The Arrest and Trial
3/28/04
Intro: Recap Events (Supper, Reveal Betrayer, Garden, Prayer)
Then Jesus is arrested. Judas comes to the Garden with the guard of the religious leaders. They arrested Jesus this way because they were afraid of the people rising up to defend Jesus.
**PP- Jesus in the Garden
“the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. ‘But not during the feast,’ they said, ‘or the people may riot.’”
Mark 14:1-2
**PP- Why was Jesus arrested and placed on trial?
**PP- Common beliefs about Jesus:
Good man, moral teacher, prophet
Jesus never claimed to be those things. He claimed to be God.
“The high priest said to him, ‘I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.’ ‘Yes, it is as you say,’ Jesus replied.” Matthew 26:63-64
Jesus was arrested and put on trial because he claimed to be God.
So let’s look at the trial of Jesus. Trials and legal proceedings in our day have taken on a circus like atmosphere. Think about some famous trials of recent history.
**PP- Scope Monkey Trial (Dayton, TN; William Jennings Bryan)
**PP- Nuremberg Trials (Nazi’s)
**PP- OJ Simpson Trial
**PP- Martha Stewart
None of these were as wild as the trial of Jesus.
The Trial
In actuality Jesus underwent 6 trials in 12 hours.
**PP
3ReligiousTrials Annas- Religious leader Caiaphas- HighPriest Sanhedrin- Jewish Supreme Court
3 Roman Trials
Pilate- Gov of Judea
Herod- Gov of Galilee
Pilate-
**PP- Picture entering the gate before Pilate
So, ultimately Pilate has to try Jesus and come to some conclusion about Jesus. Many of Pilate’s actions mirror many of our own actions regarding Jesus.
So let’s look at what Pilate did and how we often reflect the same heart condition.
**PP- Luke 23:1-25
Pilate Us
1)Didn’t want to try Jesus
(1-5) 1) Don’t want to
deal with God.
2)Passed the buck
(6-12) 2) Find excuses
3) Trial of compromise
(13-17)
** PP-Scourging 3) Do enough to earn
acceptance
4) Offered Barrabas
(18-19) 4)Bargain with God.
5) Pleased the crowd
(20-25)
** PP-Pilate with crowd 5) Afraid of the crowd.
Our actions reflect our attitudes about Jesus.
Pilate found Jesus innocent, but refused to take a stand to free him.
We often find Jesus worthy, but are afraid to take a stand to honor him.
The Verdict
Pilate had Jesus killed to appease the crowd. What are you willing to do with Jesus?
If Jesus is not God, we can dismiss him as either a liar or a lunatic.
If Jesus is God, these responses are critical:
1) Admit our need for a Savior.
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all of our righteous acts are like filthy rags;” Isaiah 64:6
2) Receive Christ’s forgiveness.
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned to death.” John 5:24
3) Tell of what Christ has done for us.
“Then they (Sanhedrin) called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, ‘Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Acts 4:18-20
