Disclaimer
Professor
Jacob Abraham and all others who work behind naphtalitribe.com, an eChurch
24x7, Kochi, India, loves and pray for Israel, the nation and the people. We
respect the rich heritage of Rome. The following study has no intention to hurt
the sentiments of any nation or people.
A joint execution
The crucifixion of Jesus was a joint
attempt by the Jewish leaders and the Roman Empire.
But they did not plan it together
before hand.
It is the worst case of judicial
murder without any criminal charges.
Crucifixion was not in the Jewish law.
The worst method of murder in the
Jewish law was stoning to death.
Crucifixion was a Roman punishment.
What was the cause?
Cause and effect is a universal
theory.
For every effect there is a cause.
Every villain has his argument for
his action.
He may be murdering to take revenge,
to protect his honour, to promote his purpose etc.
Even an addict to alcoholism or drugs
has his arguments.
He is trying to escape from
frustration and depression, hopelessness in his life, loneliness, financial
breakdown, breakdown of relationships etc.
So should Jews must have a reason to
kill Jesus.
What was it? What is the significance
of it to us?
This is what we discuss in this
message.
The arrest of Jesus
The Jewish religious leaders had
formed accusations against Jesus
But they lacked sufficient evidence
against Him
Still they arrested Jesus.
Matthew 26: 59, 60
59 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were
looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death.
60 But they did not find any, though many false
witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward (NIV)
Accusations against Jesus was ready
with them
John
5:18
For this reason they
tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he
was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (NIV)
Jews murdered Jesus, because He
claimed to be the Son of God.
We, those who believes in Jesus are
blessed with the same truth that Jesus is the Son of God.
John 7: 12 Among the crowds there was
widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied,
“No, he deceives the people.”
But they need witness to the
accusations charged against Him.
This was a bad case of crime and
punishment.
Justice is to arrest a person on the
ground of clear evidence.
Here an innocent man is arrested
without any evidence against him.
Still Jesus was arrested like a thief
or highway robber
Matthew 26 : 47 While he was still speaking,
Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords
and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. (NIV)
Matthew
26 : 55
In that hour Jesus
said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you
have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple
courts teaching, and you did not arrest me.
Jesus was not a rebel, He was not a
robber
He was a Jewish Rabbi.
They way He was arrested was
injustice.
Jesus before the chief priests
Matthew 26 : 59 - 61
59 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were
looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death.
60 But they did not find any, though many false
witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward
61 and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to
destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” (NIV)
Let us see what is the truth about
this false accusation.
John 2: 18 - 22
18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can
you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy
this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to
build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?”
21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples
recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that
Jesus had spoken. (NIV)
Jesus was talking about His death and
resurrection.
But the religiously blind Jews could
not understand it.
Matthew 26: 63 - 66
63 But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living
God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
64 “You have said so,”
Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on
you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and
coming on the clouds of heaven.”
65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said,
“He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have
heard the blasphemy.
66 What do you think?” “He is worthy of death,” they answered.
So Jews accused Him of:
1.
Blasphemy – making Himself equal with God, Called
himself Christ, the Son of God
2.
Destroying the temple
3.
He deceived the people
4.
Broken the Sabbath – Broken Mosaic Laws
The truth about breaking Mosaic Laws
Jesus was a Rabbi with authority
Jesus seems to be a type of rabbi
believed to have s'mikhah or authority to make new interpretations.
Most of the teachers were Torah teachers (teachers of the law) who
could only teach accepted interpretations.
Those with authority
(today "ordination") could make new interpretations and pass legal
judgments.
Matthew 7:28, 29
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things,
the crowds were amazed at his teaching,
29 because he taught as one who had authority, and
not as their teachers of the law. (NIV)
The yoke of Torah
Rabbis invited people to learn from
them to keep the Torah.
This invitation was called taking "the yoke of Torah" or "the yoke of the kingdom of heaven".
Rabbi's with s'mikhah or authority would
have a new interpretation or yoke.
Torah teachers would teach the
accepted interpretations or yoke of their community.
Jesus was a Rabbi who would present a
new interpretation that was easy and light (to understand not necessarily to
do)
Matthew 11: 28 - 30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I
am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(NIV)
Fulfilling the Torah
Matthew 5: 17, 18
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the
Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth
disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any
means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Fulfilling the Torah was the task of a first century
rabbi.
The technical
term for
interpreting the Scripture so it would be obeyed correctly was "fulfill."
To interpret Scripture incorrectly so
it would not be obeyed as God intended was to "destroy"
or “abolish” the Torah.
Jesus did not come to do away with
God's Torah or Old Testament.
He came to complete it and to show how
to correctly keep it.
One of the ways Jesus interpreted the
Torah was to stress the importance of the right
attitude of heart as well as the right action.
Disruptive teachings of Jesus
The most important challenge Jesus presented was entirely –
profoundly - religious
His forgiving of sins was a galvanizing issue among the
opposition.
Jesus was claiming a prerogative of God.
If people could get their sins forgiven by an itinerant preacher,
why bother to make sacrifice?
This raised a threat to Temple contributions.
