Most of you will remember the judicial debacle of Orenthal James Simpson – the football star accused of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman. In 1995 it was being called “The Trial of the Century,” probably because of O.J. Simpson’s celebrity. But in addition to that, he hired one of the most famous defense teams in history, and the proceedings were televised world-wide. Then above and beyond that nearly everyone considered Simpson to be guilty, and yet he was acquitted.
It was called “The Trial of the Century,” but Simpson’s was not the first with that label in twentieth century. According to the unimpeachable “History Channel,” the first “Trial of the Century” took place in 1906 and right here in our neck of the woods. Up in the hills above Wallace, Idaho, miners, under the “Industrial Workers of the World,” were on strike. The strike was broken, and the union blamed former governor Frank Steunenberg. When a bomb killed Stenenburg, the State of Idaho called in men from the Pinkerton Detective Agency. They “turned” one of the suspects, who then accused the leadership of the Union for ordering the bomb. By that time those union bosses were ensconced in Colorado, so Idaho illegally kidnaped them in order to bring them to trial back here in Caldwell, Idaho. Clarence Darrow was hired to defend the accused union bosses, and after an 11-hour closing argument, he won an acquittal. That, says the “History Channel” was the first “Trial of the Century.” The article went on to say that primary union official who was accused, and who was almost certainly guilty, fled to Russia where he eventually died and was buried with honors in the Kremlin.
In 1926 there was another “Trial of the Century” again involving Clarence Darrow and a man named Scopes. There have been several such famous trials, all of which have been given that nickname. But just as most people don’t know anything about the first, eventually no one will remember O.J. Simpson. It has been a hundred ten years since the Hayward/Steunenberg trial, and it has been forgotten. In another hundred years O.J. Simpson will be nothing but a back dot on some ancient history book.
But the trials, which we find in Matthew 26 and 27, make up a case about which we will be talking throughout eternity. Those events in Jerusalem about two thousand years ago, are still touching and changing lives today. The effects of those events will be energizing men’s souls ten million eons from today. And your response to that trial and the subsequent execution will determine how you will spend eternity.
The trial and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, was not the end of a lunatic’s life nor of the life of a martyr. As was brought out in the proceedings themselves, this was the trial of the eternal Son of God. When I say that, I know that there are a thousand skeptics who say, “If that was the Son of God, then how do you explain the fact that he lost the case?” “O.J. Simpson and Bill Hayward, prove that if you are rich enough to hire a good lawyer, you can get out of any charge, no matter how many bloody gloves might prove your guilt. “And if Jesus was the Christ, then He should have been smart enough to avoid the charges laid against him in the first place.”
That is my theme this morning: “How was it possible that Jesus lost this court case?” What did He do wrong; what mistakes did He make? The quick answer is that He did nothing wrong, and He made no mistakes. Things went exactly has they had planned and prophesied thousands of years before the actual events.
How did Jesus loose His case?
Some might say that He should never have been arrested in the first place, but He didn’t know that there was a snitch among his disciples. Jesus was arrested the night before His crucifixion because Judas, the treasurer of the group had turned “state’s evidence” and lead the authorities to the place where Jesus was spending that part of the night. If Christ had only known about Judas, He might have avoided that arrest. The state had already proven that they would not arrest Christ publically, during the day. They were cowards, and they had no legal grounds to take our Lord.
But, of course, Jesus did know all about Judas. Not only was this betrayal prophesied thousands of years before it took place – it was prophesied again hours before – by Christ Himself. Psalms 41 and 55, written by David somewhere around 1,000 BC, speak of the betrayal of Christ. And then at the Last Supper it becomes clear that Jesus knew of the Judas’ plans. Christ knew that Judas was an hypocrite, a church-going child of Satan. He knew that Judas was receiving two and a half dozen pieces of silver for his efforts. That additional fact had been prophesied in Zechariah 11. The truth of the matter is that Judas was a key player in the larger program of God. In fulfilling these prophesies, he was adding more proof to the evidence about this man named “Jesus.”
