Humans are anything but perfect, but can a a group of people stray away from the proper code of law so much so that it become illegal, by accident? Jesus' trial was filled with these “mistakes.” One writer said this about the trial of Christ, “...the condemnation and execution of Jesus Christ was absolutely illegal, unwarranted, and worse than atrocious...”1 Jesus had four main enemies and many things that were illegal against him, but he is our Lord.
Jesus' enemies were the Pharisees, Sadducees, the Herodians, and the Chief Priests. They each had their own reasons for hating Jesus. The Pharisees hated Jesus because they thought he broke the law and blasphemed. They were also were afraid that he would take away what they had worked so hard to get, the eyes of the people. The Sadducees hated Jesus because they were afraid that he would take away their fame and wealth. They were also afraid of what he could do. The Herodians hated Jesus because they were afraid that he would take their fame away from them. The last and final of the main groups that hated Jesus was the Chief Priests. They hated him, because they were afraid that he would take their power.2
Now for the illegal proceedings of Jesus' trial. The problem is that Jesus was crucified when Pontius Polite declared him innocent. There are several illegalisms that we are going to look at.3
The first one that we are going to talk about is the charges placed against Jesus. In Deuteronomy 19:15 it says that to have a trial there must be two or three witness, not just one In light of this, he was arrested and in Mark 14:55 it says that they tried to find someone to witness for Jesus but they could not find any. In this aspect, they tried him illegally from the v...
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... Just as Jacob got his inheritance through secret devices, even though it would have happen according to God, so the Jews used devious methods to get what God had planned for Jesus' life. What really matters today is that we love him with all our heart and believe on him and live for him. Someday we will see him, and get to live with him all the rest our lives.
Bibliography
The Mind of Christ: The Enemies of Jesus – Part 3. www.searchingthescriptures.net/main_pages/sermon_outlines/The Mind of Christ - PDF/Mind of Christ 16c - The Enemies of Jesus Part 3.pdf.
Jones, W. H. The Trial and Crucifixion of Jesus. Chicago: The Christian Witness Company, 1926.
“Why Was the Death of Jesus Illegal.” The Bible Study Site. February 6, 2014. Accessed February 6, 2014. http://www.biblestudy.org/basicart/how-was-arrest-trial-jesus-contrary-to-biblical-jewish-law.html.
Mary watched her child as Jesus traveled the country , and taught others about Christ. She had a sense of discernment that authorities and others were intimidating by his teachings. The Jewish authorities were in a difficult situation. They were trying to maintain a balance to the stable nature in their community , but saw Jesus as a threat. The situation grew worse overtime , and led the community to prosecute Jesus in the city of Jerusalem. He was taken into custory , presented a trial , and nailed to the cross.
Vermes, Geza. Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1973.
Looking upon the crucifix where Jesus hangs, we have much to consider both historically and theologically. However, when this perspective is reversed and we look out from Jesus’ point of view, we see another side to the story.
Politics in first-century Palestine were extremely unjust. The bread temptation is the desire to help only those who deserve it. The upper class made up only ten percent of the population. Which leaves 90 percent being peasants, who were unfairly treated and used as slaves. The wealthy were arrogant and generally did not associate with the lower class, unless it had to do with some sort of labor. Because the wealthy were so egoistic and crude, it was hard for Jesus to provide for the upper class, especially when they don’t deserve it. Jesus wanted to simply give only to poor and make their lives better, and let the upper class continue ruining
As we have seen before in Galatians 4 v4, his humiliation was made under the law, even as the Law giver.
Those usually charged with this shameful crime of changing the Bible are Jews and Christians. Could this have been possible?
Stanton, Graham. Gospel Truth?: New Light on Jesus and the Gospels. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1995. Paperback.
Although popular knowledge of early Christians emphasize their persecution and severe ostracism within the Roman Empire, a closer study of Roman law reveals that Christianity and being Christian were not crimes in and of themselves. As a matter of fact, citizens of the Roman Empire were free to worship any god. Even their proclamations about Jesus were not considered heretical. On the contrary, it was not out of the ordinary to declare a human to be divine. After all, the emperor himself was thought by many to have been divine. In addition, the “secret meetings” of Christians to celebrate the Lord’s Supper often portrayed, as highly covert and something the Christians attended in fear of being found out, also were not illegal. As a matter of fact, most of the rituals and beliefs associated with being a Christian in ancient times were not deemed criminal. In actuality, the Roman Empire punished Christians for breaking laws that were applicable to every Roman citizen.
