Introduction: The Lord Jesus Christ had been betrayed and arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, as all four Gospel writers describe in their works. What happened next is an attempt to get rid of Jesus by any means necessary in the minds of the religious leaders. It’s a sad commentary that sometimes, those who claim to speak for God are more ruthless, if not more wicked, than pagan rulers ever dared to be.
Jesus was indeed tried, sentenced to death, and was crucified. The leaders may have thought their problems were solved or that was the end of the issue.
But it wasn’t! Three days later JESUS WAS ALIVE AGAIN!
There were as many as five trials of Jesus after He was arrested in Gethsemane”
1 The first trial was before Annas .
Text, John 18:12-13, KJV: 12 Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him, 13 And led him away to Annas first; for he was father n law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.
Annas and his son-on-law Caiaphas were (joint?) high priests during this time (Luke 3:2). The soldiers who arrested Jesus took Him first to Annas (this event is not mentioned in the other three Gospels). Once Jesus and the others arrived there, apparently still during the night, the trials of Jesus began. Annas began the trial by asking Jesus about His disciples (!) and doctrine. Dr. A. W. Pink’s commentary on John’s Gospel gives much more information about what was right, and what was wrong, during this trial.
Text, John 18:19-21, KJV: 19 The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine. 20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing. 21 Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.
Jesus made a simple reply to the questions posed by Annas. After all, Jesus had been in Jerusalem several times before this, and He had been coming in and out of the city over the last several days. Clearly, somebody didn’t like the way Jesus responded to the high priest, and that person promptly let Jesus know about it:
Text. John 18:22-24, KJV: 22 And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so? 23 Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me? 24 Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.
There was no need for this. If Jesus was still “bound (verse 12)”, or, if His hands were tied, there was no way He could have done much, humanly speaking, The guard who struck the Lord, using his open palm, might have enjoyed it for the moment—bullies usually do, especially if they can hurt someone else and the other person can’t fight back. Note also the very mild reproach the Lord gave in reply: “Tell Me if I spoke anything evil, but if I didn’t, why did you hit Me?”
2 Then Jesus stood trial before Caiaphas.
Text, Mark 14:53-65, KJV: 53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. 54 And Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire. 55 And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none. 56 For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together. 57 And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, 58 We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. 59 But neither so did their witness agree together. 60 And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? 61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? 62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. 63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? 64Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death. 65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.
This passage from Mark’s Gospel gives perhaps the best record of what was said during our Lord’s trial (so-called) before Caiaphas. Peter was in the area (verse 54) and may have heard much of what people said. He also must have noticed how Jesus remained silent for so long, even in the face of all that was said about Him. Did Peter remember his own bluster, promising Jesus “I’ll lay down my life for You (John 13:37-38)?
Once Caiaphas proclaimed Jesus guilty of blasphemy (verses 63-64), it was open season on Jesus. Look what some of them did to Him (verse 65): they spat on Him (disgusting to say the least), covered His face, and now more of them began to slap Him with the palms of their hands.
But yet, there was more to come. The Jews had power to condemn certain men to death for certain crimes, but not all crimes. To get what they wanted, they had to go the Roman governor and get his approval.
And that’s exactly what they did.
3 After that, He was sent to Pilate, the Roman governor.
Text, Luke 23:1-6, KJV: 1 And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King. 3 And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it. 4 Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man. 5 And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place. 6 When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean.
John 18:28-40 also has a record of Pilate’s interview (!) with Jesus. Matthew also gives a brief account of this in Matthew 27:11-14. All agree that Pilate asked Jesus, “Are You the king of the Jews?” and all record Jesus replying, “Thou sayest” which means “yes”. Luke and John also record Pilate saying, “I find no fault in Him” and as a result, Pilate may have been looking for a way to get out of this situation.
Sure enough, he heard something that he may have thought would solve his problem. He heard that Jesus had been in Galilee (verse 5) and asked if Jesus was a Galilean. When he found that to be true (one wonders how), and when he knew Herod was in town, Pilate may have believed he could send Jesus to Herod and be done with the whole thing.
So off to Herod’s residence they went.
4 Pilate sent Jesus to stand trial before Herod
Text, Luke 23:7-11a, KJV: 7 And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time. 8 And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. 9 Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing. 10 And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him. 11a And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him,
According to several commentaries, this Herod was Herod Antipas, the man who heard John the Baptist but ordered John put to death in order to please his wife and her daughter (Matthew 14:1-12). Herod had apparently never seen Jesus in person and seemed to welcome this chance to meet Him and ask Him questions “in many words”. Herod also wanted Jesus to perform a miracle! But the Lord did not answer any of Herod’s questions and He refused to perform a miracle just for someone else’s gratification. After all, the Lord had been told before that
Herod wanted to kill Him (Luke 13:31) so of course He was very careful in Herod’s presence. Of note also is that the chief priests and scribes were there, too, accusing Jesus!
Herod realized he wasn’t getting anywhere in his “interview” with Jesus, so he decided to send Him back to Pilate. Before he took this action, however, the crowd there at Herod’s mocked Jesus and “set Him at nought”, which seems to mean they treated the Lord with contempt, per various newer translations.
5 Finally, Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate.
Text, Luke 23:11b-12, KJV: 11b and (Herod) arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.12 And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves.
Pilate may have thought he solved the problem of what to do with Jesus by sending Him, a Galilean, to Herod, whose jurisdiction included Galilee. Herod had questioned Jesus but received no answer to any of his questions (one wonders what kinds of questions Herod has asked), Finally Herod placed a “gorgeous” robe on Jesus and sent Him back to Pilate. Luke does not record any correspondence, if any existed, from Herod to Pilate, explaining why Jesus was shuffled back to Pilate. Luke does mention that because of Jesus, or at least what had happened that night, Pilate and Herod became friends. Why they were not friends before is never specified.
Once Jesus arrived at Pilate’s “hall of judgment (John 18:28)”, Pilate seems to have questioned Him again in earnest. John 18:28-40 has the details and the narrative (omitted here for space). When Pilate finished, he had Jesus scourged, thinking that would be punishment enough (even though Jesus was innocent of any crime) to satisfy the Jews.
He was so, so wrong.
Pilate had to make a choice, and choose he did. He gave in to the mob and condemned an innocent Man to death.
The outcome of those trials was a sentence of death for Jesus
Text, John 19:16-20, KJV: 16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. 19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.
Each of the four Gospel writers mentions the sentence of death without quoting Pilate’s orders or edict to that effect. Matthew adds the detail that Pilate took water and washed his hands, claiming he was innocent of the whole thing before handing Jesus over to the mob (Matt. 27:24-26).
Then they led Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews, away to Calvary where they crucified Him. No need to go into detail about the process of crucifixion: simply, a person was “fastened” to a cross and left to die.
Several others have written about the medical aspects of what happens to a person once crucified and the outcome is universal—death.
The Lord Jesus Christ chose to suffer the worst possible human death for one reason: to die for our sins. Some, back then, may have understood this; most did not; All they knew is that the One Who had done so much for so many was now dead and His body was placed in a brand new tomb. Joseph of Arimathea made sure the Lord’s body had a decent burial site (John 19:38-42).
True, they thought once Jesus died, everything died with Him and again, they thought that this was the end of everything.
Conclusion: Incredibly, this was one of the few times when most everyone agreed about something: they knew Jesus was dead, and they all figured this was the end of everything. Only a few believed otherwise; most did not, and their actions on what we call Easter Sunday prove it.
They thought, “That’s the end of it.”
But it wasn’t. Three days later, JESUS CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD!
HE IS ALIVE!
Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
