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.
Equally important, he expresses how Jesus had to apply his love-ethic to the enemy. Not to mention, Thurman expound on three ways the enemy will attack, the first being the personal enemy, one who is in some sense a part of one’s primary-group life that I can relate to. Ordinarily, to love such an enemy requires reconciliation, the will to re-establish a relationship. Also, it involves confession of error and a seeking to be restored to one’s former place also the kind of enemy that the disinherited find easy to deal with. Furthermore, I’m in agreement with Howard Thurman that such conflict may have resulted from misunderstanding or harsh words growing out of a hot temper also too much pride on either side to make amends (Thurman
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.
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.
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
Stanton, Graham. Gospel Truth?: New Light on Jesus and the Gospels. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1995. Paperback.
Walaskay, Paul W. "The Trial and Death of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke." Journal of Biblical Literature 94.1 (1975): 81-93. JSTOR. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.
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.
Those usually charged with this shameful crime of changing the Bible are Jews and Christians. Could this have been possible?
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.
Strobel, Lee. The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2001.
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.
When Jesus asked his disciples about what people thought about him, they answered that some considered Jesus to be e prophet, some - John the Baptist. But Jesus wanted his disciples to understand his mission, the reason why God brought him to Earth. That is why it was important for him to make sure that people realize who he is and that his sayings are vital for the whole mankind. Jesus was the Messiah, the anointed one, above all other prophets. He was sent to suffer for the all human beings and the reasons why his suffering was necessary are described in Mark's Gospel 8:27-9:1.
Carson, D, & Moo, D. (2005) An introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.