Jesus on Trial (2)

Mark 14:53-65; 15:1-15

It would be an understatement to say that the trial of Jesus Christ was the biggest travesty of justice our world has ever known. This morning we look at His trial. We won’t see it all. Mark tells us portions of it. There were six different trials: Annas, Caiaphas, Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod, Pilate. But for the sake of time we will focus on what Mark shares with us. We are going to answer the question “What does the trial of Jesus have to do with me?”

Jesus has been arrested. He is the victim of a corrupt religious system that refuses to see the truth. Despite the fact that they witnessed two miracles even at the arrest of Jesus. They witnessed a miracle of might: John tells us that when the 600 soldiers came to arrest Jesus He announced to them “I am He” and they all fell to the ground. They witnessed a miracle of mercy as Jesus restored Malchus ear after Peter cut it off. The miracle of might- a warning. The miracle of mercy- an invitation.

The Trial before the High priest

John tells us that first Jesus was taken to Annas the former High priest. Annas told Jesus “Tell me about Your disciples and Your teaching.” Jesus told him “I’ve been teaching publicly to lots of people. Ask them what I’ve been teaching.” One of his officers then slaps Jesus telling Him not to talk to the Annas that way. Jesus is then sent to the current High Priest, Caiaphas.

Look at verse 53, everyone is gathered there. This is what they have been waiting for. They have already established the punishment, but now they have to concoct the “crime”. We see that in verse 55. They want to put Him to death but they need some folks to be witnesses to His crimes. They get a lot of stories (56) but the problem was none of them agreed. They are trying to get their stories straight.

Their best story seemed to have something to do with Jesus saying He would destroy the Temple (58) and rebuild it again Himself in 3 days. This was a misinterpretation of what Jesus said in John 2 “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” But not even those folks couldn’t agree on exactly what they thought Jesus said (59). So it really is a chaotic scene. Here we have the High Priest & religious leaders. And all of these people arguing before them about what Jesus said or did that was criminal.

He said this…

No I think He said this…

No I’m sure he said this.

According to the law two or three witnesses had to agree in a death penalty case (Deut. 19:15 ). That wasn’t happening.

May I interject something? With all these false witnesses where are the truth tellers?

Where is the Royal official whose son He healed?

Where is the leper whose skin He cleansed?

Where is the blind man whose sight He restored?

Where are the dead He raised to life?

 Where is the woman whose 12 year issue of blood He healed?

The sheep have scattered. Wolves have gathered.

Caiaphas puts a stop to the foolishness in verse 60. He stands up and addresses Jesus. “Don’t You have anything to say?” Jesus says nothing. Nothing to say. They are all making fools of themselves. He could say something. He could stump them all with one word. But He has set his eyes upon the cross.

Caiaphas keeps pushing Him and asks “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”

Jesus says “I am!” So much in that statement. In Exodus 3:14 God revealed Himself as the great “I Am”. John used the ‘I Am statements to establish the Deity of Christ in his gospel:

 I am the Bread of Life, living water, resurrection & the life, door, Good shepherd, True Vine,  way, truth, life.

And then look at the warning He gives. One day you will be sitting on this side of judgment and I will be on the other! (14:62)

Caiaphas in a show of mock outrage and sorrow tears his clothing. He accuses Jesus of blasphemy. Jesus claimed to be the Messiah and He claimed to be Divine and to the High priest that was blasphemous. And everyone agreed with Him. The declared Him guilty and worthy of death. And nothing could have made the religious leaders happier.

And what they do next shows how depraved the really were. Look at verse 65. This is all unnecessary. They are just having fun now. They spit on Him. Deut. 25:9 reveals that as an ultimate sign of disrespect. But this isn’t just one person. This is many people.  Then they play a game with Him. They blind fold Him, hit Him and ask, “Who hit You?”

The Trial before the Sanhedrin

We see that in 15:1. The Sanhedrin were 70 men that made up a ruling council for the Jewish people. They were the judicial system. Coming before them was probably more of a formality than anything else. Technically death penalty cases couldn’t be tried at night. So the High Priest sends Jesus before the Sanhedrin in the morning. They too decide that Jesus is a blasphemer because He claims to be the Son of God. They want Jesus put to death. The problem is that Rome would not allow the Jews to carry out the death penalty. Capital punishment had to be done by the Roman government. So the Sanhedrin sends Jesus to the Roman Governor, Pilate.

The Trial before Pilate

He was the governor of Judea from AD 26-AD 36. Normally he would not have been in Jerusalem. However, with the Passover taking place Rome needed a strong governing presence in the city to keep an eye on things. He answered to Caesar. His position was appointed and therefore it was in his best interest to make sure that Caesar was always happy with him. The initial charge against Jesus was blasphemy .That was enough to have Jesus put to death in the eyes of the Jewish religious leaders. But it was not a serious enough charge for Rome to put someone to death.

 Luke 23:1-2 shows us that the religious leaders brought separate charges when they presented Jesus to Pilate. When we look at what Luke says we see the specific charges:

 * He was perverting the nation. They were probably implying that Jesus was turning people’s loyalty away from Caesar. This would be a serious charge to any Roman leader.

