Sunday, November 18, 2012
am
THE LIFE OF JESUS (34)
The Culmination of His Life
The Trial
Matt. 26:57-27:25
a.
The details of the
account is actually found in all four gospels – Matt. 26:57-27:25; Mark
14:52-15:21; Luke 22:54-23:25, John 18:12-19:16
b.
He was first led to
Annas – John 18:13, 14 records this and explains the circumstances.
i.
In our account we come across two
individuals who were called High Priest – Annas and Caiaphas.
ii.
Annas was appointed High
Priest around 6 AD and deposed around 15 AD, but he held considerable
influence of the office. 5
of his sons, 1 grandson and his son-in-law Caiaphas all held the office
at some time after him.
As such, he exercised great influence and was still recognized as
the High Priest by some (bear in mind the position was supposed to be
for life). He was
greedy, corrupt and political.
It is believed that he is the one who established the selling
that Jesus rejected (twice) at the temple complex during feasts.
As such, he profited both from the money exchange and the
sacrifices being sold. He is
also mentioned in Acts 4:6 where Peter and John appear before him.[1]
iii.
Caiaphas, mentioned
above, was son-in-law of Annas.
He was the officially appointed high priest according to Rome and
thus he would oversee the proceedings of the “official” trial against
Jesus. Obviously, he too was
corrupt as he corroborated with Annas.
iv.
The office of High
priest at that time was very corrupt.
It is said that it was made available to the highest bidder and
came with considerable profit and influence.
Every year there was a bidding process to achieve the office.
v.
IF these things be true,
Annas was NOT supposed to have anything to do with the arrest and trial
of Jesus. He had personal
stake in the outcome, and laid the ground work (finding charges,
witnesses, etc) for the “official” trial by the Council.
c.
Annas interrogates Jesus
about His disciples and doctrine (Jn. 18:19-24)
Jesus replies that He had spoken openly in the temple and
synagogue. Jesus is struck
by an officer. Jesus was
then sent bound to Caiaphas.
d.
Sometimes described as
the second trial, Matt. 26:59-63, Mark 14:53-65 records the chief
priests, council and elders sought witnesses against Him.
Finally they found 2 who said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to
destroy the temple of God and to build it in 3 days.”
Mark says that they couldn’t even agree on that.
Nevertheless, they approach Jesus (accusing Him of sedition
against Israel and Jerusalem) saying, “Do you hear the things they say?
Jesus answers nothing and is mocked, blindfolded and slapped by
the guard saying, “Prophecy, who struck you?”
e.
As this is happening,
Peter follows at a distance, along with another disciple (believed to be
John). In the various
gospels we find here Peter’s beginning to deny Jesus as he warms himself
by the enemy’s fire.
f.
Jesus is then bound and
taken to Caiaphas for the “official” trial held at the council chamber (Lk.
22:66-71). Here charges are
levied, and Jesus is asked by Caiaphas, “I put you under oath by the
living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!” (Matt.
26:63) Jesus answers, “It is
as you said. Nevertheless, I
say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right
hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
The High Priest tore his clothes and charged Jesus with
blasphemy. He asks, “What
further need have we of witnesses?”
The council said, “He is deserving of death.” (vs. 66).
Mk. 14:64 sys, “They ALL condemned Him to be deserving of death.”
Under Jewish law this posed some problems.
g.
Matt. 2:1-2 says, “When
morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted
against Jesus to put Him to death.
And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him
to Pontius Pilate the governor.”
NOTICE, the plotting!
h.
Matthew then records
Judas realizing what he has done was remorseful and returned the money
saying he had sinned. They
refuse the money so he throws it down and goes out and hangs himself.
(Matt. 27:1-10)
i.
Jesus appears before
Pilate the first time – He is bound and carried to the Praetorium in the
morning. John records that
that the council would not enter lest they be defiled on the feast day
of Passover. (John 18:28-29).
Pilate asks, “What are you accusing Him of?”
they respond, “If he were not an evildoer, we would not have
delivered him to you.” (vs. 30)
Luke 23:2 says, “We found this fellow perverting the nation, and
forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a
king.” (Lk. 23:1-2) NOTICE
the change of charges.
As charges are levied, Jesus remains silent (Matt. 26:12-14)
Pilate says, “You judge him according to your law” (Jn. 18:31)
They tell Pilate that they can’t put Him to death (Jn. 18:32).
