The 7 trials Jesus faced before his Crucifixion

1. The 7 Trials Jesus faced before His Crucifixion - 13th April 2017
“As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”But Pilate answered, “You
take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”(John 19:6-7).
Jesuswasbroughtto face judgmentbefore Annas,Caiaphas,Pilate,Herod,Pilate forasecondtime,and
finallywhenPilate broughtJesusbeforethe people andpronouncedtothemthathe foundnobasisfor
judgingJesus,the people rejectedmessiahandpassed judgmentonhim.AndPilate,bowingtopolitical
pressure fromthe highpriestsandthe will of the people,sentencedJesus,amanwhomhe had just
pronouncedunworthyof deathorany punishment,todeathbycrucifixion. We listbelow the seven
trialsof Jesus had to endure before Hiscrucifixion.They canbe termedas:Three religious–Jewish
relatedandthree civil –Romans relatedtrials. All theseseventrialswere carriedoutonGoodFriday,
from2 AMto 10 AM, the 8 hourperiodwhere Jesushadtoundergoterrible suffering.
Firstlywe have listedthe three Jewishreligioustrialswhere Jesuswaswrongfully proclaimedasinner:
1. Annas, Decision: Go signal given to execute Jesus. The FirstJewish relatedTrial whichJesus
facedwas purportedly religious innature. AnnaswashighpriestA.D.7-14.Under Mosaic Law,the high-
priesthoodwasheldforlife andalthoughAnnashadbeendeposedbythe Romans,the Jewsmaystill
have regardedhimas legallythe highpriest. We canread from John18:12-14, “Thenthe detachmentof
soldierswith itscommander andthe JewishofficialsarrestedJesus. They boundhim 13
andbrought
himfirst to Annas,who was the father-in-lawofCaiaphas,thehighpriestthat year. 14
Caiaphaswas
the one who had advisedthe Jewishleaders that it wouldbe goodifone man died forthe people.”
JesusChristwasfirstbroughtbefore Annas.We can learnof thisincidentfrom John18:19-23,
“Meanwhile,thehigh priestquestionedJesus abouthis disciplesandhisteaching.20
“Ihavespoken
openlyto the world,” Jesusreplied. “Ialwaystaught insynagoguesor at the temple,where all the
Jews come together. I saidnothinginsecret. 21
Whyquestionme? Ask those whoheard me. Surely
they know what I said.”22
WhenJesussaidthis,oneof the officials nearbyslappedhimin the face. “Is
this the way youanswer the highpriest?” he demanded.23
“IfIsaidsomethingwrong,” Jesus replied,
“testifyas to what is wrong.But if I spoke the truth, why did youstrike me?”We can alsolearnthat
aftera brief questioningJesuswassenttoCaiaphas.
2. Caiaphas – the Second Religious Trial:Decision:DeathSentence:Charge of blasphemy,because
Jesusproclaimedhimself the Messiah,Godthe Son. InA.D.25, Caiaphas,whohadmarriedthe daughter
of Annas,was promotedtothat office of highpriest,andprobablyAnnaswasnow made presidentof
the Sanhedrim,ordeputyorcoadjutorof the highpriest,andthuswas alsocalledhighpriestalongwith
Caiaphas. He was the Highpriestof the Jews,A.D.27 to 36. He was a Sadducee,anda bitterenemyof
Christ.We can learnfrom Matthew 26:57, “Thosewho hadarrested Jesustook him to Caiaphasthe
highpriest, where the teachers of the law andthe elders hadassembled.
3. Sanhedrin - the Third Religious Trial:Decision:Death. The Sanhedrinwasthe supreme council,or
court, inancientIsrael.The Sanhedrinwascomprisedof 70men,plusthe highpriest,whoservedasits
president.The memberscame fromthe chief priests,scribes,andelders,butthere isnorecordon how
theywere chosen. We can learnfrom Matthew 26:57- 67, “Thechief priests andthe wholeSanhedrin
were lookingforfalse evidenceagainstJesus so that they couldput him to death. 60
But they didnot
findany, thoughmanyfalsewitnesses came forward.Finallytwo came forward 61
anddeclared, “This
fellowsaid,‘I am able to destroy the temple of Godandrebuildit in three days.’”,“ Thenthehigh

