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The Illegal Trial Of Jesus Christ
The Mock Tribunal That Put Jesus On The Cross
"... they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly..."
- Mat. 26:4
Many important trials have taken place in recent years, a number of them
cited as "The Trial of the Century." As we'll show shortly, the trial of 'Jesus bar
Joseph vs. the Sanhedrin,' was not only the trial of the 1st Century, but the "Trial
of All Time." There was never anything like it, before or since, nor ever shall be.
The price of our Redemption was infinitely high, to be sure, considering
Who Jesus was, but HIs execution was unavoidable. It had to be done.
Even so, the High Priest, the Sanhedrin and governor Pilate had no power
over our Savior (John 19:11); He was "handed over by God’s deliberate plan
and foreknowledge... and with the help of wicked men," was put to death (Acts
2:23). And to make sure no one would ever forget, Jesus split time in half (BC /
AD), and will remain so for as long as the earth stands.
In Western democracies, particularly in criminal cases, defendants are
assumed innocent until proven guilty. This is especially true in capital cases
where a life is at stake.The same was true in 1st. Century Israel. However, as
we'll see, Jesus was presumed guilty throughout the trial.
There were two principal charges against Jesus: blasphemy, per Jewish
Law, presided over by King Herod and the Sanhedrin (Israeli High Court, comprised of seventy-one judges); and treason, per Roman Law, presided over by Pontius Pilate. The Old Testament Torah (the Mosaic Code) constituted the written law, and the Talmud (the traditions of the elders), the oral law. All were manipulated by the Sanhedrin and religious leaders who wanted Jesus dead.
During the proceedings nearly a dozen of their own statutes were violated. They are listed below with sources: scriptures, Jewish laws and rabbinical writings.
1st Violation:
During Jesus' arrest and trial, the Sanhedrin were biased and prejudiced toward Him.
On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out
those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money
changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone
to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said,
"Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?' But you
have made it ‘a den of robbers." The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard
this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole
crowd was amazed at his teaching. - Mark 11:15-18
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against
Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they could not find any. - Mark 4:55
Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days
away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest
Jesus secretly and kill him. - Mark 14:1
Statutes breached:
- There must not be on the judicial bench either a relation, or a particular friend, or an enemy of either the accused or the
accuser. - Mendelsohn, 'Criminal Jurisprudence of the Ancient Hebrews,' p. 108
- Nor under any circumstances was a man known to be at enmity with the accused person permitted to occupy a position
among his judges. - Phillip Benny, 'Criminal Code of the Jews,' p. 37
2nd Violation:
Jesus was tried at night.
"Then Jesus told them, 'This very night you will all fall away on account of me...'” - Mat. 26:31
Statutes breached:
- The Jewish law prohibited any part of legal proceedings by night. - Dupin, 'Jesus Devant Caiphe et Pilate'
- A capital offense must be tried during the day and suspended at night. - Mishna, Sanhedrin Vol.1
- Criminal cases can be acted upon by the various courts during the day time only. - Mendelssohn, 'Criminal Jurisprudence of
Ancient Hebrews,' p. 112
3rd Violation:
Jesus was examined privately; first by the High Priest and then by Pilate.
Simon Peter and another disciple were
following Jesus. Because this disciple was known
to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the
high priest’s courtyard... Meanwhile, the high
priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and
his teaching." - John 18:15,19
Pilate hen went back inside the palace,
summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the
king of the Jews?” - John 18:33
Statutes breached:
- An accused man must never be subjected to private or secret examination, lest in his perplexity, he furnish damaging testimony against himself. - Salvado in, 'Institutions de Moise,' pp. 365-366
- Be not a sole judge, for there is no sole judge but One. - Mishna, 'Pirke Aboth,' IV 8
4th Violation:
Witnesses only could bring charges. The court could only investigate.
"Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, 'He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses?'" - Mat. 26:65
"They all asked, 'Are you then the Son of God?' He replied, 'You say that I am.' Then they said, 'Why do we need any further witnesses? We have heard it from his own lips.'” - Luke 22:70-71
Statute breached:
- The Sanhedrin could not originate charges; it could only investigate those brought before it. - Edersheim, 'Life And Times
Of Jesus The Messiah,' Vol. I. p.309
5th Violation:
The Court was forbidden to meet prior to the offering of the morning sacrifice.
"Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman
governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they
did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover."