Pilate then calls Jesus to him and asks, “Are you a king?”
Jesus responds, “My kingdom is not of this world.
If my kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so
that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not
from here.” But He does
declare Himself king of the Jews (Jn. 18:36-37)
Again Pilate declares, “I find no fault with Him” (vs. 38)
Luke 23:5 then records how more fiercely they say, “He stirs up the
people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this
place.”
j.
As soon as Pilate hears
of Galilee, he sends Jesus to Herod who was in Jerusalem
at the time. (Lk. 23:6-11).
Herod is glad to see Jesus because he was hoping to see miracles.
He questioned Jesus.
The chief priests vehemently accused Him.
But he answered them nothing.
As a result, Herod treated Him with contempt and mocked Him.
His soldiers put a robe on Him and made fun of Him and sent him
back to Pilate.
k.
Back before Pilate, we
find more efforts to have Jesus released.
All four gospel record the presenting of Barabbas.
It was a custom that during the feast, the governor would release
one prisoner that they wished.
Pilate presented a CONVICTED insurrectionist and murderer as an
alternative to Jesus (he was probably hoping they would realize what
they were doing).
Matt. 27:18 says, “For he knew they had handed Him over because of
envy.” IT failed as the
people chose to release Barabbas over Jesus.
l.
Next, Matt. 27:19
recalls Pilate’s wife warned him, “Have nothing to do with that just
Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.”
m.
BUT, the chief priests
and elders persuaded the multitudes to demand the crucifixion of Jesus.
John 19:1-4 – Pilate has Jesus scourged and He is humiliated and mocked
by the soldiers with a crown of thorn and a purple robe.
Then He is brought out to the people.
Vs. 4, “Pilate then…said to them, ‘Behold, I am bringing Him out
to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”
John 19:6 records Pilate refusing saying, “You take Him and crucify Him,
for I find no fault in Him.”
The Jews responded, “WE have a law, and according to our law He ought to
die, because He made Himself the Son of God.” (19:7)
This prompts Pilate to question Jesus again, being more afraid
(considering who Jesus might be).
He asks, “Where are you from?”
Jesus didn’t answer.
Being compelled, Jesus finally said, “You
could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from
above. Therefore the one who
delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” (19:11)
Vs. 12, “From that time, Pilate sought to release Him.”
But the Jewish leaders kept pressing him saying that if he
released Jesus he was no
friend of Caesar.
Pilate then sits in judgment and presents Jesus to them saying, “Behold
your king”. They said, “Away
with Him! Crucify Him!”
Pilate asks, “Shall I crucify your King?”
They responded, “We have no king but Caesar!”
n.
Matt. 27:24 says that
when Pilate could not prevail he took a bowl of water and washed his
hands before the people saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just
person. You see to it!”
The Jews responded, “His
blood be on us and on our children.” (vs. 25).
o.
Jesus is then delivered
to be crucified. His
“royal” robe is put on Him, and a crown of thorns is twisted and put on
His head. The soldiers again
mock Him saying, “Hail, king of the Jews.”
They then took the robe off and put His clothes back on and led
Him away to be crucified. (Matt. 27:27-31)
p.
What a tragic scene!
a.
They arrested him with
prejudice. Recall how the
very council that bribed Judas was the one to try Him.
There was a CLEAR conflict of interest.
Notice what we have said about Annas above.
He had personal stake in getting rid of Jesus.
b.
He was arrested without
charges – they sought witnesses against Him.
c.
During the process,
Jesus was continually abused, and His rights were violated, which was
against the law – being blind-folded and spat upon, being mocked and
beaten, etc.[2]
d.
The charges were
fabricated – 2 witnesses said He would destroy the temple, but even they
didn’t agree. Thus there was
a charge of sedition of attempt to overturn the Jewish leadership.
However, they inquired further.
e.
As things progressed,
when Jesus finally admitted to them who He was, they changed the charge
to blasphemy, a crime punishable by death.
f.
According to Jewish law,
there were a number of illegalities according to the Mishnah (The
recording of the complete oral Law of Moses) and Talmud (The Mishnah and
commentaries. It provided
regulations that governed the laws of the Jews – the execution of the
Law).[3]
i.
