Matt. 27:57-68, The Illegal Trial of Jesus (2)

We are continuing with the list of illegalities committed in the Jewish trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin.

·       In a local council, eleven votes out of the total of twenty-three were required for acquittal, but thirteen were required for conviction.

·       If the accused was found innocent, he was freed immediately.

·       But if he was found guilty, the sentence was not pronounced until two days later and, as mentioned above, the council members were required to fast during the intervening day.

·       On the morning of the third day the council was reconvened, and each judge, in turn, was asked if he had changed his decision. A vote for condemnation could be changed to acquittal, but not the reverse.

·       If a guilty verdict was reaffirmed, an officer with a flag remained near the council while another officer, often mounted on horseback, escorted the prisoner to the place of execution. A herald went before the slow-moving procession declaring in a loud voice, "This man (stating his name) is led to punishment for (the crime was stated); the witnesses who have sworn against him are (stating the names of the persons); if anyone has evidence to give in his favor, let him come forth quickly." If, at any time before the sentence was carried out, additional information pertaining to innocence came to light, including the prisoner's recollection of something he had forgotten, one officer would signal the other, and the prisoner would be brought back to the council for reconsideration of the verdict.

·       Before the place of execution was reached, the condemned person was urged to confess his crime, if he had not already done so, and was given a strong drink to dull his senses and thereby make his death less painful.

·       The governing principle in capital cases was: "The Sanhedrin is to save, not destroy, life."

·        In addition to the above provisions, the president of the council was required to remind prospective witnesses of the preciousness of human life and to admonish them to be certain their testimony was both true and complete.

·       No criminal trial could begin during or continued into the night.

·       The property of an executed criminal could not be confiscated but was passed to his heirs.

·       Voting was done from the youngest member to the oldest in order that the former would not be influenced by the latter.

·       And if a council voted unanimously for conviction, the accused was set free, because the necessary element of mercy was presumed to be lacking.

Given all these abuses of jurisprudence, we must note that Jesus Himself said nothing about these things.  Sometimes people complain about judges and courts as part of a “victim” mentality.  Jesus did not see Himself as a victim.  He saw Himself as obedient to the will of His Father, a matter He settled in Gethsemane, before the abuses began.  After all, He was delivered up by the determinate counsel of God (Acts 2:22-24).