Mark 14:57

And there stood up certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I wilt destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.

This testimony was untruthful. Jesus actually said, "(You) destroy this temple (referring to his body), and in three days I will raise it up (that is, rise from the dead)" (John 2:19). In context, Jesus' words were a prediction that the religious leaders would take his life and that he would rise from the dead three days later. There was no suggestion whatever of such a thing as the false witnesses alleged.

Even such a misrepresentative and malicious garbling of Jesus' words, however, was useless to the chief priests, because there was no coherent account of such an alleged statement. One said one thing; another declared something else. All night long, the preliminary investigation had gone forward, and nothing had come of it. In desperation, Caiaphas, who was beginning to find the judge's bench a very uncomfortable place, forsook the judicial status, usurped the role of a prosecutor, placed Jesus under oath, and demanded an answer; but he would ask a question first.