In this episode, we recount the story of Jesus’ unjust trials and the monumental crucifixion. Rick Hughes takes us through a detailed examination of these trials, shedding light on the political and religious intricacies that pressed Pilate into an impossible situation. Through the narrative, discover deeper insights into faith, prophecy, and the redemptive power of Jesus’ journey.
Welcome to the Flatline with your host, Rick Hughes. For the next 30 minutes, you’ll be inspired, motivated, educated, but never manipulated. Now, your host, Rick Hughes.
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Good morning and welcome to the Flatline. I’m your host, Rick Hughes, and for the next few minutes, please stay with me. You know the drill. It’s just going to be a short time, maybe 30 minutes of motivation, some inspiration, a whole lot of education with no manipulation, no con games, not asking for money, not trying to solicit anything. We’re not trying to sell you something, but we just want to give you information. Information, hopefully, that will help you verify as well as identify God’s plan for your life. And if I can do that, you have the freedom, the privacy to orient and adjust to the plan. This is not a political show. This is a show about the Word of God. I’m not a Bible counselor. I’m an evangelist. I’m not a pastor. And if I can give you some information and point you in the right direction where you can find a well-qualified pastor, that’s what I’d love to do. You know, sometimes in life we get dealt a really bad hand. Maybe you have had things happen to you that you don’t appreciate. You may be totally innocent, but the blame would be cast on your shoulders as if you’re the one that did it. The normal response is to try and vindicate yourself or to get totally revenge-motivated. Not fair, you may cry, but then you move into self-pity, thinking God allowed something bad to happen to you, maybe because of something you might have done in the past, who knows? But let’s look at our Lord’s unfair, unjust treatment on this special morning and see how he dealt with things that he faced. As we worship the Lord Jesus Christ this Easter day, we recall his death, his burial, and his resurrection. Those last few hours he spent on the earth in true humanity before ascending to his Father are worthy of recall in order to challenge us to prepare us for what we could and may eventually face in our life. It’s clear the disciples were not very up to speed on the events that were about to occur. How could they possibly even grasp the significance of these last few hours? Jesus told them these words in John 16, one through three. He said, these things I’ve spoken to you that you should not be offended. In other words, don’t get your feelings hurt over the unfair treatment you’re going to experience. Here’s what he said they would face. They shall put you out of the synagogue. The time will come when whoever kills you will think they’re doing God a service by killing you. I’m sure the disciples weren’t too happy to hear that. And then he said in verse 3 of John 16, these things they will do to you. They will do it. Will, not might, will do it because they have not known the Father, nor have they known me. These words were a clear prophecy concerning what was about to happen after that Last Supper and after the betrayal of Judas. The first thing we need to look at was his arrest and the first trial. We’re going to look at several trials that our Lord Jesus Christ was subjected to. None of them were legitimate. None of them were fair. They were all unfair. They were all abusive. So let’s take a look at it. you got your Bible you might want to write these down and read them for yourself I might not read every verse but let’s go through it in John 18 verses 1 through 9 after Jesus had spoken these words he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron where there was a garden into which he entered and his disciples and Judas also which betrayed him knew this place where Jesus oftentimes resorted there with his disciples Judas, then having received a band of men and officers of the chief priests and the Pharisees, came with their lanterns and torches and weapons. Here they are, armed to the teeth, coming to arrest him. Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said, Who are you looking for? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus said, It’s me, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon as he said, I am he, they fell backwards to the ground. And then he asked him again, who do you want? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus answered, I’ve told you that I’m him. If therefore you want me, let these others go their way. That’s the disciples. And they did. Now, you might be surprised to know that not only were the guards that came to arrest him armed, but also the disciples were armed. You think not? John 18.10, Then Simon Peter had a sword, and he was armed, and he drew it, and he smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. Now, I’m sure he tried to cut his head off, and the guy ducked. They just winged him and cut his ear off, and the Lord wasn’t too happy about that. He picked it up, put it back on him, and told Peter to put his sword back up. He said, if you’re going to live by the sword, you’ll die by the sword. Don’t be trying to defend me. So here is this notorious criminal, the Lord Jesus Christ, with all these guards and weapons and lanterns and witnesses, He has not broken any Roman law. He hasn’t done anything wrong. He only violated the religious regulations of the Pharisees and the scribes. In John 18, 12, and the band and the captains and the officers, they took Jesus and bound him. That means they put him in handcuffs. They led him away to Annas, First, for he was the father-in-law to Caiaphas. And Caiaphas was the high priest that same year, and it was Caiaphas that gave the counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for all the people. So the first place they take Jesus is to the