Then it might be argued that Jesus’ disciples might have rescued Him from mob following Judas that night. But, again, it was prophesied in the Old Testament that the Messiah would be forsaken by His followers. We can read of that in Zechariah 13:7.
What did Christ Jesus do to loose in this day at court?
Some of you might remember how difficult it was to find acceptable jurors to try O.J. Simpson? It seemed that the world was split, and nearly everyone already had an opinion about the case. It was hard – almost impossible – to find people whose minds were not already made up.
If Christ had been given a jury trial, again, it might have been very difficult to find unbiased jurors. In fact, it might still be difficult today. There were many people, Judeans and Galileans, who loved Christ – for a great many different reasons. There were hundreds whom Jesus had healed or who had loved ones whom Jesus healed. They were certainly saying very good things about the Lord. And there were many who believed the prophesies and believed what the Lord had been teaching – people like the disciples. There were multitudes who had either been miraculously fed or yearned, in their welfare-prepared minds, to be fed by God with the resumption of the Heavenly manna.
But then on the other hand, Jesus was not trying to become a popular figure. He was not catering to the crowds, hoping for popular support – just in case it was needed. Instead of condemning the foreign politics of the Romans, He condemned the social policies of the Jews. He blistered the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, and the liberalism of the Sadducees. He condemned the common attitudes toward instant divorce, and adultery, and fraud, and lying. He ripped apart the empty, ceremonial, just-for-show religion which was so common. He said that if people didn’t mean business with God, then God meant trouble for them. He attacked their feasts, and their fasting, and their pride-filled praying. He had even condemned the boasting about their forefathers Abraham and David. No, Jesus certainly got no sympathy from the press or the media. In fact there was an ever growing number who literally feared Christ. If nothing more they feared that Christ would provoke the Romans to destroy Israel. No wonder He lost that case.
Some people look at the actual court proceedings and say that the problem was there.
For example, a lot of people say that Jesus’ trial before the High Priest was illegal. That would have been true if Jesus was actually being tried – but this was not really a trial. When Jesus was brought before Caiaphas, it was more like a Grand Jury investigation. The rules are very different in such a situation. For example, guilt doesn’t have to be proven – only reasonable doubt. If it appeared that the accused is guilty, then He was to be sent to Pilate. By the year 170 AD, we read in the Jewish Mishnah about the rules for Jewish court proceedings. For example, the High Priest was not permitted to make any formal questioning of the accused. He was merely the judge, overseeing things. And the trial was not to take place at night. The accused was required to have legal representation. The verdict could not be handed down on the same day as the trial. And any accusation of “blasphemy” had to involve the misuse of the actual name of God. We are also told that these were the rules of trials long before the Mishnah. And if this is the case then what was done to Christ was illegal on all five points. But this trial was more to determine what charges to lay against Jesus before the Roman court. The Jews didn’t have authority to execute criminals in those days. What they wanted would have to come from the Romans.
A couple of other things involved the so-called witnesses against Christ. Jesus’ enemies looked high and low for people who could accuse Jesus of some capital crime. His character was perfectly spotless; never once had he even spoken a sin let alone committed a crime. But finally the prosecutor found some men who twisted Jesus’ words about the temple and labeled those words “blasphemy.” Number one, you will remember that what Jesus said had nothing to do with the temple in Jerusalem. He was talking about the temple which was His body – destroyed and restored in three days. Second, even if it had been about the temple, it was neither blasphemy nor criminal. I might be a lunatic to say that there are men living on the moon, but I wouldn’t be a criminal. And by the way, Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, did say that there were men on the moon. And then third, those false witnesses were never cross-examined. Our scripture declares that these men were not credible witnesses in the first place. The High Priest had nothing against the Lord to this point, and he knew it.
So what happened that Jesus lost his day in court?
The High Priest saw that things weren’t going well for his side, so he stepped right in. The district judge became the prosecuting attorney in the trial of the Supreme Court Judge. The High Priest tried to force the Lord Jesus to testify against Himself. At first Christ refused, but then that priest of Satan asked Him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” He was hoping that Jesus would say that He was the Christ, because that would make him a rival to the Roman Government. In that there was grounds for His condemnation. But he switched to the more direct “blasphemy.”
