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The Trial and Death of the
Messiah Events Preceding the Arrest of Christ. The death of
Jesus Christ fills a very prominent place in the inspired
account of the Messiah. Almost one third of the gospel narrative
is devoted to this sacred event. In this study we shall seek to
discover what relationship the death of Christ had to the
kingdom of God, which He came to establish and which during His
ministry, He proclaimed as being at hand. We will pay heed to
the charges, which were made against Him before the Sanhedrin
and before Pontius Pilate.
Following His triumphant entry into Jerusalem amidst the
thronging crowds of jubilant singers we find that the anger of
the Jewish leaders rapidly rose to a pitch of desperation. In
Luke 20 the rulers made repeated efforts to catch Him in His
words in order that they might accuse Him before the Roman
tribunal. Their craftiness is shown in vv 21-26 where they asked
Him "Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or no."
Had Christ said, "Yes it is lawful," they would have
accused Him to His followers as upholding the Roman oppression:
but if He had said, "No, it is not lawful," they would
have immediately accused Him before Pilate. His answer was
"Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto
God the things which are God's." By their own confession
"they could find nothing in His answers whereof to accuse
Him." Had Christ ever proclaimed an earthly kingdom during
His three years of ministry, they would have accused Him of it
on this occasion. Proof of this fact is seen in John 18:19-21.
"The high priest then asked Jesus of His disciples and of
His doctrine. Jesus answered him, "I spake openly to the
world: I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple whither
the Jews resort: and in secret I have said nothing. Why asketh
thou me? Ask them which heard me what I said unto them: behold
they know what I said."
Proceedings before the Sanhedrin Court. Had Jesus ever
proclaimed an earthly kingdom, there would have been thousands
of Jews in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast who could have sworn
evidence against Him. Since no such witnesses could be found,
the high priest had to resort to seeking "false witnesses
against Jesus to put Him to death." Matt 26:59. But this
diabolical scheme also failed. Next we read in Matt. 26:63-66 as
follows: "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. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast
said…then the high priest rent his clothes saying, He hath
spoken blasphemy…what think ye? They answered, He is guilty of
death." Thus ended the trial of Jesus the Messiah so far as
the Jews were concerned. No crime was laid against Him. He was
condemned to death because of His claim that He was the Son of
God. In other words, it was not what He did that provoked His
death, but who He was. They rejected His Person.
From the Sanhedrin the scene was immediately transferred to
the official courtroom of the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate.
The Sanhedrin was composed of seventy-one members including the
high priest who presided over it. The Sadducees were the most
influential element in it although it included some Scribes and
Pharisees. It was the highest council in the Jewish nation and
it had authority to administer minor justice of a civil and
religious nature. It could not, however, carry out the death
penalty without having it ratified by the Roman court. That is
why Jesus had to appear before Pilate.
The Trial Before Pilate. The Sanhedrin, as pointed
out, pronounced Christ's death sentence on the charge of
blasphemy, because of His claim that He is the Son of God. This
charge, however, was not a capital offence in the Roman state,
so a different charge had to be made before Pilate. At first,
they tried to evade the issue by saying, "If he were not a
malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee."
John 18:30. They hoped to have the death sentence confirmed
without revealing the underlying cause, but Pilate refused to
grant it without further evidence of His guilt. They were
forced, therefore, to prove that Jesus was in some way a menace
to the Roman government and that is the reason for their charge
of sedition. A seething mob of frantic men vociferously hurled a
torrent of indignant accusations against Him calculated to
encompass His death. Above the din one spokesman shouted,
"We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding
to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ, a
King." Luke 23:2.
This charge amounted to treason against the Roman state, a
crime for which death was the penalty. Barabbas was already
languishing in prison because of a similar charge of
insurrection. Had Christ ever proclaimed an earthly kingdom,
either present or future, this accusation would have been true
and capital punishment would have been warranted. Since there
were no witnesses present to verify the accusation, Pilate took
Jesus into the judgment hall and questioned Him privately. It is
at this point that we protest in strongest terms against the
teaching of the Scofield Reference Bible which states that Jesus
"first offered the Jews an earthly Davidic kingdom, but
later withdrew the offer because of Jewish opposition. In its
place, He substituted a "kingdom of rest and service."
