthcoming (Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15). As witness after witness was introduced independently one after the other, none agreed with the other with regard to any charge that mattered. That they were false witnesses does not mean that the Sanhedrin had put up false witnesses deliberately. They were false witnesses because what they testified about Jesus was, as Mark knew, not wholly true. This is clear evidence that reasonably correct procedures were being followed, and had to be, because it was demanded by many of those present. Not all would allow justice to be swept aside. Note how there is a division into two by the phrase ‘their witness did not agree together' in Mark 14:56 and its equivalent in Mark 14:59. These parallel the first two approaches to Peter in Mark 14:67-70.
Where the witnesses came from is an interesting question. The fact that they were available serves to demonstrate that the case had been at least partly prepared some time before. Or it may simply be that they had been hurriedly obtained from among those present and from among officials and servants of the High Priest.
We are only actually told one of the charges, seemingly one remembered by the person who provided the information about the examination (it could have been a member of the Sanhedrin, or an interested witness among others who attended the hearing such as disciples of the scribes). And that was that Jesus had said He would destroy the present Temple and in three days raise one up made without hands. Such a statement that He would destroy the temple would indeed probably have been looked on as blasphemy in itself, and the idea that He would destroy it and then rebuild it in three days could be seen as a Messianic claim made by someone claiming superhuman powers (compare 2 Samuel 7:13; Zechariah 6:12 which suggest that the Messiah will rebuild the Temple), something which if it could be demonstrated would interest Pilate greatly. But even here the witnesses could not agree on what exactly He said.
It is possible that Judas, having heard Jesus' words in Mark 13:2, may have contributed to this charge, causing them to ask around as to whether anyone had heard Him say anything like this.
A statement fairly like this is in fact described to us in John 2:19. It was probably this, or something like it, that was being ‘remembered'. But as is clear from an examination of that statement Jesus did not there say that He would destroy the temple. And the witnesses could not agree what He did say. The idea, however, became lodged in some of their minds for they produced it against Him at the cross (Mark 15:29 compare Acts 6:14).
By now the leading examiner, the High Priest, was getting increasingly impatient. Time was passing, morning was approaching, and they were getting nowhere. And he was especially furious because Jesus was standing there not defending Himself or admitting anything, and so not convicting Himself. It was unreasonable.
‘Sought witness.' This would serve to confirm that this was preparation for a trial rather than the trial itself.