We are looking at a number of different verses and some different chapters. But we’re looking at the last week of Jesus’ life, and that’s currently before the Passover, where He will be sacrificed as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. Prior to that occurring, He is going to be falsely accused and arrested, and this evening we’re going to be taking a look at six different trials that He went through.
A lot of people don’t realize that Jesus was tried six times. Every one of the trials was illegal, and every one of them proved no guilt. And yet, He was condemned to death.
And He willfully went, even as it says in the scripture, as a Lamb to be slaughtered, and as a sheep to be silent before their shearers. He went willfully on our behalf at the will of the Father that He might redeem us from our sin.
We’ll start with John’s Gospel. And Jesus is on the Mount of Olives, and He’s in prayer for His disciples. And as He’s in prayer for His disciples, He’s also in prayer for us.
John chapter 17
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Now I want you to understand that Jesus is praying for His disciples to be set apart and sanctified, to bring glory to God, even as He was set apart, to bring glory to the Father, and that He would be used by God to redeem mankind.
You and I should be used by God to proclaim the truth. And then He tells us, He’s not just praying for the 12 disciples, or it would be the 11 because Judas betrayed Him. He’s not just praying for them.
He says, I’m praying for those that will come to know you by their word. In other words, that’s you and me. Jesus is praying for us.
It’s the same prayer for us. And so as He was preparing to make the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf, His thoughts were not concerned with Him, but His thoughts were concerned about those who would believe on His name and follow Him, and He prayed that we would seek to be used by God and that we would be used by God. As He’s doing this, as I mentioned, He comes with the priest and the temple guard, and they come and they fall food to Jesus.
Judas betrays Him, and he betrays Him with a kiss. And then they take Him away, and this evening we’re going to look at where they take Him and what they do. And so let’s just open with a word of prayer.
Prayer:
Father, I pray that You would just help us to understand that You were praying for us at the Garden of Gethsemane 2,000 years ago as You were preparing to go to the cross. You knew that You were going to the cross on our behalf, and You prayed that we would seek not to be of this world, but that we would seek to follow You and be used by God as He came to know You through the gospel when it was preached and shared with us. Lord, help us to seek to be used by You, to be set aside and sanctified for Your use and to bring glory to Your name.
Help us as we look into Your Word tonight to see the great sacrifice that You made on my behalf. Lord, help us to, in turn, be willing to be used by You. -Pastor Glenn
Jesus is taken away by the temple guard. They initially go to the house of Annas. Now, Annas and Caiaphas, there’s a relation there. And Caiaphas is referred to as the high priest when we look at this tonight, but Annas had been the high priest.
And at this particular time, the high priest was not placed there according to the one that should be called the high priest by the order of God to be the descendant of Aaron, even as it was laid out in the Scriptures, first by Moses and then reaffirmed later on as David set the orders of what the priest’s responsibility should be. And we see that these priests came to power by Roman influence and by buying their position. This had become a corrupted priesthood.
And they should have been the ones that knew the Messiah was coming. Even as we said on Sunday morning, they should have known the prophecies of the Old Testament. They should have known the book of Daniel, which spoke of when Jesus would enter into Jerusalem, the Messiah would come.
And it spoke of the very day He would come. And they should have known that. But when Jesus came, they wanted nothing to do with Him and instead they wanted to silence Him.
And this is their scheme is coming to its fruition as they plan on having Him put to death. And they think as Satan has influenced them and deceived them into thinking somehow by doing that, they will maintain their power and authority and that they are the ones that should have the responsibility to oversee the people and control the people. They don’t realize that they’re being used by God through their wickedness to ultimately fulfill His purpose in sending Christ to be crucified.
And if you turn with me to John’s Gospel, beginning at verse 18 and beginning at verse 12, I have the first of the six illegal trials that are stated and referred to in Scripture. I like to read beginning at verse 12.
John 18:12:21
12 Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,
13 And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.
And so you see this wasn’t being passed even correctly, even if it would be according to the Mosaic law, it should be to the son, not the son-in-law. So like I said, it was family buying influence and allowing the Jews to deal with the Romans to maintain control over the people. So they take Him before Caiaphas, and Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.
14 Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
That it was expedient, rather, that one man should die for the people. Remember he had spoken that word, and God uses even those who sometimes would not be following Him to be used by Him to proclaim things that are true. And it was expedient that Jesus die for the whole people because without His death, there was no salvation that would be accomplished.
