The high priest treated Jesus' answer as blasphemy, so he declared that no more witnesses were needed. Gill says he tore his clothes "as was usual upon hearing blasphemy; which he now supposed the case, or at least would have it so thought." His question means, in Gill's words, why "trouble ourselves to see for any more." After the witnesses had failed (Mark 14:55-59), he now had what he wanted from Jesus' own mouth. Barnes explains how the council saw it: Jesus had, "under oath, arrogated to himself what belongs to God."

The high priest answered his own question: "Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye?" The council agreed: "they all condemned him to be guilty of death" (Mark 14:64). Then "some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands" (Mark 14:65). Luke records the council at daybreak saying, "What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth" (Luke 22:66, 71).

Tearing one's clothes was a public sign of grief or horror. Barnes explains, "The Jews were accustomed to rend their clothes, as a token of grief. This was done often as a matter of form, and consisted in tearing a particular part of the garment reserved for this purpose." Gill says the high priest did it to show "his zeal for the honour and glory of God" and his horror at what he called blasphemy.

Mark's word for "clothes" here is chiton, which Thayer defines as "a tunic, an undergarment, usually worn next the skin."

The council had searched for witnesses and could not find testimony that agreed (Mark 14:55-59). In the end, they condemned Jesus for the one thing He said plainly: who He is. Barnes explains their reasoning: "They assumed that he was an impostor; and that point being assumed, everything like a pretension to being the Messiah was, in their view, proof that he deserved to die."

The high priest was right that no more witnesses were needed, but not in the way he meant. Jesus had borne witness to Himself (Mark 14:62). The question was never whether there was enough evidence, but whether they would believe Him.