Jesus’ answer was far more than that priest had bargained for. The Saviour not only said, “I am” the Christ, the Messiah. But he also suggested, “You shall some day see me, the Son of Man, sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Christ could have taken the fifth amendment and walked away a free man. But He opened his mouth and gave the Jews – not one reason to condemn him — but two. “I am the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of David, who shall rule over this land from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates.” “I am the one who will sit at the right hand of God Himself. “And I shall return to this earth to judge you and all the other wicked souls of this world.”
As you read the words of verse 64, you may not hear exactly what I said in paraphrase. But let me assure you that those wicked priests heard what I just told you. “Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.” When the priests heard Jesus’ words they may or may not have thought about Daniel 7:13-14 – “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” They may or may not have thought about Psalm 110 – “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.” Jesus declared – “I am the Messiah,” but “Messiah is NOT ALL that I am. I am the Judge of Heaven and earth.”
It has been said that “the man who hires himself as his lawyer has a fool for a client.” If Matthew 26 was only a chapter in a history book, we might agree with that statement. But this is not the case.
In the sight of the Jews, Jesus condemned Himself, and He was presented to the Romans for execution.
The Creator of the Universe was nailed to a cross and hung out to dry. Before that He was beaten, mocked, stripped, decorated, slapped around and crowned with thorns. He who did no sin, neither did guile proceed from his lips, was lifted up between heaven and earth. They gambled for his clothes, just as it had been prophesied in Psalm 22. The nails pierced his hands and feet, but they missed the bones and not a bone of him was broken as was prophesied in Zechariah 12:10 and illustrated in the sacrifice of the Passover lamb.
Clearly the Bible shows that Jesus could have prevented, avoided, or overturned His crucifixion. At the very least He could have called ten-thousand angels to destroy the world and set Him free. But he chose none of those things. Because it was the intention of God, from before the foundation of the earth, to supply a perfect sacrifice and remedy for the sins of repenting human beings. Jesus died on the cross as a substitute for my death and judgment – but more than that. He traded his eternal, righteous life, for my earthly, temporal and sinful life. “As many as receive this Christ, to them gives he power to become the children of God.” “He was wounded for my transgressions and bruised for my iniquities.” “The chastisement of my peace was laid upon him, and by his stripes I have been healed.” Christ was not simply taken by wicked men and executed. He was delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God to be the substitutionary Saviour of God’s elect. Of all who will come to him in repentance and faith.
The world might look at the trial of Christ and say that through His mistakes Jesus lost an easy case. Despite the fact that the trial ended in the death of Christ on the cross, the case was not lost. Romans 1:4 says that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God though all of this. Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” Seventy-two hours after His crucifixion, Christ rolled back the stone which was laid upon the doorway of his tomb. He stepped out of the darkness of the tomb into the twilight of the garden outside of Jerusalem. By that resurrection He declared that His work of salvation was perfectly accomplished. “He was delivered for our offenses against God, and He was raised again for our justification.” That is, He was offered as a sacrifice to satisfy the demand of the law against the sinner. But he was delivered from among the dead to prove that His sacrifice got the job done. And now, any and every sinner, who will acknowledge and turn of his sin, putting his trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, is given eternal life and forgiveness of sin — guaranteed.
You may have complete and full assurance of acceptance with God if you will repent of your sin, and cling by faith to the living Saviour. Every Lord’s day is resurrection day. It s a glorious day, but only if you have been born again by God’s grace. The Son of Man will one day soon, descend again “in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” – I Thessalonians 1:8. That is what Jesus declared to the High Priest – and it got Him into trouble. But it is the truth, and I declare it now to you, because we are all in great trouble without Christ Jesus.
Is the living Christ and His Holy Spirit, squeezing your heart this morning, telling you that these things are true? Are you in need of a Saviour today? Christ is calling you to the cross and to the empty tomb. Repent of your sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.