Six Trials

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Six Trials

Luke 23:8-12

8 And [de] when Herod [Herodes] saw [eido] Jesus [Iesous] , he was exceeding [lian] glad [chairo] : for [gar] he was [en] desirous [thelo] to see [eido] him [autos] of [ek] a long [hikanos] season, because [dia] he had heard [akouo] many things [polus] of [peri] him [autos] ; and [kai] he hoped [elpizo] to have seen [eido] some [tis] miracle [semeion] done [ginomai] by [hupo] him [autos] .
9 Then [de] he questioned [eperotao] with him [autos] in [en] many [hikanos] words [logos] ; but [de] he [autos] answered [apokrinomai] him [autos] nothing [oudeis] .
10 And [de] the chief priests [archiereus] and [kai] scribes [grammateus] stood [histemi] and vehemently [eutonos] accused [kategoreo] him [autos] .
11 And [de] Herod [Herodes] with [sun] his [autos] men of war [strateuma] set [exoutheneo] him [autos] at nought [exoutheneo] , and [kai] mocked [empaizo] him, and arrayed [periballo] him [autos] in a gorgeous [lampros] robe [esthes] , and sent [anapempo] him [autos] again [anapempo] to Pilate [Pilatos] .
12 And [de] [hos] the same [en] [autos] day [hemera] Pilate [Pilatos] and [kai] Herod [Herodes] were made [ginomai] friends [philos] together [meta] [te] [allelon] : for [gar] before [prouparcho] they were [on] at [en] enmity [echthra] between [pros] themselves [heautou] . KJV-Interlinear

8 Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. 9 And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing. 10 And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there, accusing Him vehemently. 11 And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate. 12 Now Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been at enmity with each other. NASB

Ever since John the Baptist was executed, Herod was anxious to meet and arrest Jesus and remove Him from society. He did not know if Jesus was a reincarnated John the Baptist, but He was afraid of Him just the same. He, Herod, was politically insecure because of Jesus' popularity.

Herod was well aware of Jesus' popularity, of His miracles, of His huge following. Now Jesus is coming to him, not as a free man with a huge following, but as a bound prisoner. This pleased Herod to no end. After all there would be no fallout against him. He didn't arrest Jesus!

Herod looks Jesus over and questions Him. 'So you are the famous Jesus! So you do all of these miracles. How about showing us some miracle right now. Maybe a little one. Maybe you can foretell the future.'

The questioning went on and on, for a little while at least. Jesus opened not His mouth. He answered no question. The silence only served to incite Herod into anger. Herod began making fun of Jesus. He allowed His officers to ridicule Jesus. Dressing Him up in the robes of royalty. Again spitting on Him. Making fun of Him. Hitting Him.

All the while the chief priests were ranting in their endless accusations against Jesus. All the while Jesus remained calm, poised, and silent.

This fifth trial was one of ridicule. One that attempted to make into nothing, He who made everything. The chief priests wanted to preserve their way of life. They wanted to preserve their political clout.

Herod just wanted to get rid of a thorn in his political career. Anything and anyone who presented the possibility of bringing about unrest in his jurisdiction was hated. Herod was not concerned with truth, but with political expediency.

No formal charges were made. No indictment was brought before Herod. Only accusations with no foundation in truth, then ridicule, and finally abusive handling of the prisoner.

Through all five of these trials thus far, Jesus stood up to the test, tests designed to break Him physically, and emotionally.

Herod preferred to become friends with Pilate and to provide comfort to the Jewish leadership, rather than to become friends with Jesus. Herod was neither interested in Jesus, nor His true identity. No doubt Jesus was ridiculed for apparently losing His powers of miracles, since He performed none for the audience.

God is not a genie. God is not there for us to call on at our convenience. When anyone requested something of Jesus, over the previous three and a half years, Jesus denied no one their request. But now, Jesus did not even respond to the miracle requests of Herod, and those who made fun of Him. God is not to be mocked. Only those who lack wisdom would even dare to mock God. Those who refuse to be obedient to Gods will, and stubbornly want to steer their own course through life, are in effect mocking God. They think they have a better way, perhaps. Even if their compromises in life seem to be very innocent. Even if 'no one else is getting hurt.'

And so go the rationalizations people make throughout their lives. We learned from Noah, and from Job, that patience and obedience are generally the rule of life. God does all things in His own good time. To be impatient, to become angry, or depressed, or bitter because your life is not what 'you' want it to be and 'right now' is to display your lack of preparation in your spiritual life.

Too many will follow the pattern of the priests, of Pilate, and of Herod. They look only to what they have now in their life, or of what they want in life, or of what they might lose in life. This focus blinds them from truth and enters a defiance, an impenetrable barrier which is difficult to get around.

This barrier is made up of refusal to see the truth, and so others are blamed, hate enters into the picture, and the person will destroy even themselves and all they have in order to satisfy their hate. Their hate is never satisfied. Their life becomes one frustration after another, and yet more wrong decisions enter into their life.

They believe that their desires will satisfy their inner life, and they continue to believe that lie, though their life is continually filled with problems and frustrations. They refuse to make the necessary changes in their life, but continue to fall back on their stubborn attitude. Negative people do not listen to reason or even truth.

Eventually God will pull the plug on their life, but not before much misery is allowed, in order to prove to the world and to history that it is the negative person who destroys himself by his defiant refusal to turn to God and to walk (obedience) in doctrine.