Legal proceedings for
capital offenses were not to be carried out at night time - Jesus was
arrested, and 2 phases of His “trial” were conducted before daybreak. (Mishnah
in Sanhedrin – Vol. 1)
ii.
The Council was not
supposed to meet before the morning sacrifice and convene before the
evening sacrifice (Talmud, Sanhedrin – Vol. 1, p. 19)
iii.
Trials were not to be
conducted during Jewish feasts.
Capital crimes could not be held on the day before the Sabbath.
(Betza, Mishan, Sanhedrin IV. 1.)
iv.
The trial was concluded
within one day – If a trial resulted in a death sentence, they had to
wait until the following day to pronounce sentence (time to think about
it – the judges were to sleep, fast, mediate and to pray).
(Mishna, Sanhedrin, IV.1)
v.
He was condemned without
a proper defense. According
to Jewish law. If a culprit
did not have a defender, a verdict of guilty was considered invalid.
Jesus had no one to defend Him.
The trial was at such an hour, his many followers did not have
time or access to the proceedings.
vi.
When Jesus pronounced
himself “the Son of God” and supposedly blasphemed, he was compelled to
incriminate himself. Such
was illegal evidence and inadmissible.
Recall His silence as they originally accused Him.
Furthermore an admission of
guilt could only be accepted if there were witnesses who corroborated
the admission.
vii.
Furthermore, He should
have been permitted to defend Himself of His claim.
Jewish law, like American law was supposed to be based upon the
premise that one is innocent until proven guilty.
“The primary object of the
Hebrew judicial system was to render the conviction of an innocent
person impossible.”[4]
g.
The charge was changed
from blasphemy (before the Jews) to insurrection before Jesus was
presented to Pilate. This
within itself shows a high degree of corruption in the process. (Lk.
23:2)
h.
Pilate thought Jesus was
innocent. When he said, “I
find no fault in Him” that should have ended it.
Beyond that, Pilate is now complicit in the death of Jesus.
NOTE that during the interaction of Jesus with Pilate, some 7
times he declared or implied the innocence of Jesus, but still allowed
Him to be condemned.
i.
John 18:31, “You judge
him according to your law” – no charge!
ii.
John 18:38, “I find not
fault with Him at all.”
iii.
Matt. 27:15-18 – Pilate
presents Jesus as an alternative to Barabbas being released.
iv.
Matt. 28:19- His wife
sends him a message to have nothing to do with this just man.
v.
John 19:4, After
scourging Jesus, he said, “I am bringing him out because I find no fault
with Him.”
vi.
John 19:6, ‘You take Him
and crucify Him, I find no fault in Him.”
vii.
John 19:12, “From then
on Pilate sought to release Him…”
viii.
Matt. 27:24 – the
washing of hands was a declaration of innocence.
i.
However, history
demonstrates that he was corrupt, cruel and self-seeking in his reign.
He caved to the pressures and threats of the Jewish leaders rather than
exercise true justice. In a
cowardly fashion he turned Jesus over to be executed.
a.
NEVER underestimate the
power of a spiritual enemy, especially one with influence.
We are living in troubling times.
Christianity is despised by many in positions of political and
social influence. Immoral
laws are being passed right and left throughout this country and the
world. As Christians, we
CANNOT do nothing or say nothing!
But we need to beware of those who are evil, whose conduct and
livelihood will be impacted if we are able to establish godly conduct as
the community standard. Know
that they will NOT go lightly.
The Jewish leaders despised Jesus and what He stood for because
He exposed them. They
stopped t NOTHING to destroy Him.
If Jesus suffered in this manner, what about us?
b.
The need for truth and
justice in our conduct. Do
we let self-interests influence our decisions?
c.
– if we EVER find
ourselves acting like this unruly mob, we are violating everything our
faith is about. What about
the golden rule (Matt. 7:21)?
d.
Do we approach decisions
with prejudice? Do we
determine the outcome before the facts?
e.
Will we let fear cause
us to compromise that which is right (as Pilate did)?
[1] A
Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels: Aaron–Zion. Ed. James
Hastings, John A. Selbie and John C. Lambert. Edinburgh; New
York: T&T Clark; Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906.
Annas, Vol. 1, p. 70
[2]
https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/705-the_theological_implications_of_the_trial_of_jesus_part_2
[4] Ibid. P. 7