#63 Jesus’ Trial And Torture Series

At the end of His torture, Jesus was unrecognizable. We know that because in Isaiah 52:2, Isaiah prophesied this of the suffering of the Messiah: “…many were astonished…; His appearance was… marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.” And Jesus was not even near the end of His suffering.

CONCLUSION

Legal experts agree that Jesus didn’t receive anything close to a fair trial. When Israel was established in 1948, a Supreme Court was created. Some of the first cases filed before it were petitions for a retrial of Jesus Christ. The court ruled they no longer had any jurisdiction over the case.

So, this morning, I’m calling for a retrial of Jesus. I’m going to empanel all of you as members of the jury. You must decide what you will do with Jesus—based on who He claimed to be, and what He did.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the evidence I present to you are Jesus’ own claims. I present to you exhibits Alpha through Omega: Jesus went about claiming to be God, that He had the power to forgive sins, that He has always existed, and that He will judge the world at the end of time, all claims reserved only for God in the Old Testament scriptures. Many witnesses heard these claims. The question is not whether Jesus made them, but are they true? What is your verdict?

As C.S. Lewis eloquently pointed out, we have only 3 logical choices.

• Choice #1: Was Jesus a LIAR?

He clearly claimed to be God, but if He knew He were not God, that makes Him nothing but a liar and a deceiver. Liars have selfish motives. Either they want personal gain, or they want to protect themselves from harm. But if Jesus were a liar, what did He gain? Jesus died owning nothing but the clothes on His back, and when faced with the opportunity to defend Himself, He deliberately kept silent. That would have been the perfect time to back down from His lies.

Some people say, “Well, Jesus wasn’t God, but just a great teacher.” But if Jesus was intentionally deceiving people, He certainly would not be a good teacher; it would make Him one of the most evil teachers in history. He spoke against hypocrisy, and He taught honesty. If he was a liar, He was also a hypocrite of the worst sort. Yet when you study His teachings, you discover a moral standard based on kindness, unselfishness, mercy and forgiveness. How could someone so sublimely honest and innocent and good be the biggest deceiver in all of history?

• Your second choice: Was Jesus a LUNATIC?

Jesus made outrageous claims about being God, and if He believed He was God, but really wasn’t, then He was a deluded lunatic. But if you listen to all the testimonies about Jesus in the Gospels, He is without a doubt the sanest person who ever spoke and lived. How could a crazy person be such an extraordinarily wise teacher and guide.

When you look at the symptoms of people in psychiatric wards, you see that every other part of their life is out of balance, and they are totally self-focused. When you look at the life and teachings of Jesus, you see extraordinary wit, calmness and control in adversity and opposition, unparalleled wisdom, and monumental love and mercy and compassion for OTHERS. Jesus exhibits the opposite of lunacy in every possible way.