I had mentioned Jesus had six trials…all the same night! Again, having been a paralegal for all those years, this just seems ludicrous. If you don’t get the right verdict, I suppose you keep trying! Again, this is how it had to be. God’s plan was using humans, there was bound to be some comedy of errors going on.
Jesus appears before Caiaphas next. Then Pilate. The other three trials would be in the other gospels. Two before Pilate, one before the high council and one before Herod.
Since we’re in John, we’ll focus on the trials John gives us.
It seems like both the high priests were more concerned with their political ambitions than leading their people to God. Even today we see how religious leaders can get caught up in the world and let evil take control. If religious leaders aren’t immune, we shouldn’t expect ourselves to be perfect either.
The religious leaders wanted to eliminate the competition. So they came up with the story that Jesus was a criminal. That’s laughable really when you think of it. As such, Pilate wanted Jesus to be taken to be judged by Jewish law. Since there was no death sentence, these desperate men needed the Romans to do their dirty work to get rid of Jesus.
So, Pilate had to find out for himself what Jesus had done that was so “criminal.” He asked Jesus point blank what he had done. Jesus started talking about his kingdom. This was not an earthly kingdom. I’m sure Pilate was just left scratching his head. But should it be an earthly kingdom, King Herod would certainly have had something to say about it, I’m sure.
Then Jesus started talking about truth. I loved when Pilate asked, “What is
What was Jesus feeling?
Have you ever had an experience where you were popular one minute and then not the next? Think about parenting. Most of us have had a kid throwing a tantrum saying, “I hate you.” Or remember the teenage years when you could do nothing right–according to your teenager! Or maybe as a boss in the business world, after making a hard call or following the rules, you had employees who once followed you without question now feeling disgruntled.
It’s not pleasant. Multiply that many times when you know that you are about to die. Jesus is about to be killed. Jesus. Our Lord. Our Savior. How does that make you feel?
Let’s pray. Lord, you have done so much for me. I feel unworthy of your grace, yet overcome with gratefulness at the same time. Please forgive my wayward heart. Protect me from the distraction of evil that disguises itself as good. May I always look to your truth, to your ways, to your wisdom. Fill me anew today with your Spirit so I can serve you as you deserve. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