- John 18: 28
Statutes breached:
- The Sanhedrin was to convene only from the close of the morning sacrifice
to the time of the evening sacrifice. - Talmud, 'Jesus, Sanhedrin,' Vol. I, p. 19
- No session of the court could take place before the offering of the morning
sacrifice. - M.M. Lemann, Jesus Before the Sanhedrin. p. 109
- The morning sacrifice is offered at the dawn of day. The Sanhedrin is not to
assemble until the hour after that time. - Mishna, Talmud, of the Perpetual Sacrifice, Chapter III
6th Violation:
The Court could not assemble on the following days: 1) the Sabbath, 2) the day before the Sabbath, 3) the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, 4) the Passover, 5) the eve of Passover, 6) or any other Holy Day.
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. - Mat. 26:17-18
Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the
teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they
said, “or the people may riot.” - Mark 14:1-2
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly
desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." - Luke 22: 14-15
Statutes breached:
- Court must not be held on the Sabbath, or any holy day. - Mishnah, Betza, Vol. II
- They shall not judge on the eve of the Sabbath, nor on that of any festival. - Mishna, Sanhedrin IV. 1
- No court of justice in Israel was permitted to hold sessions on the Sabbath or any of the seven Biblical holidays. In cases of capital crime, no trial could be commenced on Friday or the day previous to any holiday, because it was not lawful either to adjourn such cases longer than over night, or to continue them on the Sabbath or holiday. - Rabbi Wise, Martyrdom of Jesus, p.67
(Note: Any disparities regarding the holy days are resolved by the fact that the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread were combined during the Babylonian exile, c. 588-520 BC, [cf. "Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching." - Luke 22:1] The Encyclopaedia Judaica concurs: "The feast of Passover consists of two parts: The Passover ceremony and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Originally, both parts existed separately; but at the beginning of the exile they were combined." - Second Edition, Vol. 15, p. 680)
Encyclopaedia Judaica On-Line
https://ketab3.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/encyclopaedia-judaica-v-15-nat-per.pdf
7th Violation:
Capital cases could not begin and end in a single day. Jesus was arrested, tried, beaten and crucified on the Day of Preparation for the Passover (i.e., Friday).
Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor [Pilate]. By now it was early
morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to
eat the Passover. - John 18:28
Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, and the chief priests and the teachers
of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus... - Luke 22:1-2
It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your
king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify
him!" "Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief
priests answered... Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
- John 19:14-16
Statute breached:
- A criminal case resulting in the acquittal of the accused may terminate the same
day on which it began. But if a sentence of death is to be pronounced, it cannot be
conducted before the following day. - Mishnah, Sanhedrin, IV. 1.
8th Violation:
A unanimous guilty verdict was unacceptable, and could not convict the defendant.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will
see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The high priest tore
his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death. - Mark 14:61-64
Statutes breached:
- A simultaneous and unanimous verdict of guilt rendered on the day of the trial
has the effect of an acquittal. - Mendelsohn, Criminal Jurisprudence of the Ancient
Hebrews, p. 141
- If none of the judges defend the culprit, i.e. all pronounce him guilty, having no
defender in the court, the verdict guilty was invalid and the sentence of death could
not be executed. - Rabbi Wise, 'Martyrdom of Jesus,' p. 74
9th Violation:
Jesus' conviction was based upon his uncorroborated confession, with no credible witnesses.
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence
against Jesus so they could put him to death but did not find any. Many
testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree. Then
some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: "We heard him
say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will
build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even then their testimony did not
agree. Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you
not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing
against you?” But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high
priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” “I am,”
said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the
Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”The high priest tore his
clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have
heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as worthy
of death. - Mark 14:55-64
Statutes breached:
- No one can bring an accusation against himself. Should a man make confession of guilt before a legally constituted tribunal, such confession is not to be said against him unless properly attested by two witnesses. - Maimonides, Sanhedrin, IV p.2
- No attempt can be made to lead a man on to self-incrimination. Moreover, a voluntary confession on his part is not admitted in evidence, and therefore, not competent to convict him, unless a legal number of witnesses minutely corroborate his self-accusation. - Mendelsohn, Criminal Jurisprudence of the Ancient Hebrews, p.13
- A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. - Deuteronomy 19:15
(Note: Due to the right against self-incrimination, Jesus remained silent. The High Priest next demanded He acknowledge
His Divinity, and then accused Him of blasphemy [self-incrimination] without credible witnesses.)
10th Violation:
Capital cases could only be tried, and the defendant sentenced, in an authorized location, most likely the Hall Of Hewn Stones. (Note: The Hall of Hewn Stones was the meeting place, or council-chamber, of the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period, i.e., 6th Century BC – 1st Century AD (Wikipedia).
