April 27 - The Trials

April 27 - The Trials - Mark 14:53-15:20

It was the middle of the night - probably around 3 am. A hastily convened court of the Sanhedrin was in session. There were 71 members of the Sanhedrin, 23 would be a quorum, but we find here that there was a majority of the members in attendance. This would be an informal trial, with the formal judgment occurring immediately after dawn. They were moving quickly because Jewish law required a trial to be held immediately upon arrest and because Roman trials happened at sunrise. They needed a binding verdict by daybreak so that they could get to Pilate early.

Peter had gathered enough courage to follow the procession which included Jesus, but he stayed at a safe distance.

The Sanhedrin needed evidence, but there was none. There were plenty of witnesses available to give false testimony, but even then the witnesses did not agree, this was unusable. However, it opened things up for questions regarding Jesus' identity. In Greek debate, the first question always expects a positive answer, while the second question requires an explanation.

The high priest asked the two questions in Mark 14:60. Jesus remained silent, so the high priest pressed forward. "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed one?"

The response was simple, "I am." The time to hide was over, the time to claim His heritage was at hand.

The blindfolded him and struck him, demanding that he prophesy. This was a rabbinic test of the true Messiah based loosely on Isaiah 11:2-4. The true Messiah should be able to prophesy without seeing. Jesus remained silent. (Mark 14:53-65)

Peter's failure to stand again for Jesus is told in Mark 14:66-72. This man had been through the ups and downs of a life following His master. He recognized what he was saying even as he was saying it and when the rooster crowed, he remembered Jesus' words and completely fell apart.

Early the next morning, the Sanhedrin reached their decision and took Jesus to Pilate. Pilate was a Roman prefect who was in Judea from 26 - 36 AD. He probably resided in Herod's palace when he came to Jerusalem and the civil trial was held there. He didn't simply agree with the Sanhedrin's decision and the only thing that he, as the Roman government's liaison, could allow to be brought against Jesus was His claim to be king.

Pilate decided to grant the customer Passover release of a prisoner, assuming that they would call for Jesus to be released, but they had been incited by the Sanhedrin to call for Barabbas' release and the crucifixion of Jesus. He couldn't even get them to give him a reason, they simply called out "Crucify Him!" There was nothing more he could do. (Mark 15:1-15)

Pilate sentenced Jesus to a Roman flogging before being handed over for crucifixion. This brutal beating nearly always preceded the execution of male prisoners. The prisoner was stripped, often tied to a post, and beaten on the back by several guards using short leather whips studded with sharp pieces of bone or metal. No limit was set on the number of blows. Often this punishment was fatal.

When Jesus lived through this, the company of soldiers mocked and ridiculed him, less a sign of their contempt for him as it was a sign of their contempt for this upstart Hebrew nation that long believed in its own right to a king.

They dressed him in his own clothes and led him to be crucified.