political boss of Jerusalem named Annas. Took him to Annas first. Let Annas get a look at him. Caiaphas was actually the leader of the high priest of the Pharisees, and that was him. And he had already made counsel to put Jesus to death. In John 11, 53, you can read that from that day forth, they took counsel together to put him to death. And this was after Caiaphas had told them what they should do about it. And so Jesus, because of the death sentence that Caiaphas had put on him, the Bible says in John 11, 54 that Jesus walked no more openly among the Jews But he went thence into a country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. Now, why did they do this? Why did they want to arrest him? Why did they want to kill him? Because their political power with Rome was threatened. And if they could not police their own political problems, then Rome would have to step in and clean house. And that means they would have been in big trouble with Rome. So after Annas satisfied his curiosity, took a look at him, said what he wanted to say, put his stamp of approval on the arrest, he sent Jesus over to the current high priest, Caiaphas. Matthew 11, 57. And they that had laid hold of Jesus led him away to Caiaphas, the high priest. This is the second trial. The first one was before Annas, now before Caiaphas. And they led him to the high priest where the scribes and the Pharisees and the elders were assembled. Uh-huh. Here we go. It’s going to be a mockery. And Peter followed far off into the high priest’s palace and went in and sat with the servants to see what was going to happen. Now this is where Peter denies him. You remember the story. And the chief priests and the elders and all the council sought false witness against Jesus to put him to death. But they couldn’t find any. At last, two liars came forward and said, we heard him say that he could destroy the temple and build it back in three days. And of course, he wasn’t talking about Solomon’s temple, nothing to do with that. The high priest arose and said, what do you have to say about that? And Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said to him, I adjure you by the living God, you tell me whether or not you are the Christ, the son of God. And Jesus said unto him, Nevertheless, I say unto you, Hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, coming in the clouds of heaven. And then the high priest got violently mad, rent his clothes. He spoke blasphemy. What further need we have of any witnesses? We’ve heard this blasphemy. What do you think? And they said, Guilty of death. And they spit in his face. They buffeted him with their hands. That means they smacked him in the face. saying, prophesy to us, you Jesus, who is it that smote you that time? Notice that our Lord did not have an attorney present, nor did he even try to defend himself. And notice the high priest demanded Jesus confess to the crimes he was accused of. So here he is, going through two trials, now beyond recognition, his face was all swollen, puffy, and no legal trial could ever be conducted at night. That was totally wrong. So they had to have a third trial. In Luke 22, 66, as soon as it was day, see, they had to do this in the daytime. As soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together and led him into the council saying, are you the Christ? Tell us. And he said, if I tell you, you won’t believe it. And if I also ask you, you will not answer me, nor let me go. Hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power of God. And they said, are you the Son of God? And he said, well, you say I am. And they said, what need we of any further witnesses? We have heard it out of his own mouth. So here now they’re ready to put him to death. Now they think they have all the evidence they need. And so in John 18, 28 through 38, we have the fourth trial. Now we’ve had one trial before Annas, one trial before Caiaphas, another trial at daylight before the elders and the high priest. Now the fourth trial, what do you think they’re gonna do here? Oh, they’re gonna wake up Pilate. They’re gonna wake him up from a deep sleep. In John 18, 28, they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the hall of judgment and it was early, early in the morning. They wouldn’t go into the judgment hall unless they should be defiled because the Passover was coming up. And Pilate went out to them, what’s going on? Why are you bringing this man to me? In verse 30 of John 18, if he wasn’t a criminal, we would not have delivered him to you. And then Pilate said, well, then you take him and you judge him according to your own laws. And the Jews said unto him, it’s not lawful for us to put any man to death. That was said that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spoke signifying the death, he would die. So Pilate entered the judgment hall again and called Jesus, come here and said to him, are you the king of the Jews? Now remember, Rome only recognized one king and that was Caesar. And if he was claiming to be a king, that would have been treason. And Jesus answered him saying this thing, do you say this of yourself or did someone else tell you that about me? Pilate was rather indignant. He said, Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered you to me. What have you done? And Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world. And if it was, my servants would fight for me. But now is my kingdom not from here. Pilate therefore said unto him, Are you a king then? And Jesus answered, You say I’m a king. And to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into this world, that I should bear witness unto the truth, that everyone that is of the truth will hear my voice. And then Pilate asked the question, what is truth? What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out to the Jews and said unto them, there’s nothing wrong with this man. I find no fault in this person. Well, now we have a fifth trial. When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And as soon as he knew that he belonged