About two thousand years ago
this week, in the privacy of their
homes, men who were knowledgeable
about the criminal jurisprudence
of the ancient Hebrews must have had discussions
about the legality or let me say
illegality of the trial of a man named
Yeshua.
I admit I’m not familiar with the ancient Hebrew
legal system nor am I an expert in ours. Although
I do know about the basic principle of Presumption
of Innocence and the concept that every
person accused with a crime must receive a fair
and impartial treatment of the law.
However, as we all know just because something
is fundamental doesn’t mean it is assured, at
least not in the case of Jesus.
In Jesus’ time there were three types of courts:
The Great Synhedrion, The Lesser Synhedrion,
and the Court of Three. (Mendelsohn in “Criminal
Jurisprudence of Ancient Hebrews” p. 87)
The Great Synhedrion’s authority was supreme
in all matters: civil, political, social, criminal,
and religious. (Mendelsohn in “Criminal Jurisprudence
of Ancient Hebrews” pp. 88-89) Today
that would be equivalent to a dictator or a
super-branch of government that not only has legislative,
executive and judicial powers but religious
as well.
While having our usual late afternoon snacks
after our Easter Sunday fellowship, our light conversation
touched on the suffering and death of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from the unimaginable
physical pain He endured after being severely
flogged before He was crucified, Jesus also put
up with the travesty of human justice.
As every believer knows, the charges brought
against Jesus before the Sanhedrin was “blasphemy
against Jehovah” while “treason” was the
criminal charge brought against Him before Pilate.
Let us examine some of the violations committed
during Jesus trial:
Violations
• The Prejudice of the judges
Matthew 26:59 tells us that Jesus, accused of
“blasphemy” which was a capital offense, was
tried by Sanhedrin. This passage also shows us
that the accusers were the judges themselves, thus,
a violation of their own laws which states “…Nor
must there be on the judicial bench either a relation
or a particular friend, or an enemy of either
the accused or the accuser...” (Mendelsohn in
“Criminal Jurisprudence of Ancient Hebrews”
pp. 109-110). The members of the Sanhedrin sat
as judges during His trial with hearts tainted with
vindictiveness.
• Time of Trial
The trial was illegal because it was done
at night. Their law specifically states “Criminal
cases can be acted upon by the various
courts during day time only…” (Mendelsohn
in “Criminal Jurisprudence of Ancient Hebrews”
p. 112)
• Trial to Verdict
Their law prohibits the inauguration of the
trial of cases involving capital punishment on
the eve of the Sabbath.
Pronouncement of guilty verdict on the
first day of trial was also unlawful. Jesus, however,
was arraigned, tried, judged and sentenced
within one day.
However, even on a Sabbath the court
might sit in judgement of a criminal case, and
if the pronouncement of a guilty verdict was
necessary on the first day of trial they could
not proceed with the execution of the convict
since executions on a Sabbath was also unlawful.
• Perjury
(Matt. 26:59; Mark 14:56)
Although witnesses were not required to
take an oath to confirm their testimony, Jewish
leaders considered the divine prohibition
of bearing false witness sufficient enough to
compel witnesses to state only the truth.
• Proceedings
The accounts of Jesus’ trial in the four gospels
show us the desperate attempts by the high
priest to lead Jesus on to incriminate Himself.
Yet another clear violation of their law which
states “”No attempt can be made to lead a
man on to self-incrimination…” (Mendelsohn
in “Criminal Jurisprudence of Ancient Hebrews”
p. 133)
The prosecutors were also unmistakably
unprepared during the trial and conducted a
“fishing expedition” of their own. Mark 14:55
says “The chief pri ests and the whole
Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against
Jesus so that they could put him to death, but
they did not find any.” One does not have to
be a legal expert to understand that fishing for
information in the middle of a trial is a clear
violation of one’s right to due process.
These are few of the many appalling violations
blatantly committed by the Sanhedrin
during the trial of Jesus. Let this serve as a
warning to all of us to remain watchful for the
emergence of modern day “Sanhedrin”. The
gospel provides sufficient cause for us to be
wary of how seriously distorted and rotten human
justice can potentially be.
(Proverbs 28:5 Evil men do not understand
justice, but those who seek the LORD understand
it fully.)
