Whose Trial?
Luke 22:63-23:25
John Loftness
February 1, 2009

1995.  The LAPD thought it had put OJ Simpson on trial, but Simpson’s attorney’s turned the tables and put the LAPD on trial.  But the real, unpredictable effect of this sad event was that the US justice system had been put on trial. 

This passage is about how Jesus was put on trial.  For his judges, the trial had unintended consequences.  While the high priests and Pilate and Herod thought they were putting Jesus on trial, Jesus revealed how he would put them on trial and in the end, bring the entire human race to the bar of justice.  But before universal justice could be achieved, a horrible injustice had to take place.

Five Trials

1.) A Trial By Jailers.  (22:63-65) 

They mocked Jesus’ claims to be a prophet.  They never took his words seriously.  He had already prophesied their mistreatment of him.  See 18:32.

2.) A Trial By Priests and Elders.  (Verses 66-71) 

verse 69, he makes a statement that they find damning: “But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”

In saying this, Jesus claims to be the king of Psalm 110.  Here is how the psalm opens: “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’”  And then later, this Lord“…will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.  He will execute judgment among the nations…”

The imagery of sitting at God’s right hand is to be in the place of executing God’s rule and God’s judgments in God’s very presence. 

The Council concludes that they can convict on two counts: a claim to be king and a claim to a unique relationship with God.

But notice what has happened.  Darrell Bock puts it succinctly: “By appearances Jesus is subject to the judgment of the leadership, but ironically he says that in reality they are judged by him.”

3.) A Trial by Pilate (23:1-5)

To the Romans, someone who resisted the payment of taxes and who claimed to be king would be a serious threat.  But there is no evidence to back their claims.  If Jesus had been fomenting rebellion, Pilate would have heard about it.

But he’s got a problem.  Rome is packed with Jews celebrating the Passover and the high priest has a mob backing him.  Pilate doesn’t want a riot.

4.)  A Trial by Herod (23:6-12)

Herod has long been interested in Jesus, but more as a religious curiosity and wonderworker.  He’s delighted to get the chance to interview Jesus and maybe persuade him to do a miracle.  But Jesus won’t even give him the dignity of answering his questions.  He remains silent. Even as the chief priests and their lawyers chide him and accuse him before this ruler of Galilee. 

So Herod and his guards turn their tactics: they mock him and insult him.  They put royal clothes on him and treat him like a mock king.  But that’s about all Herod can do.  He sends Jesus back to Pilate concluding that he has no reason to convict him of any crime.

Even a corrupt king of the Jews cannot find any reason to convict Jesus.

5.)  A Trial by the mob. (23:13-25)

The High Priest has already brought Jesus before Pilate accusing him to be an insurrectionist.  Now he inspires the crowd to ask for a real insurrectionist instead of Jesus.

Barabbas was a bad man.  While the mob would have thought of him as a freedom fighter, we would call him a terrorist.  Matthew calls him a “notorious prisoner” and John notes that he was a robber.  Mark says that in his acts of political rebellion he had murdered.  So while he may have been a freedom fighter, this man was no George Washington—he was a thug.

And the ultimate irony is in his name.  “Son of the Father.”

The Jewish leadership, the Jewish king, the Jewish mob were calling out for the Son of God, the ultimate “Son of the Father,” to be executed in the place of a vicious, violent criminal.

Pilate presses the crowd and they increase their demand:  “Crucify!”

The Romans had a number of means of execution in their judicial system.  Crucifixion was the harshest.  It was reserved for crimes of treason and for corrupting a criminal trial in a capital court case.  It was a vicious means of execution intended to put fear in the populus.

What do a trial in a courtroom and what we call a trial that comes through affliction have in common?  They both prove what is real and true and what is false and corrupt.

Jesus’ trials proved he is the Son of God sent as a sacrificial lamb to pay for the sins of his people.

The priests and the elders put Jesus on trial for his claim to be king, and in the end they are proven to be corrupt usurpers with no claim to religious authority.

Pilate puts Jesus on trial and in the end, he is proven to be more committed to his position than to justice for an innocent man.

While we may never have a thought of putting the Son of God to death, all of us put him on trial.  We question whether he is real and true.

• Like the jailers, we might have only a superficial knowledge of Jesus.  All we know is that when Jesus gets involved it makes people upset, so we reject him—we even mock him.

• Like the priests and the rulers of the people, we might reject Jesus because he threatens our position in life, he calls us to lay down our privileges and prestige and possessions—he calls us to repent, to change the way we think and life, and we want to drive him away from us rather than submit to his demands.

• Like Pilate, we might consider Jesus a problem to get around, a situation that needs a solution—so we attempt to explain his claims away and distance ourselves from him all the while saying that we admire him.

• Or like Herod we may consider Jesus a religious curiosity, who might do some amazing tricks, but not someone to submit to and even worship.

• Or like the crowd, we might prefer our current relationships—even if we know they are bad—and choose a Barabbas over the Son of God?

We all tend to put Jesus on trial.  We’ll do anything we can to find him wanting.  Anything we can to avoid his claim on our lives.

But we neglect to see: He sits on a throne this very day. 

We fail to see that while we are judging him—having no authority to do so—he is judging us.

The High Priest, and Pilate, and Herod, all thought they could judge Jesus and he turned the situation around and showed that he in fact was to judge them.

And he in fact will one day execute judgment on the whole world—on you and me.

We need the Son of Man to come.  We need his judgments, which are sure and right.  He never gets the evidence wrong.  He establishes a perfect law and applies it flawlessly.

We need to submit to him even if it costs us our position and our possessions and our prestige.  We need to find a way to be in right relationship with him.

But how is this possible if already we see that our past acts leave us condemned before the judge who sees all perfectly?

Next week we’ll find out.  Next week we will continue in chapter 23 and peer into the cup of God’s wrath and see how this Judge obtained justice for us.

But for today, a question:  How do you judge Jesus?  Do you avoid him, or attack him—mock him, or reject him?  Do you bargain with him, thinking you can talk him over to your side?

Or do you let him judge you and out of worship submit to him as King of kings and Lord of lords?