How do you convict a sinless man of a crime serious enough to warrant His execution? It might sound like a logic puzzle to us, but for the chief priests, it was a serious problem. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, they determined that He had to die. However, they couldn’t just murder Him because of the pushback from the people, and maybe the Romans too. Instead, they had to find a way to sentence Him to death under the color of law.<\/p>\n

We tend to assume that the game was over after Jesus’ arrest in the garden, but the arrest was only the beginning of the process. The chief priests needed not merely to arrest Him, but to convict Him of a crime. As Mark 14:55-64 reveals, they rounded up a bunch of false witnesses, but none of them could agree that Jesus had done anything criminal. By Mark 14:59, the prosecution has failed, and the chief priests are going to have to release Jesus unless something changes.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$

Jesus on trial before Pilate (John 18:28)<\/p><\/div>\n

At this point, Caiaphas, the high priest, takes a gamble. He asks Jesus a question: “Are You the Christ?” This is very dangerous; Jesus has spent the past several years humiliating opponents who ask Him questions. However, much to Caiaphas’ delight and probable surprise, Jesus gives the answer that will condemn Him-that He is the Son of God. Caiaphas declares that the whole Sanhedrin is a witness to Jesus’ “crime” of blasphemy, so they vote to convict Him.<\/p>\n

However, this does not end the chief priests’ difficulties. They can convict Jesus, but they can’t sentence Him to death. That’s a Roman prerogative. Thus, their next hurdle is to convince Pilate, the Roman governor, that an innocent man ought to die.<\/p>\n

This does not go well. Even an unrighteous man like Pilate doesn’t want to condemn the guiltless. The Jewish leaders, however, prompt Pilate to ask Jesus if He is a king. This is another massive risk, but it pays off, too. In John 18:36-37, Jesus affirms that even though His kingdom is not of this world, He is a king.<\/p>\n

Thereafter, Pilate continues to press for Jesus’ release, but now the Jews have leverage. In John 19:12, they threaten Pilate. If he lets Jesus go, they’re going to report to Caesar that he is a friend to rebels, not Caesar. When he hears this, Pilate agrees to Jesus’ crucifixion. Doing the right thing is infinitely less important to him than saving his own skin.<\/p>\n

In this narrative, two main forces are evident: the chief priests’ persistent hatred… and Jesus’ acquiescence in His own death. As Isaiah 53:7 predicted, Jesus does not speak to defend himself. Rather, He is the prosecution’s star witness. His twin affirmations of His deity and kingship are the two reasons why He is condemned.<\/p>\n

In worldly terms, this is madness. Jesus knew, though, that it had to happen for Him to carry out His Father’s will. If Jesus is not the victim of great injustice, there will be no sinless sacrifice to enable God to be both just and the justifier. Jesus knowingly brought that injustice upon Himself-all so that He could ransom us.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Matthew W. Bassford How do you convict a sinless man of a crime serious enough to warrant His execution? It might sound like a logic puzzle to us, but for the chief priests, it was a serious problem. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, they determined that He had to die. However, they…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[228,73],"class_list":["post-28024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-crucifixion","tag-jesus"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14358,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-many-roman-soldiers-came-to-the-garden-to-arrest-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":28024,"position":0},"title":"How many Roman soldiers came to the garden to arrest Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How many Roman soldiers came to the garden to arrest Jesus? Answer: The Scriptures do not say. \"And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with\u00a0a great multitude\u00a0with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people\" (Matthew 26:47). \"And immediately,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28452,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/were-roman-soldiers-involved-in-the-arrest-of-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":28024,"position":1},"title":"Were Roman soldiers involved in the arrest of Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How many Roman soldiers came to arrest Christ? Answer - None - the guard force was from the Temple guard. A Roman guard would not have taken Jesus to the High Priest's house but to the Roman fortress to be held. Answer: \"The band of soldiers (t\u00ean speiran). No\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35254,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-trial-lawyer-examines-the-trial-of-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":28024,"position":2},"title":"A Trial Lawyer Examines the Trial of Jesus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Larry L. Crain, A trial attorney in civil rights and constitutional law (abridged by Jefferson David Tant) During Easter, many believers reflect on the Crucifixion of Christ. As a lawyer, I have been intrigued by the criminal trial culminating in Christ's execution. The Gospels give four narratives in Matthew,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Jesus-Trial-205x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3962,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-jesus-know-he-would-die-by-crucifixion-in-advance\/","url_meta":{"origin":28024,"position":3},"title":"Did Jesus know he would die by crucifixion in advance?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 3, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Did Jesus know he would die by crucifixion in advance? Answer: Yes, he did know. He spoke of being \"lifted up\" which was an allusion to crucifixion where a person is lifted up on a cross. \"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12922,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-judas-at-the-last-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":28024,"position":4},"title":"Was Judas at the Last Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My question concerns Judas and his participation or not, in the first Lord's Supper. I have read over the verses concerning the Lord's Supper, the night Jesus initiated it. Luke 22:14-22 appears to say he was there, and after the supper, Jesus then identified Judas as the one to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61483,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-speech-shows-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":28024,"position":5},"title":"Your Speech Shows It","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"As Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and *said, \"You also were with Jesus the Nazarene.\" But he denied it, saying, \"I neither know nor understand what you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28024\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}