Good question! However, I am not sure there were actually two. Perhaps before I answer, we need to look at the conditions of first century Palestine. There were two ruling groups in the Promised Land: The Romans and the Sanhedrin. The Romans were in charge and the Sanhedrin needed to fall in with them. The first “trial” of Jesus was before the Chief Priest Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, a Jewish tribunal which was composed of the ruling clergy of the day at the Temple. Jesus was brought before this group on the days we either call Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. Why them? Because Jesus was accused of blasphemy - that is, cursing God or elevating himself to God’s stature. Ultimately, Jesus is found guilty of: healing on the Sabbath (Friday sundown to Sunday sunrise); threatening to destroy the Temple; practicing magic, exorcising people by the control of demons (believed to be the cause of illness in his day); and not denying that he was the Messiah. The standard punishment for the crimes Jesus was accused of was being Stoned to Death. The guilty party was put up against a wall. Men would be on top of the wall armed with stones which would be dropped on the condemned man or woman. Others would hurl stones at the victim from ground level. Although there were several offences for which stoning was the assigned punishment, it rarely happened for two reasons: firstly, because often the evidence was not clear enough from reputable people. There was a second and much more important reason. Jesus was a very popular figure in the Holy Land at the time. He brought hope to the masses. The Sanhedrin were not popular and did not wish to give the populace anything that they could use against them. As well, the members of the Sanhedrin had an economic position which they did not want to lose. Talk about political hacks at the trough! They did not want to be responsible for killing the most popular man in the country. During Jesus’ travels the Sanhedrin, in an attempt to paint Jesus in a bad light, even sent spies from Jerusalem to catch him doing deeds which were not approved by the authorities (with no success.) So, in the end, they passed the buck! Enter Pontius Pilate, the Roman ruler of all of Judea, including Jerusalem. How accurate is the description of Jesus’ trial in the gospels? I am unsure. I feel that there has been some revisionist writing taking place. We should, however, look at the history of the event. Jesus was a pain in the Roman’s gluteus maximus. He was preaching a totally different way of life which would be more liberating to the Children of Israel and less subservient to the Romans. In Jesus’ day, loving and forgiving did not fit the Roman way of life. One glaring “misdeed” done by Jesus occurred when he arrived in Jerusalem a week before. He had fisticuffs with the money changers. This occurred in the temple grounds, and according to best understanding, in the outer court of the Gentiles. The money changers were carrying out a legitimate trade. Jewish rule forbade foreign coinage in the confines of the Temple. Money changers were needed to provide the appropriate coinage to the pilgrims. Since many of the pilgrims came from distant points of the Roman Empire, this service was necessary for the variety of money exchanged. And in doing the cleansing, Jesus was uncharacteristically rough. I cannot recall any other time he was as harsh. So, what angered him? It seems that their just being present in the Temple bothered him and the grift which was going on. Pilate saw that this man needed to be disposed of, so he ordered his death. That satisfied his need for law and order and placated the Sanhedrin. Whether all the emotions of the moment as described in the gospels had played out or not, ultimately Jesus was condemned to be crucified. Pilate was rewritten as a good guy while the Jewish officials were recast as the bad. One more note you might be interested in: When the narrative continues as to who the Judeans want excused from crucifixion, they all shout Barabbas; when translated means “Son of God”.
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AuthorI'm Rev. Dr. Pirie Mitchell and I live in Ontario, Canada. Archives
May 2023
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