the trials of jesus
...y the Roman authorities could execute prisoners. That will come into play shortly. Jesus was then ushered to His next trial. Now we continue our look at the trials of Jesus. He has just been taken from the home of Caiaphas the high priest, where He had been found guilty of blasphemy, and deemed worthy of death, according to the Jewish law. We pick up now with the next step down that road toward the cross. The next trial was held before the Sanhedrin at approximately 6 a.m. (Mark 15:1, Luke 22:66-71) In his gospel, Luke tells us that Jesus’ next trial began at “daybreak” (22:66), so we conclude that this took place around 6 a.m., for that’s when “day” broke according to the Jewish time system. This trial took place before the Sanhedrin, which served as Supreme Court to the Jews. Evidently, their say-so was necessary before taking Jesus to the Roman officials. Here again, with this being a religious trial, the accusation against Jesus was blasphemy. This trial seems to be even more of a farce than the previous two, because in the two gospels that it is talked about, not once do we see witnesses (false or otherwise) come against Christ. In Luke 22:67, the Sanhedrin asks Him, “If you are the Christ, tell us.” Jesus replies by saying, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” They then ask Him, “Are you then the Son of God?” to which Jesus says, “You are right in saying I am.” The religious leaders then find, without any proof that Jesus is not who He says He is, that He is guilty of blasphemy, and is then sent on to the next trial. This leads us to the fourth Trial before Pilate at approximately 6:30-7:00 a.m. (Matthew 27:11-14, Mark 15:1-5, Luke 23:1-7, John 18:28-38) The religious leaders were now ecstatic, for they had been plotting to kill Jesus ever since He healed on the Sabbath in Matthew chapter 12. They had found (not proven) Him guilty of blasphemy, and now believed they had the right, under the law, to finally put an end to this thorn in their side. However, they had a problem. As mentioned before, under Roman law, the Jews could not carry out a death sentence (John 18:31). Only Roman officials could execute prisoners, and only those convicted of Roman crimes in a Roman court were candidates for the sentence of death. Jesus had been convicted of blasphemy, which is a religious crime. It is not a crime that was recognized by the Romans. Blasphemy was the crime of claiming to be God. The Romans had literally hundreds of gods, so one claiming to the “The Messiah” or “The Son of God” would not concern them in the least. The Jews had to come up with something that would get the Roman officials’ attention. So they changed the charge. This was clearly unfair and unjust. Here we are introduced to a very interesting character in this whole turn of events. Pontius Pilate was the Roman Governor over the region of Judea. History tells us that, during this time, Pilate was in hot water of sorts with Rome. He had had several reports about him directly to the emperor, and was evidently under investigation. This put him in a very awkward situation, because a public riot of the Jewish people during the Passover would definitely not do any good to his reputation. Thus we add just a little more volatility to an already explosive situation. “Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, ‘We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be a Christ, a king.’” (Luke 23:1-2) At this point in history, the Jews were under Roman rule, and many zealots and insurrectionists that favored overthrow of the Roman dominion were active. These men concerned Rome greatly. This area was so volatile, that any charismatic leader promising deliverance from the Romans could incite a rebellion among the people, causing problems for the Roman officials. So, in effect, the Jewish leaders accused Jesus of treason, trying to lead a rebellion, and refusing to pay taxes to Caesar, all of which were bald-faced lies. (see Luke 22:52-53, 20:23-25). I think it’s interesting to note at this point that John’s gospel states in 18:28, “Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.” They had just sent the Son of God through three unjust courts, totally ignoring the requirements for legal trials according to their own laws, and here they’re worried about defiling themselves in Pilate’s court! Jesus had them pegged when He called them “a brood of vipers” (Matt 23:33). Pilate would have indeed been interested in the claim as “king”, for there was no king to the Romans but Caesar. I think Pilate saw through the façade of the Jews, and truly saw no threat in the humble, simple man he saw before him. He asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied to him “It is as you say.” We see further proof of Pilate’s wisdom on this matter by his response. He took Jesus back to the religious leaders, and said, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” In John’s version of this trial, we see more detail about the conversation between Pilate and Jesus. In this account, we see a little more evidence of the fact that Pilate had no idea who he was dealing with. Obviously, the Jewish leaders were not happy with his assessment, and by this time had incited a riot of sorts among the people in Jerusalem, turning the very people that had hailed Jesus as the “Son of David” just days earlier into a bloodthirsty mob. Now Pilate faced his dilemma. Would he stand by his conscience and set an innocent man free, at this risk of causing this already hot mob to boil over? Or would he condemn an innocent man to die just to keep peace in the streets of Jerusalem. Then the Jewish leaders gave Pilate exactly what he needed. In arguing with his decision, they told him, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.” (Luke 23:5) Galilee was just it, Jesus was a Galilean, and thus would be under the jurisdiction of Herod, who just so happened to be in Jerusalem at that time. Pilate determined that this matter wasn’t his to be deciding at all, but rather he could pass the fate of this matter to Herod, the Jewish king. He must have been thinking that Herod would not take too well to Jesus calling himself the “King of the Jews”, and he could punt this matter once and for all to someone else. So, Pilate sends Jesus off to face the man that so brutally murdered John the Baptist. This leads us to the fifth trial before Herod at approximately 7:30 a.m. (Luke 23: 8-12) Jesus’ fifth trial was before Herod Antipas, the tetrarch over Galilee who was in Jerusalem for the Passover festivities. He was a ruthless and Godless leader, son of Herod the Great who was guilty of slaughtering all the boy children in Bethlehem after the birth of Jesus. He was the one that had John the Baptist beheaded, and the one that Jesus earlier referred to as “that fox” (Luke 13:32). “When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle.” (Luke 23:8). Herod posed questions at Jesus, and He doesn’t say anything. Not a single word. This tells us a little about the contempt that Jesus has for Herod. He had answered Annas, Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin, and even the pagan gentile Pilate. But He wouldn’t even open His mouth for Herod. In disappointment, Herod and his soldiers made fun of Jesus, dressed Him in an “elegant robe”, and sent Him back to Pilate. Just an interesting note… Luke 23:12 says, “That day Herod and Pilate became friends – before this they had been enemies.” Lastly was the sixth trial held before Pilate at approximately 8 a.m. (Matt 27:15-26, Mark 15:6-15, Luke 23:18-25, John 18:29-19:6) I can only imagine Pilate’s disappointment as he saw Jesus being brought back to him. I honestly think that he was convinced that he had ridded himself of this volatile situation. However, Jesus had refused to give Herod the show he wanted so He was sent back to Pilate. I don’t think Herod wanted the responsibility of deciding Jesus’ fate, so he simply refused to rule on the matter. So now, the proverbial ball was back in Pilate’s court. I think we need to pause here and remind ourselves of how Jesus has reacted to all of this. He has been subjected to illegal trials (without the aid of any defense), mocking, beating, and shuffled from one place to another bound like any common criminal. All the while, Jesus never opens His mouth in protest and never tries to free Himself. Rath...