See S.R.B. p. 1011. If we accept the Scofield notes as correct,
then we must conclude that the court testimony given by Jesus
was rank perjury, since He disclaimed ever to have taught that
His kingdom was of an earthly character. Had it been so, Pilate
could not have exonerated Him. Moreover, if the promises of the
Old Testament demanded an earthly kingdom as fulfillment, then
the only possible way Jesus could claim to be the Messiah was to
fulfill them. He could not alter God's eternal purpose and be
"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever."
Heb. 13:8. Any deviation from the prophetic fulfillment would
immediately have convicted Him of being an imposter, and indeed
that is what the Jews maintained He was.
It is noteworthy that each of the four gospels mention, that
Pilate expressly asked Jesus, "Art thou the King of the
Jews?" Obviously this question is of paramount importance.
Jesus calmly replied, "Thou sayest that I am," which
was equivalent to saying, "Most certainly, I am,"
adding, "My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom
were of this world then would my servants fight that I would not
be delivered to the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from
hence." John 18:36. When Jesus said, "But now my
kingdom is not from hence," He used an adverbial expression
which means, " But as it really is, my kingdom is not from
hence," that is, not of an earthly character, such as would
be gained through fighting for it. When Pilate discerned that
the kingship and kingdom of Jesus Christ differed fundamentally
from that of Caesar, he was convinced of His innocence of the
charge of "perverting the nation," and he determined
to let Him go. According to Matt. 27:18, "He knew that for
envy they had delivered Him unto him." He therefore gave
his verdict of not guilty, but tried to compromise with justice
and pacify the mob by ordering Jesus to be scourged. Although
this was an extremely painful punishment, the decision only
infuriated the people. Pandemonium broke loose. The whole scene
became a violent uproar. Stentorian voices shouted, "If you
let this man go you are not Caesar's friend. Whosoever maketh
himself a king speaketh against Caesar." John 19:12. The
people raged in this shocking manner until the blackest chapter
in human history was written in the shed blood of the innocent
Lamb of God. "The voices of them and of the chief priests
prevailed, and Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they
required." Luke 23:23.
Man's Guilt Invariably Incurs God's Judgment. Significantly,
the last statement made by the Jews in the official proceedings
was voiced by the chief priests, in John 19:15. "We have no
king but Caesar." God took them at their word. For almost
two thousand years, they have reaped the lamentable consequences
of their fateful choice. The prophecy of Deut. 28:64, that
"The Lord shall scatter thee among all people from one end
of the earth even unto the other," certainly has been
rigidly fulfilled. To regain God's favour they must return,
"not to the land, but to the Lord"…the New and
everlasting covenant is now in effect.
We pause now to gaze at the motley procession wending its way
to Golgotha so sorrowfully. The central figure is that of
Christ; His bruised and wearied body lacerated with many lashes:
His strength exhausted and His head crowned with cruel thorns.
He reels under the ponderous weight of the cross He is forced to
carry. At last they reach the appointed place--"the place
of a skull." The executioners quickly perform their grim
duty. The Messiah is crucified. In the course of a few agonizing
hours, the silence was broken by a startling cry when the
Saviour announced to all the world the culmination of His
mission in the words, "It is finished." So saying, He
committed His spirit into the loving hands of the Father, then
He bowed His head and died. Even nature itself seemed to revolt
against the horrible deed that man committed. An ominous
darkness obscured the light of the sun from midday until 3P.M. A
terrifying earthquake rent the rocks and spread panic in the
appalling gloom. Some graves were opened and departed ones
reappeared.
Then slowly and mysteriously the veil of the temple parted
from top to bottom. This must be construed as a deliberate act
of God having spiritual significance. With the rending of the
veil, the way into the holy of holies was symbolically opened
and at that moment the old Jewish sacrifices ceased to have any
further efficacious value. It is the fulfillment of Dan. 9:27
where "He caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease."
All future relations with God were from that moment based on the
"new and everlasting covenant" which became effective
with the death of Christ. The old covenant had served its
purpose and now it was superseded by a new and better one
established upon better promises. Heb. 8:8-13.
The death of Christ was part of God's eternal plan. Acts
4:28. It was the gateway to His coronation, which He announced
in these words after the resurrection; "All power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth." Matt. 28:18. The grave was
but the stepping-stone to the throne. The events of the trial
and death of Christ, reflect the human heart in all its
sinfulness and depravity. In glorious contrast, they vividly
demonstrate the Deity of Jesus Christ in His complete victory
over every circumstance. The eternal purpose of God moved with
majestic serenity toward its predetermined fulfillment. God
makes even the wrath of man to praise Him! Ps. 76:10.
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