“The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any.” (Mark 14:55 NIV)

The prosecution of Jesus offers a case study in injustice, hypocrisy, and evil. After He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was taken to the house of Annas, a former high priest. Annas interrogated Him briefly and then sent Him to the house of Caiaphas, the current high priest.

Caiaphas had assembled the Sanhedrin, the ruling religious body in Israel, to hear testimony. He had hoped to include the testimonies of false witnesses who were willing to lie about Jesus, but none of them could get their stories straight.

Instead, he used testimony from two men who said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the Temple of God and rebuild it in three days’” (Matthew 26:61 NLT). The high priest demanded that Jesus tell them if He was the Messiah.

“Jesus replied, ‘You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven’” (verse 64 NLT). He gave His enemies all they needed to convict Him of blasphemy. It didn’t matter to them that He spoke the truth.

“‘Guilty!’ they shouted. ‘He deserves to die!’” (verse 66 NLT).

The Sanhedrin made its verdict official a short time later. But it didn’t have the authority to carry out the death sentence. Only Roman authorities could do that. So the Jewish leaders sent Jesus to the Roman governor, Pilate.

Pilate could find no reason to execute Him. When he learned that Jesus had started His ministry in Galilee, Pilate sent Him to Herod, the ruler of Galilee, who happened to be in Jerusalem at that time.

Herod asked a lot of questions, and then ridiculed and mocked Jesus, but could find no reason to pass judgment on Him. So he sent him back to Pilate.

Meanwhile, the Jewish leaders had organized a mob to demand that Jesus be crucified. Pilate tried to explain that he could find no guilt in Jesus. He had Jesus flogged to try to satisfy the mob’s bloodlust. But it didn’t work.

Through it all, Jesus used an unorthodox but highly effective legal strategy—effective, that is, if your aim is to be found guilty and put to death. He remained silent. Aside from a few sentences, He refused to engage His accusers or answer their charges, even though almost every part of His trial was illegal and unjust.

In doing so, He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (NIV).

In terms of human justice, Jesus’ trials were a farce. But He was interested in justice of another kind. Jesus did exactly what He needed to do to ensure that God’s justice was satisfied. Because of our sins, the only way for it to be satisfied was for an innocent person to endure God’s wrath. And He was the only innocent person.

Jesus was still in complete control. He had outsmarted and outmaneuvered the religious leaders at every turn in His ministry. He could have shamed His accusers and exposed the hypocrisy of His judges. And that’s why He remained silent. He was forcing their hand. He was giving them no choice but to crucify Him.

A key takeaway from this epic miscarriage of justice is that one day the Defendant will be the Judge. One day all of us will stand before the Lord to give an account of our lives. And our eternal fate will be determined by a single question: Who do you say He is?

Reflection question: How can we respond to people who try to discredit Jesus?

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