Jesus On Trial Series

In the weeks leading up to Easter, Christians the world over spend time thinking about the meaning of the death of Jesus Christ. We are going to be spending our weeks looking at what the gospel writer John says about the last hours of Jesus’ life.

This is the worst night in Jesus’ life. Jesus is betrayed by a friend. He’s arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. Every one of His good friends deserted Him. And He’s about to go through a sham of trial. Millions of believers will take the Lord’s Supper in churches all over the globe, remembering this very night on which Jesus was betrayed. Again, this is the worst night in Jesus’ life.

Now, our American culture is obsessed with criminal law. TV programs appear every single night of the week that show lawyers, investigators at work, and experts solving some juicy crime.1 In recent days, every news program has been devoted to the disappearance of Nancy Gutrie, the 84-year-old mother of the NBC Today co-anchor. We hear about “the presumption of innocence,” and terms such as “burden of proof,” and “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Why Should I Care about the Trials of Jesus?

You should care to study and analyze the trials of Jesus because…

1. The Trials Reveal Who Jesus Really Is

Jesus is surrounded by the most powerful people of His world – the priests, governors, and soldiers. Yet, He maintains control to show He’s a king.

2. The Trials Show What Your Salvation Cost

When you watch Jesus go through the injustice, the humiliation, and the rejection, you see how all these pile on up on Jesus. Jesus willingly paid this price, and your salvation was not cheap. Your gratitude and worship should only deepen as you study these trials.

3. The Trials Expose the Human Heart

In the trial narratives, we see:

• religious hypocrisy (the leaders)

• political compromise (Pilate)

• crowd pressure (the mob).

The trials show how humanity reacts when confronted with truth. The trial forces believers to ask, “How would I respond if I stood there?” Now, pause for a moment.

Religious People Killed Jesus

Let’s not blame a race of people, the Jews, for killing Jesus. Let’s be honest – it’s religious people and a religious system that sought to execute Jesus. It didn’t matter the race. You could substitute any other type of religious system - Baptist, Catholic, Hindu, or Muslim.

4. The Trials Teach Courage in a Hostile World

Jesus stands firm in the face of ridicule, power, and violence. He speaks truth without anger, fear, or compromise. For believers living in a culture that may oppose their faith, the trials become a model of faithful witness. Your motivation is this: The trial strengthens spiritual courage.

Two Overlapping Scenes

Find John 18 with me. Here in the Gospel of John are two scenes, and they’re happening simultaneously. John shows us two scenes happening at the same time.

Think of a picture with two different cameras and two different locations. You’re watching the movie where the camera shows this scene, and then it pans quickly to another scene, and both are overlapping one another. The two scenes occur at the same time: one is a courtroom scene; the other is a courtyard scene.2 Peter is in the courtyard denying Jesus, while Jesus is in the courtroom being railroaded. In the next few minutes, I’m going to ask for all your attention on the courtroom, and we will focus on Peter in the courtyard some other time.

Six Phases of a Trial

The gospels record Jesus’ trial as having 6 phases. If you remember, Jesus experienced 6 trials – 3 were religious, and 3 were civil. Now, the last night of Jesus was a night like no other. While the four gospels give us the facts of Jesus on trial, nowhere do they offer any comment on Jesus’ emotions. Nowhere do we read anything about Jesus’ physical reaction to the scourging and the flogging He endured that evening.3 We are only left to imagine how Jesus felt and how He reacted.

Spread out over these 6 phases, Jesus would have 4 judges that fateful night – Annas, Caiaphas, Herod Antipas, and Pontius Pilate. These men differed greatly, but they would agree on this: the execution of Jesus would end His movement, and no one would be talking about these events 2,000 years later. Oh, how wrong they were! While all four gospels touch on the trials of Jesus, the gospel of John offers us a comprehensive view of His trials.

Sermon Preview

1) Jesus’ Trial Before Annas

2) Jesus’ Trial Before Caiaphas

3) Jesus’ Trial Before Pilate

1. Jesus’ Trial Before Annas

“Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said” (John 18:21).