And so it was God’s plan, but Caiaphas didn’t even realize what he was saying when he said it.
15 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.
16 But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter.
17 Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man’s disciples? He saith, I am not.
18 And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.
19 The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine.
20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.
21 Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.
The first accusation is that he’s making claims that are kept secret, and he’s stirring trouble amongst the people. And Jesus said, everyone knows exactly what I’ve said, because I’ve said it out in the open.
And they even knew. As a matter of fact, when he spoke, he made them very angry, because he openly declared that he was God on more than one occasion, which made them mad, and they called him a blasphemer. And they attempted to, they were going to pick up stones to stone him, and they could not do it, because that is not the manner of death, but he needed to die on the cross, because that is the means by which he had been foretold, and plus, he was to shed his blood on our behalf in that manner.
So, you see that they knew it, but already the false accusations are starting to come, that somehow he’s keeping things secret, and stirring up things that they don’t know about. And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, answerest thou the high priest so? And Jesus answered him, I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil, but if well, why smitest thou me? And so he’s saying, why are you hitting me? And this was the beginning of what was foretold in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, where it said that he would be smitten for our iniquities, and by his stripes he would be healed. As they begin to persecute Jesus both physically, and by making false accusations against him.
There is nothing that they can find in this first trial. There’s no accusations. Jesus himself says, if I haven’t spoken the truth, then what is the lie? But if I have spoken the truth, why are you hitting me? And he had spoken the truth, because he had openly taught to all of the people, and no one was prevented from hearing him, yet they refused to have ears to hear.
We see then that the second trial occurs, and that’s in the house of Caiaphas.
In the Eucharist we see, in Matthew chapter 26, Matthew chapter 26, at verse 57.
Matthew 26:57
57 And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.
And so we see that, one of the things I want you to understand is, the scribes and the elders were not to be assembled at night, they were not to be trialed by night. As a matter of fact, Jewish law indicated that you were to be innocent until proven guilty, much like our law, and consequently you had to have witnesses that could speak against you, and that also the trials were not to be done at night.
And the scribes and the Pharisees, many of whom made up the Sanhedrin, were to be assembled only in the day, and they were only to be assembled in a certain manner, at a certain place, if there was to be someone to be tried for an accusation of sin or wrongdoing. And we see everything about the second trial, the first trial, there was no Sanhedrin there at all. It was just the remnants of the mob that had gathered and took Jesus, the priests that had taken him.
The second trial, we see that there is an illegal gathering, if you go by Jewish law, of the leaders of Israel to try Jesus in the house of Pius I. And so that is being done illegally. And the chief priests and the elders and all the council sought false witness against Jesus to put him to death. Now, the second thing that is wrong with this trial, they had no witnesses, so they basically started making up things.
And so they sought false witnesses, those that would be able to say something, but it really wasn’t true. And so it says here in verse 61, it said,
Matthew 26:61
61 And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.
Now, that’s not exactly what Jesus had said, and it’s not what he meant.
He was making reference to his body, the temple, and that he would die, and on the third day he would rise again from the dead. But they twisted his word and said, He’s saying that you can destroy this temple and he can somehow build it in three days. And from there they go on, and Jesus held his peace.
He didn’t say, wait a second here, that’s not what I meant. He just was silent before his accusers. Jesus held his peace and the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
Now, Jesus is going to answer this question, or this statement.
Matthew 26:64
64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
What he was saying is he answered his question. He’s saying, first of all, you said it, you’ve made the statement, but I’m going to tell you something even further.
And he tells them where he’s going to see him. He’s going to see him at the right hand of the Father in this position of power and authority. He’s going to see him coming from heaven and he is basically making the claim that if they know the scripture, that he is the one that shall judge them one day.
And that’s what he’s telling them. That they have making these false accusations but they shall stand before him one day. And he is proclaiming who he is.
Matthew 26:65-66
65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.
66 What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.
Well, if you look at what Jesus had done, remember on Sunday I was talking about all the things that Jesus did before he entered the city of Jerusalem on the very day, in the very manner that he spoke to the prophets before the Messiah would come. And he said, he went about and he did certain miracles before he entered the city. One is he raised Lazarus from the dead.
Only God can give life and death and only the Messiah would be able to raise from the dead and Jesus showed before he came into Jerusalem who he was. The second thing he did is he healed the blind men by Jericho. Again, opening the eyes of the blind when the people didn’t want him to and again revealing who he was because it is said that when the Messiah came he would cause the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.
