It is wonderful to see everyone here this morning for worship. We are in the middle of a 3-part message titled “Travesties of Justice: The Trials of Jesus Christ”. Today we will cover part 2 of this message, focusing on Jesus’ 3rd and 4th trials. We will wrap this sermon up next week, on Easter Sunday.
As you may recall from last week’s discussion, Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane late at night, perhaps around midnight. He was taken first to Annas’ house for a brief preliminary investigation. Afterwards He was ushered to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest. Many false witnesses were presented against Him and He was ultimately charged with blasphemy. Caiaphas scheduled a hearing before the full Sanhedrin to be held at daybreak. Jesus was kept in custody for the remainder of the night, during which time he was ruthlessly mocked and beaten.
I. THE TRIAL BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN
(Matthew 27:1; Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66-71)
During the early morning hours, probably between 5:00-6:00am, the entire Council of the Sanhedrin was assembled in their chambers. The Sanhedrin was the Jewish supreme court, and was made up of 70 members (leading priests, scribes, and the like) along with the high priest. Several of these men had probably already been at Caiaphas’ house for Jesus’ 2nd trial. However, as morning broke, all of them gathered to conduct an official and binding proceeding.
Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin and charged with blasphemy. The Council asked if He was the Christ, to which He replied, “You won’t believe Me no matter what I tell you.” He went on to say that they would not answer His questions, revealing that He had no real opportunity to defend Himself. Finally He repeated the same answer that He had given earlier to Caiaphas, saying that He was the Son of God and that He would be seated at the right hand of power. Hearing this, the Sanhedrin formally determined that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy and sentenced Him to death.
The Jews did not have the legal authority to impose capital punishment. Jesus had become so popular among the people that the Jewish officials feared taking matters into their own hands, as they would later do with the stoning of Stephen. An unsanctioned Jewish execution of Jesus might lead to an uprising against the priests and religious officials. Civil unrest among the Jewish people would be much less likely if the sentence was enforced by the Romans. Thus, the Sanhedrin sent Jesus to Pilate to affirm the conviction and carry out the crucifixion.
II. THE FIRST TRIAL BEFORE PILATE
(Matthew 27:1-2, 11-14; Mark 15:1-5; Luke 23:1-7; John 18:28-32, 33-38)
Still in the early morning, now around 6:30am or so, the Sanhedrin brought Jesus to Pilate. Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea from 26-36 AD. He had the legal authority to impose the death penalty, and had done so many times. Pilate lived in a residential palace known as the Preatorium, believed by historians to have been built by Herod the Great. It had a large courtyard where many people could congregate.
When they arrived, the Sanhedrin refused to enter the Praetorium so as not to defile themselves during the Passover. As such, Pilate came out to meet them. The Sanhedrin accused Jesus of misleading the nation with His teachings, forbidding them to pay Roman taxes, and calling Himself Christ the King. Pilate was not concerned with these accusations and advised them to judge Jesus for themselves and leave him out of it. The Jews persisted that Jesus had already been found to be deserving of death, but they lacked the authority to carry out the sentence.
Pilate had Jesus come with him into the Praetorium while the Sanhedrin waited outside so that he might question Him privately. Pilate asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews. Jesus answered that He was, but that His kingdom was not of this world. Instead, He has come into this world to testify of the truth. Pilate reflectively questioned, “What is truth?” and determined that Jesus was not a threat to Rome or to Caesar. So he returned Jesus to the chief priests and crowd saying, “I find no grounds for charges in this case.”
As Jesus stood silently, the Jews kept insisting that He was stirring up trouble with His rebellious teachings throughout Judea and Galilee. When Pilate learned that Jesus was from Galilee, he seized on the opportunity to rid himself of this nuisance. As a Galilean, Jesus belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction. Since it was Passover at the time, Herod just happened to be in Jerusalem for the annual Jewish feast. Therefore, Pilate instructed the Sanhedrin to present Jesus and His case before Herod.
This brief interaction with Pilate is comparable in my mind to a legal appeal. The notable difference is this - in most cases, an appeal is made by the person who has been convicted in hopes of overturning the verdict. However, in this instance the appeal is being brought forward by the prosecution in order to enact a sentence that lacks legal standing.
CONCLUSION
The third and fourth trials of Jesus Christ took place during the early morning hours, before the activities of the day had begun. Like the trials conducted at night, this too was illegal as the proceedings were supposed to be public. Again, Jesus was given no genuine opportunity to defend Himself and the heavily biased chief priests and scribes who judged Him would not even respond to His questions. They were certainly not a fair or impartial jury.
The sentencing of Jesus was inappropriate as well. The Jewish Sanhedrin decided that Jesus should be executed, yet they did not have the legal authority to enact the death penalty. In other words, the sentence they’d rendered against Jesus was not legally permissible - it was out of bounds, so to speak. This necessitated a new series of criminal proceedings in the Roman courts.
When Jesus was taken to Pilate, the charges being made against Him were changed. He had been just convicted by the Jews of blasphemy. That said, the Romans didn’t care about Jewish religious issues. They weren’t concerned in the slightest about someone claiming to be the God of the Jews. All the Romans cared about was power - the stability and security of the Roman Empire. Thus, the Jews accused Jesus of treason and sought to present Him as an insurrectionist who threatened Rome and Caesar with His rebellious teachings.
