Six Trials

Six Trials
Matt. 27:1

1 When [de] the morning [proia] was come [ginomai] , all [pas] the chief priests [archiereus] and [kai] elders [presbuteros] of the people [laos] took [lambano] counsel [sumboulion] against [kata] Jesus [Iesous] to [hoste] put [thanatoo] him [autos] to death [thanatoo] : KJV-Interlinear

1 Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death; NASB

Mark 15:1
1 And early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes, and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate. NASB

Luke 22:66-71

66 And when it was day, the Council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him away to their council chamber, saying, 67 'If You are the Christ, tell us.' But He said to them, 'If I tell you, you will not believe; 68 and if I ask a question, you will not answer. 69 'But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.' 70 And they all said, 'Are You the Son of God, then?' And He said to them, 'Yes, I am.' 71 And they said, 'What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.' NASB

The first two trials having been concluded, The council left Jesus in the hands of the Temple officers. We have already studied their beatings of him while in their custody.

The council was now faced with presenting this trial as a 'legitimate' one. Legitimate trials could only be held during the daytime, and within the venue of the Temple court. The members hastily gathered the entire membership of the Sanhedrin together, and assembled them in the Temple.

They had a problem however. They were on a feeding frenzy like starving piranha. They had been working all night to get evidence against Jesus, and they failed at that. He finally confessed to being the Christ (Jesus Christ controls history), which is the truth, but those assembled, did not believe Him and demanded his death for blasphemy.

Now under rabbinical law, authorities must wait until the third day before executing anyone condemned to die:

'rabbinical law required that a sentence of death could not be carried out until the third day after it was rendered and that during the intervening day the members of the court were to fast. The delay of execution provided additional time for evidence or testimony to be discovered in the defendant's behalf.'
(The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, (c) Moody Press and John MacArthur, Jr., 1983-2002)

This wait presented them with the following. It is now Wednesday, and the third day after the 'legitimate' trial would fall on Saturday, their Sabbath. That prevents them from doing anything until Sunday, still four days away. Roman law was not under such constraints. Likewise, if there were any type of delay, then those following Jesus would certainly come out of the woodwork and that might present the Sanhedrin with even more confrontation. No. They had to do something today (Wednesday) or probably not at all.

Their actions throughout the morning follow this pattern of near panic thinking. If they were not so concerned, then they could simply lock up Jesus and wait until after the holiday feasts. But could you imagine the public reaction if they found out that they had locked up one who claims to be the Messiah? Especially one with the reputation (miracles) and following that Jesus had! With each passing day, a fickle public would change its mind in unpredictable ways.

They bound Jesus and ran off to the Temple chamber for the 'official' trial (outcome already decided). His third trial by now. They repeat the questions to Jesus and He states simply that they will not believe anything He tells them. God Himself tells them who He is, and that He is the Messiah. They reject the truth when it stands right before them. Stubborn arrogance totally refuses to see the truth.

That is the power of arrogance which is driven by lust (power, wealth, status, compromises, etc.). And when it is confronted with truth, then it turns to hate and then violence. If you cannot have your way, then there are but three possible results - 1. you can give up with deep emotional reaction and commit suicide (Judas), or 2. you can do whatever you can to destroy the object of your hate (the Sanhedrin), or 3. you can come to your senses and repent (Peter).

Arrogant people will often try to destroy others, when they cannot have their way. Not only that, they will often destroy themselves and all that they have, just to satisfy their hate and get even with the one they blame for their problems. They refuse to see truth and they refuse to see any blessings that they might be enjoying.

The Sanhedrin did just that. They crucified Jesus (the target of their hate), they perpetuated a truly blasphemous faith (life style), hurting not only themselves but many people who were influenced by its lies (their constituency). They perpetuated the seeds of discontent against the Romans and this ended up in the virtual annihilation of Judea 40 years hence (the nation destroyed). They sent themselves to the Lake of Fire - the quintessence of self destruction. All this because they were stubborn and hateful, and they allowed their hate to guide their decisions. They totally ignored truth and 'refused stubbornly' to bow down to it in humility.

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