All of these things Jesus did. He also said that he would cast out demons. He did that as well.
He didn’t do those things right before he came into Jerusalem at least it’s not indicated in Scripture. But he did do miracles that revealed he was the Messiah, entered Jerusalem in the very manner it said he would, and yet they are saying blasphemy when they have proclaimed he’s the Son of God and then when he tells them he is and what his position and authority means with that, then they call it blasphemy. So again, they set it up with false witnesses.
They get him to make statements that are true but then they twist the statements and accuse him of blasphemy. And then you also have again a denial by Peter. Now, the third trial is by the Sanhedrin.
Matthew 27:
1 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
2 And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
Now again, this particular trial, although it was done before the Sanhedrin was done illegally.
There were no witnesses called on behalf of his defense. There was nothing really stated about what the accusations were except from the night before and the illegal trial was a setup. And here we see that they just come in and give their verdict and they give their verdict illegally without going through the proper forms of the trial that’s established by the law that should have been done.
And so everything about the Jewish trial that was done by religious leaders was done illegally. And then what they did is they accused him of a crime that should have resulted in him being stoned, but they didn’t have the power to put anybody to death. The only ones that had power to put people to death were the Romans.
And so they were going to take him before the Romans so that they could make, again, false accusations and see if they could get Pontius Pilate to put him to death. And again, they had falsely accused him, falsely judged him, and now they’re going to bring him into the Roman courts with no real evidence of anything that is worthy of Rome putting him to death. So the first three trials are mockery.
Now let’s see what happens with the Roman trial. And so if you turn with me to the first Roman trial we find in John 18, beginning at verse 28. John 18, beginning at verse 28.
John 18:28
Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.
Now I just want to pause here. The hypocrisy of these men is beyond belief.
They had done everything to violate the law, but they won’t enter the judgment hall of Pilate because that would defile them because they’d be entering a Gentile’s court on Shabbat, the high Sabbath, in preparation for the high Sabbath. And they want to partake of Passover. And you see these people are such, they’re just as Jesus said.
They’re liars, deceivers, hypocrites, and those of you who were here on Sunday afternoon, we looked at the woes that Jesus proclaimed against the Pharisees, and he called them loathsome scribes and Pharisees and hypocrites. And he said that over and over and over because they were. They proclaimed to be something, but they did the exact opposite.
They said look at how righteous and holy we are, but then look at how unholy they lived their lives. And that’s what they’re doing here. They have all these three trials that are illegal, and then they bring them to Pontius Pilate, but they won’t enter Pontius Pilate’s hall because they want to defile themselves for the Passover.
And the Passover is pointing to the one that they’re going to crucify, Jesus. It’s total hypocrisy, and it shows their total lack of discernment, understanding, and being led by Satan and not by God. And verse 29,
John 18:29-30
29 Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man?
30 They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.
And by a malefactor, they mean someone who is trying to usurp Rome’s authority and overthrow the government, and a troublemaker, and someone who’s trying to cause the people to rise up against Rome. Jesus had never done that. As a matter of fact, prior to this, if you go back and you’ll read in the Gospels, you’ll see that on three occasions, four occasions, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Herodians, came to Jesus and tried to deceive him, and on one of those occasions, the first one, they came and said, Should we pay taxes and should we render to repair taxes unto Caesar? And Jesus at that time said, Do you have a coin? And they gave him a coin, and he said, Whose image is on the coin? And they said, Caesar’s. And he said, Render unto Caesar’s what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s. He didn’t say, Okay, yes, we need to overthrow the Roman government. We need to have a different type of coinage.
No, he was saying, God’s imprint is on your heart. You were created in the image of God, and so you need to render your lives unto the Lord and give unto Caesar in this world the things that are his. He didn’t say anything about overthrowing the Roman government.
But yet, that’s the accusation they’re making against him. He’s a malefactor. He’s someone who’s trying to stir up trouble and overthrow Rome.
And then they go on, and they say in verse 31,
John 18:31
31 Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:
And so here you see the real intent.
The real intent isn’t judgment. The real intent isn’t to look for truth, but rather they just want Jesus put to death. And they say, We can’t do that, but you can.
John 18:31
32 That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.
Because remember, he told his disciples that he was going to Rome, he was going to be falsely accused, he was going to be taken and beaten, and those things had happened during the first three trials. He didn’t look extensively at what happened during those, but he was beaten.