It affected the income of the bankers, who exchanged pagan
currency for ritually pure coins.
It destroyed business of the vendors of sacrificial animals.
There was real money at stake here.
“I am the way”
Jesus was only one of many figures who started movements, gained
followers, and raised hopes that Messiah had finally come.
But he was unique in his emphasis on himself as the very means of salvation.
“I am the way” not the religion Judaism
This was a significant departure from Judaism.
Jews of His time believed that a membership in the Jewish
community and living the Jewish way of life would lead to holiness.
By what authority did Jesus set forth this proposition that
everything depended upon him?
And if people chose to follow the course he laid out for them,
Living as Jews became less important
than living by His words and His example and His promises.
Would they still be Jews?
Law to stone the blasphemer
John
19: 7 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.”
Leviticus
24: 16
anyone
who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be
put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or
native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.
Jews had the law to kill a blasphemer
They accused Jesus of blasphemy
But Jews did not kill Jesus.
Why?
They might have voted him worthy of
death; but they could not put him to death, as far as it concerned affairs of
state.
The power of life and death was in
all probability taken from the Jews when Judea was made a Roman province.
Yet it was continued to them in
matters which were wholly of an ecclesiastical nature.
But the Jewish religious leaders of
the time preferred to persuade the Roman Governor Pilate that they were
proceeding against Jesus as an enemy of the state, and not as a transgressor of
their own laws and customs.
They laid peculiar stress on his
being an enemy to the Roman government.
At one occasion when they found
Pilate disposed to let him go, they asserted that if he did he was not Caesar's
friend.
John 19: 12 From then
on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If
you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a
king opposes Caesar.” (NIV)
It was this that intimidated Pilate,
and induced him to give him up, that they might crucify him.
Crucifixion was fulfillment of the scripture
Unknowingly and
unintentionally Jews of the time were fulfilling the scripture.
John 18: 31, 32
31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him
by your own law.”
“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected.
32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said
about the kind of death he was going to die.
Matthew 20: 18, 19
18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered
over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to
death
19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and
crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” (NIV)
John 12 : 32, 33
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to
myself.”
33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
Crucifixion was the fulfillment of
the Jesus’ words about His death.
So Jews did not kill Jesus, but they
took Him to the Roman authorities.
Jesus before Pilate or the Roman Law
Before the Roman Law, Jesus was tried
not as a false teacher, but as a rebel to the empire.
Matthew 27: 11 Meanwhile
Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king
of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied. (NIV)
While Romans were ruling the Judea,
the “King of Jews” is a usurper to the Rome.
But Pilate did not take the claim of
Jesus as a King seriously.
It might be because Jesus and His
followers posed no threat to Rome
They seemed to Pilate a group of
freaks.
Luke 23: 1 - 4
1
Then the whole assembly rose and led
him off to Pilate.
2
And they began to accuse him, saying,
“We have found this man subverting our nation. He
opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a
king.”
3 So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.
4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests
and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
Luke 23: 14, 15
14 and said to them, “You
brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have
examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against
him.
15 Neither has Herod, for he
sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.
(NIV)
Matthew 27: 22 - 25
22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is
called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. They all answered,
“Crucify him!”
23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked
Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere,
but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in
front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your
responsibility!”
25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us
and on our children!” (NIV)
John 19 : 12 From then on, Pilate tried to set
Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you
are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” (NIV)
Luke 23 : 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. (NIV)
When the Jewish leaders wanted to kill
someone, they usually sent their henchmen to gather a mob and stone the victim
to death.
Crucifixion was a Roman method of punishment,
and it is a basic fact that Roman soldiers, not Jews, put Jesus on the cross.
Roman soldiers crucified Jesus under
the accusation of rebellion against the Roman Empire.
Under Roman law, anyone who claimed to
be a king was guilty of rebellion against the emperor. The normal punishment
was crucifixion.
The “King” presumption continues
Matthew 27: 29 and then
twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in
his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of
the Jews!” they said.
Matthew 27 : 37 Above his
head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. (NIV)
Was Jesus really a King?
Yes. Jesus really was and is a King.
John 18: 33, 36 - 38
33
Pilate then went back
inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the
Jews?”
36 Jesus
said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my
servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my
kingdom is from another place.”
37 “You
are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came
into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth
listens to me.”
38 “What
is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered
there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. (NIV)
John 19: 10, 11
10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said.
“Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have
no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who
handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” (NIV)
A rejected king
Jesus as a king was rejected both by
the Jews and the gentiles.
John 19: 15 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. (NIV)
Jews not only rejected Jesus as king,
but also accepted a gentile king as their king.
John 18 : 39, 40
39 But it is your custom for me to release to you
one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king
of the Jews’?”
40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us
Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising. (NIV)
Hebrews 9: 16, 17
16 In the case of a will, it is necessary to
prove the death of the one who made it,
17 because a will is in force only when somebody
has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.
(NIV)
By His death,
Jesus brought into force a new will.
A new Will
that offered us Salvation by Grace through faith in Him
A new Will
that makes us joint heirs of the Kingdom of God.
___________________
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