Next Sunday we will conclude this message with a look at Jesus’ fifth and sixth trials.
As you may recall from last week’s discussion, Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane late at night, perhaps around midnight. He was taken first to Annas’ house for a brief preliminary investigation. Afterwards He was ushered to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest. Many false witnesses were presented against Him and He was ultimately charged with blasphemy. Caiaphas scheduled a hearing before the full Sanhedrin to be held at daybreak. Jesus was kept in custody for the remainder of the night, during which time he was ruthlessly mocked and beaten.
I. THE TRIAL BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN
(Matthew 27:1; Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66-71)
During the early morning hours, probably between 5:00-6:00am, the entire Council of the Sanhedrin was assembled in their chambers. The Sanhedrin was the Jewish supreme court, and was made up of 70 members (leading priests, scribes, and the like) along with the high priest. Several of these men had probably already been at Caiaphas’ house for Jesus’ 2nd trial. However, as morning broke, all of them gathered to conduct an official and binding proceeding.
Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin and charged with blasphemy. The Council asked if He was the Christ, to which He replied, “You won’t believe Me no matter what I tell you.” He went on to say that they would not answer His questions, revealing that He had no real opportunity to defend Himself. Finally He repeated the same answer that He had given earlier to Caiaphas, saying that He was the Son of God and that He would be seated at the right hand of power. Hearing this, the Sanhedrin formally determined that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy and sentenced Him to death.
The Jews did not have the legal authority to impose capital punishment. Jesus had become so popular among the people that the Jewish officials feared taking matters into their own hands, as they would later do with the stoning of Stephen. An unsanctioned Jewish execution of Jesus might lead to an uprising against the priests and religious officials. Civil unrest among the Jewish people would be much less likely if the sentence was enforced by the Romans. Thus, the Sanhedrin sent Jesus to Pilate to affirm the conviction and carry out the crucifixion.
II. THE FIRST TRIAL BEFORE PILATE
(Matthew 27:1-2, 11-14; Mark 15:1-5; Luke 23:1-7; John 18:28-32, 33-38)
Still in the early morning, now around 6:30am or so, the Sanhedrin brought Jesus to Pilate. Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea from 26-36 AD. He had the legal authority to impose the death penalty, and had done so many times. Pilate lived in a residential palace known as the Preatorium, believed by historians to have been built by Herod the Great. It had a large courtyard where many people could congregate.
When they arrived, the Sanhedrin refused to enter the Praetorium so as not to defile themselves during the Passover. As such, Pilate came out to meet them. The Sanhedrin accused Jesus of misleading the nation with His teachings, forbidding them to pay Roman taxes, and calling Himself Christ the King. Pilate was not concerned with these accusations and advised them to judge Jesus for themselves and leave him out of it. The Jews persisted that Jesus had already been found to be deserving of death, but they lacked the authority to carry out the sentence.
Pilate had Jesus come with him into the Praetorium while the Sanhedrin waited outside so that he might question Him privately. Pilate asked Jesus if He was the King of the Jews. Jesus answered that He was, but that His kingdom was not of this world. Instead, He has come into this world to testify of the truth. Pilate reflectively questioned, “What is truth?” and determined that Jesus was not a threat to Rome or to Caesar. So he returned Jesus to the chief priests and crowd saying, “I find no grounds for charges in this case.”
As Jesus stood silently, the Jews kept insisting that He was stirring up trouble with His rebellious teachings throughout Judea and Galilee. When Pilate learned that Jesus was from Galilee, he seized on the opportunity to rid himself of this nuisance. As a Galilean, Jesus belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction. Since it was Passover at the time, Herod just happened to be in Jerusalem for the annual Jewish feast. Therefore, Pilate instructed the Sanhedrin to present Jesus and His case before Herod.
This brief interaction with Pilate is comparable in my mind to a legal appeal. The notable difference is this - in most cases, an appeal is made by the person who has been convicted in hopes of overturning the verdict. However, in this instance the appeal is being brought forward by the prosecution in order to enact a sentence that lacks legal standing.
CONCLUSION
The third and fourth trials of Jesus Christ took place during the early morning hours, before the activities of the day had begun. Like the trials conducted at night, this too was illegal as the proceedings were supposed to be public. Again, Jesus was given no genuine opportunity to defend Himself and the heavily biased chief priests and scribes who judged Him would not even respond to His questions. They were certainly not a fair or impartial jury.
The sentencing of Jesus was inappropriate as well. The Jewish Sanhedrin decided that Jesus should be executed, yet they did not have the legal authority to enact the death penalty. In other words, the sentence they’d rendered against Jesus was not legally permissible - it was out of bounds, so to speak. This necessitated a new series of criminal proceedings in the Roman courts.
When Jesus was taken to Pilate, the charges being made against Him were changed. He had been just convicted by the Jews of blasphemy. That said, the Romans didn’t care about Jewish religious issues. They weren’t concerned in the slightest about someone claiming to be the God of the Jews. All the Romans cared about was power - the stability and security of the Roman Empire. Thus, the Jews accused Jesus of treason and sought to present Him as an insurrectionist who threatened Rome and Caesar with His rebellious teachings.
Next Sunday we will conclude this message with a look at Jesus’ fifth and sixth trials.