* Forbidding giving tribute to Caesar. They claimed that Christ was teaching the people not to pay their taxes to Rome. This was an outright lie. Jesus had said the opposite (Luke 20:25).

* Claiming to be a king. The Roman government did not want another kingdom rising up. Of course Jesus did claim to be a king. However, He did not claim to be the type of king the charge implied. His kingdom was not of this world.

These charges are clearly false. Jesus never taught anyone to rebel against Rome. In Matthew 5:41 He told the people if someone compelled them to go one mile, go two. Jesus taught people to “render to Caesar what was Caesar’s (22:21). The people had tried to make Jesus their earthly king at one point and Jesus refused (John 6:15).

Pilate addresses the charges and asks Jesus “Are you the king of the Jews?” (2) Jesus says “You have said so!” John tells us that Jesus said a little more to Pilate “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would come and fight for Me! One of Jesus angels could destroy all of Rome.

Pilate realizes Jesus isn’t a political threat. He sees through the jealousy of the religious leaders. He figures Jesus could talk Himself out of this. Look at verse 4-5. Pilate was amazed that Jesus didn’t just defend Himself against these weak charges.

In frustration Pilate walks outside and announces to the mob “I find no fault in this man!” the religious leaders shout back “He stirreth up the people teaching throughout all Judea and beginning from Galilee even unto this place!”

This gives Pilate an idea. Jesus is from Galilee? That’s Herod’s jurisdiction. Pilate sends Jesus to be tried by Herod Antipas. Remember, Herod Antipas is the Herod who stole his brother’s wife and then cut John the Baptist’s head off for calling him to repentance. John the Baptist was dearly loved by Jesus and was Jesus’ cousin. Herod was in Jerusalem for the Passover. This was convenient for Pilate. Jesus never said a word to Herod despite Herod’s attempts. Herod has Jesus dressed in a mock robe and ridiculed. Then he sent Him back to Pilate.

Pilate wants to let Jesus go. So he attempts to capitalize on a custom. Periodically, as a political move Rome would grant amnesty to a Jewish prisoner on the day of the Passover. Pilate sets two people before the Jews. Jesus and Barabbas.

Barabbas was a zealot. He was a rebel. He was trying to free the Jews from Roman tyranny by war. Today he would have been labeled a terrorist. He had killed at least one person. John 18:40 says he was a thief as well. So here we have a murderous, thieving rebel and we have Jesus. It’s their choice. I think Pilate picked polar opposites for a reason. Barabbas was a danger to the people. Jesus was a benefit to the people. The logical choice would be to let Jesus go.

Pilate knew the religious leaders hated Jesus (10). But he figured the crowd of people that had now joined the religious leaders would see clearly enough to know that Jesus should be set free. But notice verse 11. The religious leaders persuaded the people that Jesus was the One who should be killed and Barabbas should be freed.

The crowd shouted for Barabbas release.

Pilate had Jesus scourged (15). That didn’t satisfy the people.

Pilate told the crowd Jesus was innocent. That didn’t satisfy then people.

Pilate asked the people to release Jesus. They said “If you let Him go you aren’t Caesar’s friend! (John 19:12)

He asks them “What shall I do with your King? They say “Crucify Him”. Look at verse 13-14 you get the idea that they began to chant “Crucify Him” and they got louder with their demand. There’s no order in the court. There is no justice here. It’s hatred for the Son of God.

Us

And so we might wonder “What does this have to do with me?” Let’s think about Barabbas for a moment. He was guilty of sedition. He was guilty of planning to overthrow Rome. He was guilty of murder. He was guilty of robbery. No question.

Christ was perfectly innocent of all those things. Even though He was charged with sedition like Barabbas was. But Jesus paid the price for those crimes. This is a perfect picture of the substitutionary death of Christ. It’s not fair that Christ paid the price for sins He didn’t commit and Barabbas walked away free. But I want to say thank God for it.

Jesus was found guilty that we might be made innocent.

He was silent that we might sing praises.

He was humble so we might be exalted.

He went to trial so that we might go to heaven!

The Romans judged Christ for sedition.

The Jews judged Christ for blasphemy.

But the Father judged Christ for our sins.

Could you imagine being Barabbas on that day? Knowing that you are guilty. Knowing that Christ is innocent. Knowing that this innocent man died and you, a guilty man, went free. I  think Barabbas probably thought about Christ on the day he was released.

Dear friend we are Barabbas. We are admitted sinners. We have broken God’s law. We deserve death and punishment. But Christ takes it for us. 2 Cor. 5:21 says “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

The Sinless One was treated as a sinner and the sinners are treated as sinless! Grace, Oh the grace in that reality! Christ treated as the guilty party for my sins. My lies, my gossip, my drunkenness, my immorality, my sharp tongue, my hatred, my theft, my pride, my laziness, my hypocrisy. We are Barabbas. Christ is our substitute.

The One Thing- Christ was punished for my sins.