If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or
assaults—take them to the place the LORD your God will choose. - Deut. 17:8
Jesus was tried and condemned in the palace of Caiaphas and the Roman Praetorium. - John 18:28
Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor [Praetorium]. By now it was
early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be
able to eat the Passover. - John 18:28
Statutes breached:
- After leaving the hall Gazith [Hewn Stones] no sentence of death can be passed upon anyone soever. - Talmud, Idolatry, Chapter 1, Vol.8
- A sentence of death can be pronounced only so long as the Sanhedrin holds its sessions in the appointed place.
- Maimonides, Sanhedrin, XIV
11th Violation:
The Court could not deny a defendant his defense and witnesses in a public assembly.
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death,
but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree. - Mark 14:55-56
Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. So
they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor. When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that
Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.
“I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” "What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. - Mat. 27:1-5
Statutes breached:
- The primary object of the Hebrew judicial system was to render the conviction of an innocent person impossible. All the ingenuity of the Jewish legist was directed to the attainment of this end. - Phillip Benny, Criminal Code of the Jews, p. 56
- The Sanhedrin did not and could not originate charges; it only investigated those brought before it. - Edersheim, Life And Times Of Jesus The Messiah, vol. 1, p. 309
- The evidence of the leading witnesses constituted the charge. There was no other charge; no more formal indictment. Until they spoke, and spoke in the public assembly, the prisoner was scarcely an accused man. - Alexander Innes, The Trial of Jesus Christ, p. 41
- The only prosecutors known to Talmudic criminal jurisprudence are the witnesses to the crime. Their duty is to bring the matter to the cognizance of the court, and to bear witness against the criminal. In capital cases they are the legal executioners also [per Deut. 17:7]. Of an official accuser or prosecutor there is nowhere any trace in the laws of the ancient Hebrews. - Mendelssohn, Criminal Jurisprudence of Ancient Hebrews, p. 110
- At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one
witness he shall not be put to death. - Deut. 17:6
These were the statutory violations that nailed Christ to the cross. The trial
of Jesus was the most loathsome miscarriage of justice ever recorded in the
annals of men. He was assumed guilty before His arrest and illegally tried at night.
He was arrested without warrant and mistreated during the proceedings.
Witnesses contradicted themselves and there was no evidence of any wrong
doing. Three times He was declared innocent and then led away to be beaten and
put to death (Luke 23:4, 13-15, 20-22).
Forty years later, in 70 AD, as Jesus predicted (see Mat. 22:1-7, 24:1-2, 21
& Luke 21:20-22), Jehovah dispatched the massive Roman armies, the Fifth,
Tenth and Fifteenth Legions—100,000 strong—to lay waste the Jewish Temple
and crush the nation that murdered Jesus. "Not one stone will be left on another,"
said Jesus, "every one will be thrown down."
In his massive volume, The Wars of the Jews, which was commissioned by
Rome following Israel's destruction, Jewish historian Flavius Josephus records
that over 1 million Jews were slaughtered during the siege and over 97,000 sold into slavery. Josephus also recounts a haunting quote from Titus Vespasianus, the Roman Commanding General, as he entered Jerusalem and surveyed the ruins:
Now when Titus was come into this city, he admired not only some other places of strength in it, but particularly those
strong towers which the tyrants in their mad conduct had relinquished; for when he saw their solid altitude, and the largeness
of their several stones, and the exactness of their joints, as also how great was their breadth, and how extensive their length, he expressed himself after the manner following: "We have certainly had God for our assistant in this war, and it was no other
than God who ejected the Jews out of these fortifications; for what could the hands of men or any machines do
towards overthrowing these towers?'"
- The Wars of the Jews, Chap. 9: 6.9.2
(Just as Jesus had predicted in Mat. 24.)
The Jews rejected their Messiah and paid a horrendous cost. We dare not make the same mistake. Another 'Day of Reckoning' is approaching. This time universal, inescapable and final.
To be saved from your sins you must:
- Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 8:24; Acts 16:31)
- Repent of your sins (Acts 3:19; Luke 13:5)
- Confess Jesus publicly (Mat. 10:32-33; Rom. 10:9-10)
- Be immersed (baptized) into Christ for the remission of sins and the gift of the
Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38; Mat. 28:19-20)
- Live faithfully until death (Rev. 2:10; James 1:12)
By the same word the heavens and earth that now exist
are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgement
and destruction of the ungodly.
- I Peter 3:7
Credit: www.LumoProject.com.
Credit: www.LumoProject.com.
Credit: www.LumoProject.com.
