11. The Trials of Jesus

I want to be absolute heard, or I guess read on this matter!  THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT DID NOT BAIL ON JESUS WERE WOMEN!!

I have wanted to yell that ever since I attended a men’s conference where one of the ministers yelled to the crowd that at the time of his arrest, trial and execution that everyone abandoned Christ.  EVERYONE!!! eh hem....sorry not everyone, and perhaps Betty White is right when she said “Why do people say "grow some balls"? Balls are weak and sensitive. If you wanna be tough, grow a vagina.”

Yes I know I left out some of the quote.  I did it on purpose.

Women, three in particular, bore witness to his death.  His mother, his aunt, and a prostitute;  Mary his mother, Mary his aunt, and Mary Magdalene.  To be fair to Mary Magdalene that assertion that she was a prostitute does not come from the bible and was added centuries later.  But all four gospels account for the women being there, only two add a man. 

Now on to the Blog -

Jesus was tried before the Sanhedrin, before Herod, and before Pilate.

I have benefitted from the death and resurrection of Jesus.  It is hard for me in to look back and truly understand and appreciate what these three groups were up to.  Not that I have taken Jesus and his gift for granted (I have), and maybe I have reached a place in my faith where I am complacent (I have) but I find it hard to imagine wanting to kill Jesus (methinks denial).

Intellectually, I get that the Jesus angered the three; the Sanhedrin, Herod, and Pilate.  It doesn’t help that I am in the midst of a renewed strength of love and faith with Jesus.  I understand that the Sanhedrin represents the behaviour that I want God to demand.  That Herod represents the fun and excitement I want at the hands of the saviour of the whole world.  As well, Pilate represents how I want God to stamp out injustice.

It is in the trials of Jesus that I most associate with his humanness.  He did not stand a chance, there was no way that he could win.

The Sanhedrin were ruthless – they had questioned Jesus before.  By whose authority did he teach?  What about marriage after the resurrection?  Should we pay taxes? How dare you heal on the Sabbath – tell a man he’s forgiven – talk to those people?  There was no answer that would satisfy them.  Their ultimate question, “If you are God, then why do you not behave the way that I want you to?”

To these Jesus said, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer.”

Then it was Herod’s turn, at first Herod was excited at seeing Jesus.  All that Jesus had to do was perform a miracle – entertain him.  You know!  My interest not only in what Jesus can do for me, but the move from peak experience to peak experience.  A cathartic conversion where my soul is set free, followed by another emotionally charged experience of the guy being able to see, to the conversion of the woman two rows over and five seats down. There is not much recorded about the exchange between Herod and Jesus, but Herod grows tired of him and sends him back to Pilate.

Then we have Pilate, was Jesus the God of social justice.  Was he the promised King of the Jews?  Had he come to lead the revolt against the occupying Romans? In the end, Pilate found him harmless, innocent, and wanted to release him.  It was the righteous ones that wanted him dead.

The Trials of Jesus ask me what is it that I want from Jesus.  Each of those aspects of following might seem valid.  All of them miss the point of his ministry, death, and resurrection. And, all three can carry ill intent.  But it was only the one, moral conduct, that insisted Jesus be killed.