2. priest stoodup and saidto Jesus, “Are you not goingto answer? Whatis thistestimonythat these
men are bringingagainstyou?” 63
ButJesus remained silent.The high priest saidto him,“I charge you
under oath by the livingGod:Tell usif you are the Messiah,the Sonof God.”64
“Youhavesaidso,”
Jesus replied.“But I say to all of you: From nowon you will see the Sonof Man sittingat the right
handof the Mighty One andcomingon the cloudsof heaven.” Then the highpriest tore hisclothes
and said,“He hasspoken blasphemy!Whydo we need any more witnesses?Look, now youhave
heard the blasphemy. 66
Whatdoyou think?”“Heisworthy of death,” they answered.67
Thenthey spit
in hisface and struck himwith their fists.Others slappedhim 68
andsaid,“Prophesyto us,Messiah.
Whohit you?”
4. Pontius Pilate: The First Civil trials where Jesus was proclaimed innocent. Decision: Not
guilty. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea from A.D. 26-36, serving under Emperor
Tiberius. He is most known for his involvement in condemning Jesus to death on a cross. We
can read of the first Civil Trial of Pilate found in John.18:36-38, “Jesussaid, “My kingdomisnot of
this world.If it were, my servants wouldfightto prevent my arrest by the Jewishleaders. But now my
kingdomisfrom another place.”37
“Youareaking, then!” saidPilate.Jesus answered, “Yousaythat I
am a king.In fact, the reason I was born andcame into the world isto testify to the truth. Everyone on
the side of truth listensto me.”38
“Whatistruth?” retorted Pilate. Withthishe went out againto the
Jews gathered there andsaid,“I findno basisfor a charge againsthim.”
5. Herod - Second Civil Trial:Herodwas born before 20 BC – diedafter39 AD was a 1st-centuryruler
of Galilee,whobore the titleof tetrarch("rulerof a quarter") andisreferredtoas both "Herodthe
Tetrarch" and "KingHerod"inthe NewTestamentalthoughhe neverheldthe title of king.We canread
fromLuke23:8-9,“When Herod saw Jesus,he was greatly pleased,because for a longtime he had been
wantingto see him.From what he hadheard about him,he hoped to see him performa sign ofsome
sort. 9
He pliedhimwith manyquestions,but Jesus gavehim no answer.” HerodhadJesusridiculed
but,wantingto avoidthe political liability,sentJesusbacktoPilate aswe learnfrom Luke 23:11–12,
“Then Herod and hissoldiersridiculedandmocked him. Dressinghim inan elegant robe, they sent him
back to Pilate.12
That day Herod and Pilatebecame friends—beforethisthey had been enemies.”
6. Pilate again - Third Civil Trial - Decision: Not guilty, but turned to the Jews to be crucified We
can learn from John19: 1 – 5,“Then Pilatetook Jesus andhad himflogged. 2
The soldierstwisted
together a crown of thorns andput it on hishead. They clothed himin a purple robe 3
andwent up to
himagainand again,saying,“Hail,kingofthe Jews!” Andthey slappedhimin the face.4
Oncemore
Pilatecame out and saidto the Jews gathered there, “Look,I ambringing himout to you to let you
know that I findno basisfor a charge againsthim.” 5
WhenJesuscame out wearingthe crown of
thorns andthe purple robe, Pilatesaid to them, “Here is the man!”
7. The High priests, Sanhedrin and Jews: WantedJesus dead:Political pressure from the high
priests and the will of the people sentenced Jesus as we can read from John 19:6-7, “As soonas
the chief priests andtheir officialssawhim,they shouted,“Crucify!Crucify!”ButPilateanswered,“You
take him andcrucify him.As for me, I findno basisfor a charge againsthim.” The Jewish leaders
insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the
Son of God.” This was the last trial as Pilate tried to appease the animosity of the Jews by
having Jesus scourged. In a final effort to have Jesus released, Pilate offered the prisoner
Barabbas to be crucified and Jesus released, but to no avail. The crowds called for Barabbas to

3. be released and Jesus to be crucified. Pilate granted their demand and surrendered Jesus to
their will. We can learn this from John 19:15-16, “But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him
away! Crucify him!”“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.“We have no king but Caesar,” the
chief priests answered.16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.”