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Innocent yet condemned for us. This Monday Thursday evening, Reverend Daniel shares about the trial scenes of Jesus, exploring the thread of the active presence of the Jewish leadership and their hostility against Jesus.

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Church, we are gathered here this evening as we remember the night before Jesus was betrayed. And today the text before us is a bit rather sober, right? We are talking about judgment. And then he was moved to Pilate, and after that to Herod, and then he was sentenced. So we will see that the single threat and constant in this story, this unit is the active presence of the Jewish leadership and their hostility against Jesus. If you read through the text again, you see their vehement opposition to Jesus is peppered throughout the reading. Look at Luke 23, verse 5, they were urgent, saying, He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place. Luke 23, verse 10. The chief priest and the scribe stood by, vehemently accusing him. Luke 23, verse 18, but they all cried out together, away with this man and release us, Barabbas. Luke 23, verse 23. But they were urgent, demanding with loud Christ that he should be crucified, and their voices prevailed. We see here a double irony. In calling for Jesus' execution, the Jewish leaders think that they are acting on God's behalf by doing away with one who, in their view, opposes God's purpose. But in opposing Jesus, they are actually opposing the very divine purpose that they had taught to serve. Their instrumentality in Jesus' crucifixion, conceived in opposition to the divine plan, actually serves that plan. The trial of Jesus comprises the ascendancy of what Jesus had done in Luke 23, verse 53, if you look at that, is a time and the hour and power of darkness. It is here the trial of Jesus that the Jewish leaders are able, however, in a temporary way, to win the people of Israel gathered in Jerusalem away from Jesus' leadership and thus to overwhelm Pilate and in spite of his protestations concerning Jesus' innocence to gain from Pilate a sentence of execution by crucifixion. In order to understand what was going on in the trial of Jesus, we need to ask ourselves two related questions. One, what was Jesus' response to his trial before the Sanhedrin, before Pilate and before Herod? And what does this tell us about faith and the purposes of God in the trial of Jesus? Let me repeat again, what was Jesus' response to his trial before the Sanhedrin, Pilate and Herod? And what does that teach us about faith and the purposes of God in the trial of Jesus? Although Jesus appears in each scene following his understated and enigmatic response to the Jewish council and to Pilate, he seemed to fall silent and is a passive participant in his own trial and sentencing. In Jesus' hearing before the Sanhedrin, they asked him, If you are the Messiah, tell us. Jesus responded to them by citing their hardness of heart and refusal to believe, while at the same time affirming that from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand at the power of God. So this response by Jesus is crucial. He's telling the Sanhedrin, the Jewish court, from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. The phrase from now on appears many times in Luke to demarcate a new beginning. So Jesus, in his trial, was already looking forward beyond that to speak of a new beginning. And the new beginning is the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the power of God. Previously, the term Son of Man was uh described in a way of rejection and humiliation that Jesus had to go through. Now, standing before the Sanhedrin, Jesus promises a status reversal, dishonor, a dishonored death that Jesus will face through crucifixion will give way to the highest honor because from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. So when Jesus made this statement, he was drawing on the enthronment images in Psalm 110 verse 1 about how the psalmist says, The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Jesus looked forward and announces that he will reign at God's right hand. So in contrast to the temporary power that the Jewish leadership had, the power of darkness, the Son of Man, will be exalted in great power on high. So it recalls verses like Hebrews 12, verse 2, where the author says, looking to Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God. So Jesus was already looking ahead to victory in the midst of the trial. He wasn't focusing on the trial. In fact, his mind was set on his enthronement. So that is key. Even though it's a time of darkness, a time where the Jewish leaders would be vehemently against Jesus. Yet Jesus is resolute in his purpose because he knows where he's going. He knows that he will be enthroned. He'll be exalted on Easter Day. So in Jesus' hearing before Pilate, the charge brought against Jesus was that he, we have found this man, Jesus, misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar and saying that he himself is Christ, a king. So this charge draws together the Jewish concern. In fact, uh identifying Jesus as a false prophet according to Deuteronomy chapter 13. So they identified Jesus as a false prophet, uh telling about the kingdom of God and uh healing the sick. So to the Jews uh of Jesus' time, he was a false prophet. And when he uh when they brought the charge against Jesus, when they deliberately said that he uh forbid tribute to Caesar, he was they were trying to arouse the sentiments of Pilate against a revolt by Jesus. Revolt against the Roman government. So from the understanding of the Jewish leadership, Jesus lacked divine sanction for his ministry. In fact, they denounced him. They said that you are not speaking on behalf of God, you are a false prophet. In Pilate's years, leading the people astray would likely be linked to rebellion and civil unrest. However, from the vantage point of Jesus and the purpose of God, right at the beginning of Luke's gospel, which sets the theme throughout the whole gospel of Luke, uh, can be found in Luke 1, verse 52. And it talks about how God Himself has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. We know that the salvific work of God will involve bringing down the mighty from their throne. And in this context, the Jewish leadership, they thought they had won the battle against Jesus by sending Jesus to the cross, but how wrong they were, because Jesus was conscious of his victory. He said, from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. Pilate then formulates a question to Jesus in terms of his royal status. Are you the king of the Jews? Jesus turns the question back to him and says, Yes, as you have said so. So the way Jesus responds was actually not a response. He was just turning the question back to them. So unsatisfied with the outcome of the hearing before Pilate, the Jewish leaders then renewed their accusations against Jesus, pressing their case more urgently and uh charging Jesus as stirring up the people. And because of that, uh Pilate found no guilt in Jesus, but uh because he he wasn't able to make that decision, he was pressured, he decided to send