under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem during the time. And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, clapped his hand, jumped up and down like a little bunny rabbit. He was desiring to see him for a long, long time. He’d heard all about him. He wanted to see some miracle, wanted to see him do something special. And Herod questioned him with many words, but Jesus said nothing. Why talk to a fool that would have been a waste of time? And the chief priests and the scribes stood to the side vehemently cursing and accusing him. Picture that in your mind. Here’s Herod. Here’s our Lord Jesus Christ battered and beaten beyond recognition up all night long through all of these four trials. And now here’s Herod making fun of him and the chief priests and the scribes making fun of him, accusing him. And Herod with his men of war set him at naught. They mocked him and they arrayed him in a gorgeous robe and sent him back to Pilate again. Oh my gosh. Look what our Lord was going through. The sixth trial, he’s already had five different trials. None of them were fair, none of them were right, none of them were legitimate. In John 18, verse 30 through 19, verse 16, he sends him back to Pilate. And Pilate said, you have a custom that I should release unto you at the Passover. One, which would you have? Would you have me to release the king of the Jews? And they said, no, no, no, no, not this man. Release Barabbas. And the Bible tells us Barabbas was a robber. So Pilate took Jesus and he scourged him. That means he beat him and whipped him. And the soldiers planted a crown of thorns and put it on his head. And they put him in a purple robe. And they all made fun of him and said, Hail, the king of the Jews. And they smote him with their hands, being beaten again in the face. Pilate therefore went forth and said unto them, Now look, I bring him forth to you that you may know that I find no fault in him. He has done nothing wrong. He’s innocent. And then Jesus came forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said unto them, Behold the man. And when the chief priests, therefore, and the officers saw him, they cried out, started yelling at the top of their voice, crucify him, crucify him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, you take him and you crucify him. I said, he’s innocent. I found no fault in him. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine that he’s totally innocent? that the head of the Roman government said he’s innocent, he’s done nothing wrong, he hasn’t violated any laws, and yet the religious community is demanding that he be killed, just as he told the disciples that they would do to them once he was gone. The Jews answered and said, we have a law, and by our law, he should die because he made himself the son of God. When Pilate heard that, he was more afraid. Uh-oh. Uh-oh, in verse nine, he went again into the judgment hall and said unto Jesus, whence art thou? And Jesus gave him no answer. And Pilate said to him, won’t you speak to me? Don’t you realize I have the power to crucify you and have the power to release you? And then Jesus looked at him and he said, you would have no power at all against me except it were given to you from above. Therefore he that delivers me unto you hath the greater sin. And from thenceforth on Pilate sought to release him. He wanted to release him. He wanted to let him go. He was innocent. He was afraid of him. He had heard he was a son of God. And he was, and he is. But the Jews cried out saying, if you let this man go, you’re not Caesar’s friend. Because whoever claims to be a king speaks against Caesar. Now they’re turning it into a political situation. They’re deflecting the situation from what they wanted into a political, trying to force Pilate to kill him. You see, if he claimed to be a king against Caesar, then Pilate would have had to put him to death. If you let this man go, you’re not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king, he’s speaking against Caesar. And Pilate heard this saying. He brought Jesus forth and sent him down in the judgment seat in a place that’s called the pavement. In the Hebrew, it’s Galbatha. And it was the preparation of the Passover, about the sixth hour. And he said unto the Jews, behold, your king. And they cried out, no, no, crucify him, take him away, crucify him. And Pilate said unto them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priest then spoke up and said, we have no king except Caesar. Oh my gosh. Political, political, political. We have no king but Caesar. Liars. Saying what they wanted to say. Using politics to have our Lord crucified. And then delivered he them unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him away. Once Pilate realized that it was a no-win situation for him, that if he didn’t crucify him, then they were going to go to Caesar and claim that Pilate had failed to do his job, that this man was claiming to be a king and they should have been put to death. Pilate had no way out. He didn’t want to do it, but he was forced to do it. So the sentence was carried out in John 19, 17 through 30. Here we go. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified him with two other men, one on either side and Jesus in the middle. I don’t know how many times as I’ve driven up and down the highways across this country I’ve seen three crosses. Three crosses on a mountain top, three crosses in front of a church, three crosses on the side of a road, all representing what happened that day. I have a friend of mine who specializes in putting up 200 foot tall crosses across the South. He’s put up 20 or more crosses that all lit up at night and they’re monster tall crosses. representing the work that Jesus Christ did for our sins. So Pilate, when they crucified him, wrote a title and put it on the cross. This is what he wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This title then read many of the Jews. For the place where Jesus was crucified was near to the city and it was written in Hebrew, written in Greek, written in Latin, so there’d be no misunderstanding. He never claimed to be the king of Rome. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, don’t write that, don’t write that, the king of the Jews. But that he said, I am the king of the Jews. Pilate answered and said, what I wrote, I wrote. In other words, shut up. And then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts to every soldier apart. And from his coat, now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. And they said, well, let’s not tear the coat in half, but let’s cast lots for it. Who shall it be that the scripture might be fulfilled, which was said, quote, they parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they cast lots. These things, therefore, the soldiers did. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. But he wasn’t speaking of himself. He was speaking of John. Then said he to John, Behold your mother. And from that hour on, John took her into his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, so that the Scriptures may be fulfilled, said these words, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it to his mouth. And when Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished. Greek word tetelestai finished tetelestai and he bowed his head and he gave up the ghost no one killed him he voluntarily stepped out of the human body remember this was undiminished deity and true humanity in one body forever this was the God man and once that act was accomplished he stepped out of the body and went to be with the father What act had to be accomplished? On the cross, the Bible says, he that knew no sin was made sin for us. All of our sins were poured out on him. Everything that you and I ever did, that’s what he died for. He took our place. He paid our penalty. And it was through his shedding of his blood that we’re saved. That’s his spiritual death on the cross, being identified with the sins of mankind. Just as the first Adam brought us all into sin, the second Adam relieved us of all sin, took away our sin. And the final act of mercy, or at least so they thought, John 19, 31. The Jews, therefore, because it was preparation for the Passover, did not want the bodies to remain upon the cross on the seventh day. For the seventh day was a high day, and they asked Pilate that the legs might be broken and they might be taken away. And then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first one, and of the other one that was crucified with him. And when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was dead already, and they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bore record, and this record is true, and he knoweth that these things said is true, that he might believe. For these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled. Not a bone of his shall ever be broken. And another scripture said, they shall look on him whom they pierced. Why did they break people’s legs? Well, the Romans could have left them up there for days. But they would have suffocated. Eventually the weight hanging down, you’re pressing up and trying to get your breath and sagging back down and pressing up and sagging back down. And if they broke their legs, they couldn’t press up anymore and they would just sit there and suffocate. But our Lord had already given up the ghost. Our Lord had already stepped out of the human body. Our Lord had already said, that’s it. When he said, Ted, let’s die, that’s it. There’s something else that he said too. He said, Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? On that cross, the father turned away. Looked away as our Lord bore our sins. Three hours of darkness on that cross as he bore our sins. He who knew no sin was made sin. Listen to me today. This was what our Lord did for you. This is what he went through for you on your behalf so that you might have eternal life. You can’t earn it. You can’t buy it. You can’t persuade anyone to do it for you. Jesus Christ, the anointed son of God, did this for you. That’s only half the story. The other half of the story is what’s going to happen next. And I know we’re going to come back next week to continue this. But until then, think about this. Six different trials. All illegitimate. some at night some in the day and the judge said he’s not guilty he’s not guilty he’s innocent he’s done nothing wrong and yet the favor of the religious crowd so intense that they manipulated the judge and forced him to crucify the lord jesus christ i’m sure satan thought he’d won the victory but he did not this was god’s plan all along this is why christ came to this world to bear the sins of mankind thank god he did Thank God he went to the cross. Thank God he did this for us. Because without that, you and I would have no eternal destiny. We would not be saved. We would have no hope in the future. But we do. Not only is that hope guaranteed in what he did on the cross, but what he did after they buried him. We’ll see that next week. We’ll see how they tried to find the body of Jesus and it wasn’t there anymore because he was alive. He walked out of that grave. He walked out of that grave alive and he is alive today. But the most marvelous thing is that he will come and live inside of you if you let him. Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ will live in you. Whoever receives him has the power to become the sons of God, even to them that just believe in his name, the Bible says. I hope you’re listening. I hope you’re paying attention this Easter morning. That’s what your Lord did for you. And that’s only half the story. Next week, I’ll be back. Same time, same place. I hope you’ll stay tuned. If you have a question, don’t hesitate to contact me, rick at rickhughesministries.org. Thank you for listening.
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Thank you for listening to The Floodline with your host, Rick Hughes. If you’d like to contact Rick, please write to him at P.O. Box 100, Cropwell, Alabama, 35054, or online at www.rickhughesministries.org.