Jesus was created by God and deemed to be his son. He preached Jewish reform to all who would listen. In addition, he was known to heal the sick and cast away evil demons. Jesus was always able to control, but not create. He didn’t create any defense for himself when he was about to be killed, but he did make a martyr of himself. The death of Jesus creates a completely separate religion from Judaism. This split God’s people into two different sections. Later, one began persecuting the other, and in some places, hasn’t stopped to this day. This is not the outcome that God would’ve wanted.
Moreland, J.P., and Wilkins, Michael, ed. Jesus Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents the Historical Jesus. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995.
Jesus Christ or the professed Jewish Messiah was tried for terrible blasphemy. It was a great catastrophe. Had Jesus given a fair trial then His claim for divine Messiahship would have been established. Unfortunately the laws were bent and the eyes were closed and thus a fair judgment was prevented. There is no doubt that this was the most terrible miscarriage of justice ever experienced by the mankind. In open court it was admitted by Jesus Christ that He was God in human flesh. What ever would happen one day He would appear as the King of the most sacred place that is Israel and finally of all the universe. It was surprising that His trial ended abruptly and a decision of guilt was announced unanimously. Blasphemy was the main charge, which was leveled against Him. It was claimed that He presented Himself with the characteristics of Jehovah. Now the question arises if Jesus Christ was really the Messiah as was declared in the Old Testament. If this statement was true, then the Jews had no right to have a trial of Jesus Christ and give Him the verdict. If this was not proved than the Jews had no other alternative but to follow their Scriptures and impose death on Jesus Christ. It is estimated that about 30 points of Jewish civil rights came under violation while the trial of Jesus was conducted. It seems very strange that people of that caliber in learning and legal experts could blunder so badly. It has been happening from centuries that the Jews have been accused for killing Jesus. The Christians have been using this accusation to persecute and murder innocent Jews. Jews were driven out of Flanders, which is a part of Belgium now, in 1121. Jews were told to convert to Christianity or die during the conquer of Spain. The bi...
Capital Punishment, commonly known as the death penalty, is one of the most controversial problems of our society today. There are many stands you can take with it: yes; no; maybe; only in this situation; only if this doesn’t happen. Even the Bible is undecided about what to do with people who commit such horrendous crimes.
Essay: The Bible says Jesus of Nazareth was a teacher who used miracles to help people. In reality he was a wandering man whose simple tricks and healing remedies were mistaken for miracles. He wandered Judea preaching about the validity of the jewish laws. This gained him a large following. Roman officials caught wind of this and were scared of an uprising. So they had him executed; however this had the opposite effect. The jewish sect that followed Jesus was pacified for some time but emerged again as Christianity, with a larger following than before. Eventually, and ironically, it ended up surviving the Roman Empire.
Many subjects have been spoken of over the history human beings. For some time it may have a world war, at other times a great recession, in another day it would have been a very fast athlete, at others the final match of Champions League and many more. Yet in all these occurrences that grip the human mind for some time there is no occurrence more spoken than the crucifixion of a man called Jesus Christ (Zugibe 33). His crucifixion has even been a study for the entire lifetime of many people. Institutions have been built primarily for the purpose of studying this crucifixion. Some have said this crucifixion has changed their lives. Others have retorted that it has lifted off their worries. It is widely known and embraced. However, aside from all this, with all the goodness this man Jesus Christ is preached to have, many wonder why he would be killed on a cross.
God’s goodness and mercy far transcends the comprehension of the most brilliant human mind! He “who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth”(Psalm 113:6).Yet in His infinite love for us He stoops down to reveal Himself to us by a multitude of illustration, types, and shadows, so that we may learn to know him. This paper will describe what is meant by the Kingdom of God; examine the religious philosophy of the various sects of Judaism during the Second Temple period: Pharisee, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots, describe the religious philosophy and political philosophy of each sects, it will also describe how the Messianic expectation differ from the Messianic role that Jesus presented, and include an exegesis of the temptation of Jesus and how other sects defined the Messiah.