For example, when we were in Israel, there were actually a bunch of the House of Caiaphas that went down to where it could have been the area where Jesus was taken, where he was slapped and beaten by the soldiers as he was being queried by the priests. But we see that they’re saying, Jesus is telling them, You do this. This isn’t a Roman issue.
This is a Jewish issue. And then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews? Now, we’re going to be looking at the fifth trial. So there we have the fourth trial.
And if you go on and you see in verse 34 during this fourth trial, well, let’s just read the text of the fourth trial.
John 18:34-36
35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
And so Jesus is really stating the accusation to bring me against him is a malefact that’s trying to overthrow the Roman government is totally false.
He says, You’re saying I’m a king. And he says, Who told you this? Did someone else tell you this? Or did you come to that conclusion of your own? But he’s saying, If I have a kingdom, my kingdom is not of this world. And it’s not.
It wasn’t of this world. And he hadn’t come to overthrow the Roman government. He’d come to overthrow the power of Satan that he had over people’s lives and to pay the penalty for our sins.
And that we could be set free from the enslavement to sin. And that was the heart of his kingdom. And he said, If I had a kingdom in this world, my followers would be fighting for my freedom.
They’d be fighting to overthrow you. But they’re not. And they weren’t.
And as a matter of fact, they were.
We didn’t look at the verse, but Jesus had said before that when he was done praying, he said that when the shepherd is taken, the sheep will scatter, and that’s exactly what happened. The disciples scattered, and Peter actually denied him three times, just as Jesus had said. Pilate therefore said unto him in verse 37.
John 18:37-38
37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
The truth is that men are sinners, that there was no hope for them, that God is holy, righteous, and just, and that the only means that men can be redeemed and saved was that someone who is holy and righteous and just would have to pay the penalty for them, and Jesus came to do this very thing.
Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And that’s a great statement, but the amazing thing is, Pilate is looking at Jesus who is the truth. He is the truth because he’s God come in the flesh. He is the truth.
And Pilate says, What is the truth? When he’s looking at the truth right in the face. And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and he says unto them, I find in him no fault at all. So we see that this is the fourth trial that occurs.
And again, it’s an illegal trial. There’s no accusations that stand that are brought. Pilate actually finds him innocent but doesn’t let him go.
And so we see that if one is found innocent, they are to be let go, but Pilate doesn’t do that. Instead, he sends him to Herod. And then the fifth trial occurs, and the text of that trial is found in Luke 23, beginning at verse 6 through 12.
Luke 23:12
6 When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean.
7 And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time.
8 And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.
9 Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing.
10 And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him.
11 And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.
12 And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves.
Jesus is brought before Herod. Now why is he brought before Herod? Because Pilate finds out that Jesus is from Galilee, and he’s a Galilean. Herod has the authority over Galilee.
And Pilate is thinking, you know, I can get rid of this problem. It’s really not my problem anyway because he’s a Galilean, and I’m over this southern portion of Israel. My headquarters are in Caesarea.
I come up from Jerusalem because I’m over Jerusalem. But if Jesus is from Galilee, that’s really Herod’s problem. And so I’ll send him to Herod, and Herod can take care of it.
I’m tired of dealing with this situation. I found him innocent, so I’ll send him to Herod, and let Herod take care of it. Herod was in the line of Herodians, and he was also one who was intrigued by Jesus because he had heard he’d done all these miracles, and Herod, like many people today, really wasn’t interested in following Jesus because of his claims to be the Son of God and to come to redeem them from their sin.
But Herod’s real desire was to see miracles. He wanted to see Jesus do something for his church, what he viewed as miracles. And there’s a lot of people today that follow Jesus for the same purpose.
Just show us a miracle. I remember there’s people that have claimed to be atheists, and they say, Well, Lord, if you really exist, just do this, and I’ll believe in you. Oh, you didn’t do it, so I guess I don’t believe in you.
Well, Jesus doesn’t do tricks on command. Jesus doesn’t do miracles on command. But that’s what Herod wanted him to do.
Let’s take a look at chapter 23, verse 39. Then Pilate heard of Galilee. He asked whether the man was Galilean.
And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time. Now, all of the Roman leaders had congregated in Jerusalem because of the potential problems that were going to happen because of all these Jews coming to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. So they were all there.
