The Trial Of Jesus -- (IV.)
Roy E. Cogdill
When Caiaphas saw that the trial in the Jewish court was going badly, and that the witnesses were not in agreement with one another, he took charge himself, becoming both judge and prosecuting witness, and said, "I adjure thee by the living God, Art thou the Christ?" Jesus could have refused to testify here. The law exempts a man from giving testimony in his own trial. Jesus exercised this right when he was before the imposter Herod and Herod sought to question him. He uttered not a word; and was within his legal rights to remain silent. He could have done the same here, but he did not. In response to the question of Caiaphas, he replied, "This thou sayest because I am." In other words, he is telling his inquisitor that if he were not the Christ, if he were an impostor and a deceiver, he could easily have been exposed; but the very fact that they have to resort to asking him to testify himself is evidence that they have no case against him, and that he is indeed the Christ. That is the import of the statement; hence, from the Jewish point of view Jesus has now acknowledged the very thing wherein they had accused him; he has claimed to be the Christ, God's Son. So far as they were concerned this was blasphemy. The Jewish court so held.
But look at the Roman trial in comparison with this. In the Roman trial the charge was not blasphemy, but treason against Rome. The Jewish leaders, having now decided in their own courts that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy and worthy of death, next took him before the Roman governor, and with consummate hypocrisy and insincerity, informed the Roman official that Jesus was trying to foment a rebellion against Rome, claiming that he was a king! They accused him of doing the very thing they had tried to persuade him to do, and which he had refused. (John 6:15.)
It would be difficult to imagine an act of more blatant hypocrisy and cynical dishonesty than this. They had tried to persuade Jesus to become their king; indeed, had tried to force him into such a role. He refused. Then in anger they had turned against him because of his refusal, had condemned him to death; and are now trying to persuade the Roman governor to confirm their death sentence by charging Jesus with doing that which they knew he had not done, but which they themselves had tried to get him to do. Only the Roman court could give the final sentence of death. These hypocritical Jews well knew that Pilate would look with contempt upon their charges of blasphemy; so they had to trump up some other charge, even a patently false one, to trick the Romans into agreeing to their wishes.
But Pilate, much to their chagrin and discomfort, acquitted the prisoner. He declared, "I find no crime in him." Thus, legally, Jesus should have gone free. The Sanhedrin, by its unanimous verdict of guilty, had legally freed him; now the Roman governor has likewise acquitted him. When the Jewish judges of the Sanhedrin came into the quarters of the Roman governor, bringing Jesus as a prisoner from the Jewish court, they made their charges against him before Pilate. Then, according to the record, Pilate took him apart from them and tried him. The result of that examination is seen when Pilate came back to the Jewish leaders and said, "I find no fault in him."
That is the verdict. That is the decree and judgment of the court, the Roman court this time. Had Jesus received his legal rights, he would have walked forth from Pilate's judgment hall a free man. Any further trial would have violated the principle of being tried again on a charge of which he was already acquitted; in legal terms, he would then be undergoing "double jeopardy." Having rendered a decision, the Roman court had fulfilled its obligation. By every principle of law and justice, Jesus was now free.
But the howling mob put up such a furious clamor that Pilate weakened, and yielded his consent to a further trial of Jesus. He sent the prisoner to Herod, hoping to shift responsibility to that source. Herod was unable to do anything about the case, however, and sent the prisoner back to Pilate. Then Pilate, to his everlasting shame, sold his birthright for the sake of popularity as the governor of the Jews, and actually delivered over to the hands of a mob a prisoner whom he, as judge, had pronounced innocent of any crime. Thus Pilate's name has become a synonym and a byword down through the annals of time for all that is cowardly and dishonorable. And the reputation is a just and deserved one. The Roman trial was a farce from every point of view, as was also the Jewish trial.
Yet there is a very real sense in which every one of us this day is actually passing sentence, actually passing judgment upon the Son of God. The measure of faith we have in our hearts, the way we live, the readiness with which we submit to Christ's authority and will are all a very real indication of our judgment. We are either saying that he is worthy of our faith, our obedience, our sacrifice and service, or else we are saying that we count him unworthy of such. Every day that we live, Jesus is on trial before us. No man can go through a single day of his life without actually passing judgment, by what he does, on Jesus of Nazareth. There is no way to avoid this. Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man will open the door, I will come in and sup with him." The Son of God is begging for admission into our hearts and lives; he is asking for our respect, our confidence, our trust, that he may, in righteousness, redeem our souls and save us from eternal ruin. When men refuse to do the will of the Lord, they pass judgment on Jesus and reject the Son of God as much in fact as did Pilate and the Jewish court so many centuries ago.
Every person who reads these Iines is actually in the same position as was Pilate — called upon to render a decision concerning Jesus Christ. Whether we accept his word or reject it is the issue for us to determine. Jesus says that when we reject his word we reject him; when we accept his word we accept him. He told the apostles that whosoever received them also received him; whosoever rejected them also rejected him. No man can refuse to do the will of the Lord without rejecting Christ. The issue is clear and simple. There is no way to evade it or avoid it. If it be true that Pilate was in a sense on trial, then it is equally true that every one of us is in the same sense on trial. In all our study of the trial of Jesus, let it never be forgotten that we are also studying our own trial — and our own destiny.
(To be continued)