him to Herod since Jesus was a Galilean and he was under Herod's jurisdiction. So Jesus was again silent before Herod despite being questioned at length by him. Then for no apparent reason, we read in the narrative that uh that Herod then joined the soldiers in scorning Jesus and then returns Jesus to Pilate. We see again the Jewish leadership in united opposition against Jesus. Luke 23, verse 10 tells us the chief priests and the scribes vehemently accuse Jesus. Herod, a representative of Rome, though it tells us he longed to see Jesus, but he does not respond to Jesus in faith because he actually participated with the rest of the Jewish leadership in scorning Jesus and in shaming him. So Herod aligns himself with the Jewish leadership as those who do not recognize the status of Jesus. Then Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate. Again, it elicited the response by Pilate of the innocence of Jesus. So in other words, Pilate again, the second time, found Jesus not guilty. In Luke 23, verse 13 to 15, he called together the chief priests and the rulers of the people and said to them, You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. So in fact, there's a threefold attempt of Pilate to effect Jesus' release. And along with the desire for Pilate, the Roman governor, to set Jesus free, was also the heightening efforts of the Jewish people and their leaders to have Jesus executed. Twice, Luke reports in in Pilate's direct speech that he had been unable, Pilate was unable to find any basis for a death sentence in the case of Jesus. So what he did was was fair. He actually had Jesus flocked just to please the Jews and say, you know, I will release him. I have him flocked, I'll release him. You know, but the Jews were not satisfied with that. The Jews and their leaders were not satisfied, and they shouted out together and they kept shouting urgently, demanding with loud shouts, until their voices prevailed. So here we see the tale of two opposing wills. Pilate's desire to release Jesus on the one hand and the desire of the Jewish people and their leaders to see Jesus crucified on the other hand. So this was an incident that points to the fact that Jesus was actually innocent. In fact, Pilate wanted to release him. Many times he said, you know, I do not find this man guilty. Yet many times the Jews were vehemently against Jesus. So what does this trial of Jesus tell us about the faith and purposes of God? And how does the trial of Jesus teach us about our faith and as we go through our life as a Christian? So Jesus, it shows us the whole trial of Jesus, it shows us that Jesus is the innocent one whom Pilate finds no guilt, whom he desires to release. The Jewish leaders thought otherwise. They vehemently insisted with loud, urgent cries that Jesus should be done away with by crucifixion. Later in the book of Acts, Peter will articulate the terms of this account even more starkly. Acts 3, verse 13 to 14 says, uh, you handed over and rejected Jesus in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. You rejected the holy and righteous one and asked to have a murderer given to you. The trial of Jesus reveals in the words of John chapter 1, verse 11, he came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. This is because John 3.19 tells us that, and this is the judgment. The light has come into the world, and people love the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil. Our human propensity to sin and love for darkness is what had led Jesus to the cross. We may squirrel at the injustice in the trial of Jesus or be appalled at the hatred and evil embodied in the Jewish leadership in their insistence that Jesus be crucified. Yet Jesus had to be the innocent one, sentenced to be crucified unjustly, to fulfill God's foreknowledge and plan that for our sake Jesus had to be made sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we may become the righteousness of God. They said, We have no king but Caesar. In the Old Testament, the Lord is the true king of Israel. It tells us in Isaiah verse 26, verse 13, O Lord our God, other gods beside you has rule over us, but your name alone do we honor. The Jewish people concluded uh the recital of Psalm 113 to 118 with the prayer, From everlasting to everlasting, you are God. Besides you, we have no king, redeemer, or savior, no liberer, deliverer, provider, none who takes pity in every time of distress or trouble. We have no king but you. For the chief priest to say in John chapter 19, verse 15, that we have no king but Caesar was a travesty of the Jewish faith, as well as a renunciation of Jesus, their true Messiah. Do we see ourselves as part of the story in the trial of Jesus? I believe all of us, in one way or another, have also rejected Jesus in our lives by wanting to lead our lives our own way without him. Yet Jesus absorbed the judgment and evil on himself, and we see it so evidently in the trial of Jesus. He was innocent, yet he was charged and condemned to death by crucifixion. A death reserved for slaves, political rebels, and condemned criminals. On Monday Thursday night, the night before Jesus was betrayed into the hands of sinners, we recall that he willingly took on the injustice in his trial and absorbed the hatred and evil embodied in the Jewish leadership. Because this is the way he wants us to know that we can be set free. So the meditation I like to share with us tonight can be summarized in just one sentence is this Jesus was innocent, yet he was condemned for us. We see throughout the whole trial of Jesus, Pilate didn't find him guilty of any charge. Yet the Jewish leadership was just bent on sending him to be crucified. So Jesus was innocent, yet he was condemned for us. And as we remember this night, there may be some of us here where we feel that we have been treated unjustly, or we have been kind or nice to others, but all we get was insults, is insults back at us. Or we may be facing a difficult situation at work. And we wonder all this suffering, all this enduring at your workplace or your family situation, whether there's any resolution. And tonight, as we recall the trial of Jesus, we remember that Jesus was innocent, yet he was condemned for us. And the impetus for us, based on this, is that all of us can find strength from Jesus, who he himself suffered in such a way, being condemned, even though he was innocent, yet he went through it, reminding us that because Jesus himself went through it, we have the strength and grace to overcome any kind of fury trial that we go through. Because Jesus was innocent, yet he was condemned for us. He's able to give us the strength to walk in his path and his footsteps. Just like to uh again uh read a passage from 1 Peter just to remind us that even as Jesus himself went through the great trial, he's calling us, especially those of us who are going through similar situations, to take heart because if Jesus had gone through it, gone through a trial in which he was treated unjustly, yet he was condemned. So he will give us the strength to face trying times. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 21 says, For this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges just.