Luke 23:8
And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him
Oh, was he exceeding glad because Jesus was coming, the Son of God? No.
For he was desirous to see Him of a long season, because he had heard of many things of Him, and he had hoped to have seen some miracle done by Him. He didn’t really care about Jesus’ message. He just wanted miracles.
And there’s a lot of people like that today. They don’t care an iota about Jesus’ message. They just want the miracle.
And that was Herod. I want to see His miracle. I’ve heard so much about you.
Then he questioned with Him in many words. But He, that is, Jesus, answered him nothing. And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him.
And Herod, with his men of war, set Him at knots and mocked Him and arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him again to Pilate. So Herod didn’t get to see His miracles, but he mocked Jesus and said, OK, you want to be a king? I’ll give you this beautiful robe and I’m going to send you back to Pilate and I’ll show Him that you’re a king because you’re wearing this beautiful robe. But mocking Him the whole time, having no desire to hear the truth, and really wanting nothing to do with Jesus.
And so he sends Him back again to Pilate. And the same day, Pilate and Herod were made friends together for before they were at amnesty between themselves. And it’s very interesting, isn’t it, that when you have people that come against the thing that God loves, oftentimes even enemies will join together.
Right now you have that going on in the Middle East. You have the Shiite Muslims that normally fight one another and kill one another, but they’ll come against Israel together to kill Israel. That is the way Satan works.
And he did it here. Herod and Pilate who had been enemies, now all of a sudden are friends because they both have this problem with Jesus and what to do with Him. So he sends Him back to Pilate.
So now we have this sixth part In the sixth trial we’re going to be taking a look in John chapter 18. And we’re going to be beginning in verse 39. And we’ll have the sixth trial that occurs.
Chapter 18, verse 39. But you have Pilate comes before the Jewish people and Jesus has been sent back to him. And now he comes and he brings Jesus before the Jews.
And the Romans had a custom that during Passover, during the high Shabbat of Passover, they would allow one prisoner to be set free. And it didn’t matter what the prisoner had done, Rome would forgive them and set them free to pay homage to the Jews so that they wouldn’t expel their desire to revolt. And so that’s what Pilate is doing here.
And he says, but you have a custom that I should release unto you at the Passover, will you therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews. So Pilate has got Jesus, he’s wearing this robe that Herod had placed on him. He comes back to the court.
He says, this is the custom, you want the King of the Jews released unto you. They cried all again and saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.
And Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him. And so this is where he is whipped and beaten and scourged with a whip. And he bears stripes on our behalf.
And it says, and the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and put it on his head and they put on him a purple robe. And he said, Hail King of the Jews! And they smote him with their hands. And Pilate therefore went forth again and says unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you that you may know that I find no fault in him.
So he beat him and scourged him and slapped him and mocked him and said, I don’t find any fault in him, but I’ve done all these things. Does this please you? And they said, Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate says unto them, Behold the man.
Then the chief priests therefore and the officers saw him and they cried out again, Crucify him! Crucify him! Pilate says unto them, Take ye and crucify him for I find no fault in him. Again, an illegal trial. You don’t crucify an innocent man.
Yet Pilate did that. So we see there were six trials that Jesus endured. Three by the Jews, three by the Romans.
The three by the Jews were done illegally, done in an illegal manner, not any witnesses, done in the wrong times, done in the wrong fashion, and no ability to defend himself. And then the three Roman trials were done where there was absolutely no evidence and Pilate even makes a statement and Herod admits to it as well by sending him back to Pilate. So they are crucifying an innocent man.
Now this is because Jesus had said, this is exactly how I’m going to die. Remember when he came down from Galilee? We talked about that in one of the previous messages. He told them three times on the way from the Galilee region, I am going to Rome, I’m going to Rome, I’m going to be taken, prisoners are going to beat me, and then I’m going to be crucified.
And then I will rise again the third day. He told them that three times. And you see here it’s coming about just as he said would happen.
And we’re going to be taking a look on Sunday about the crucifixion and resurrection. But the Roman trials, the Jewish trials, were all illegal. And yet they only proved that Jesus was without sin and who paid the penalty for our sins.
Let’s just close in prayer. Oh let us pray. Jesus help us to understand these truths, help us to apply them to our lives.
May we seek to honor and glorify you, and may we proclaim the gospel message, especially during these times and may we remember that Jesus has done for us. This afternoon. Amen.