Journey To The Cross Series
Then the high priest said to him, “I demand in the name of the living God—tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.
Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
There were six parts to Jesus’ trial: three stages in a religious court and three stages before a Roman court. On the night of Jesus’ arrest, He was brought before Annas, Caiaphas, and then an assembly of religious leaders called the Sanhedrin (John 18:19-24; Matthew 26:57).
After this He was taken before Pilate, the Roman Governor (John 18:23), sent off to Herod (Luke 23:7), and then back to Pilate (Luke 23:11-12), who finally sentenced Him to death.
The trials were illegal for many reasons: (1) No trial was to be held during feast time. (2) Each member of the court was to vote individually to convict or acquit, but Jesus was convicted by acclamation. (3) If the death penalty was given, a night must pass before the sentence was carried out; however, only a few hours passed before Jesus was placed on the Cross. (4) The Jews had no authority to execute anyone. (5) No trial was to be held at night, but this trial was held before dawn. (6) The accused was to be given counsel or representation, but Jesus had none. (7) The accused was not to be asked self-incriminating questions, but Jesus was asked if He was the Christ.
The first three trials included beating the defendant (John 18:22-23), inconclusive testimony of the witnesses (Mark 14:56-59), and finally a verdict that he was guilty of blasphemy (Luke 22:66-71).
The trials before the Roman authorities started with Pilate (John 18:23). After Jesus was beaten the charges are made and they are a lot different from the charges in His religious trials, the Roman government didn't care about blasphemy, they had to make up a new charge. This time he was charged with inciting people to riot, forbidding the people to pay their taxes, and claiming to be King.
Pilate found no reason to kill Jesus so he sent Him to Herod (Luke 23:7). Herod had Jesus ridiculed, but wanting to avoid the political liability, sent Jesus back to Pilate (Luke 23:11-12). This was the last trial as Pilate tried to appease the animosity of the Jews by having Jesus scourged, but to no avail.
Our Savior was treated as poorly as a man could be treated, deprived of his right to a fair trial, which would have cleared him of all of the charges.
Jesus fought against injustice, told us all to love God and our neighbor but the world didn't listen. They hated him and his message. Yet he died for everyone of them people standing there that day, even the ones that tore his flesh and beat him. And yes he died for you and I.
I pray Lord that I will love you as much as I should and that I will appreciate as fully as possible, how much you have endured for my benefit.
Credit for a lot of this information goes to Chuck Swindoll.
