Chapter Ten – Was Jesus’ Trial Legal?

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It is just after midnight on the Passover of A.D. 31. An ominous gathering of people, wielding swords and clubs, has assembled in the midst of Jesus and His disciples on the Mount of Olives, their intent mostly unknown. A man named Judas steps forward from the multitude and greets Jesus with a kiss, saying, “Good evening, Master.”

Jesus responds, “My friend. Why are you here tonight?”

Immediately, several members of the large crowd move forward and seize Jesus, prompting one of His disciples to grab a sword and strike one of the attackers.

“Put down your sword,” Jesus exclaims. “It is of no value. Those who rely on swords will die with their swords in hand. They are of no use. If I wanted to, I could call upon My Father to send more than 70,000 angels to free Me. But if this were to happen, the Scriptures would not be fulfilled.”

Then Jesus says to the crowd, “Why have you seized Me tonight with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal? Did you not see Me many times teaching in the temple? Why did you not lay hands upon Me then?”

At that very moment, Jesus’ disciples—His close friends, who have been with Him for the better part of three and a half years—flee. Every one of them forsook Him, as it is written, “I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad” (Matt. 26:31).

Jesus is eventually taken to the palace of the high priest, whose name is Caiaphas. There, a sizeable group of scribes and Pharisees is anxiously assembled. For years, Jesus’ popularity among the common people of Judea has threatened their positions of authority. Now, they finally have a chance to try Jesus and convict Him of a crime, one punishable by death.

After reading the previous chapter, you are familiar with the rest of the story: Jesus is tried, convicted and put to death. But have you ever closely examined the court proceedings leading to Jesus’ crucifixion? Was His trial legal?

Commonly Held Views of the Trial

Many believe and try to prove that Jesus was legally put to death. For example, in his 1916 book The Prosecution of Jesus, Richard Wellington Husband, a lawyer, wrote, “The arrest was legal…The hearing by the Sanhedrin was legal…The course of trial in the Roman court was legal…The conviction was legal, and was justified.”

Here is how Husband supports his assertions: “The arrest was legal, for it was conducted by the proper officers, acting under instruction from the Sanhedrin. There was no illegality in the circumstances under which the arrest was affected. The hearing by the Sanhedrin was legal, for it was merely a preliminary hearing, and was not a formal trial. The course of trial in the Roman court was legal, for it harmonized with the procedure shown in the sources to be pursued by governors of provinces in hearing criminal cases.”

“The conviction was legal, and was justified provided the evidence was sufficient to substantiate the charges, and the records do not prove the contrary.”

As you can see, according to Husband, the entire process leading to the death of Jesus was legal. And, to him, the Bible does not provide sufficient evidence to indicate otherwise, as he states that other “records do not prove the contrary.”

Similarly, Max Radin, a former professor and author of the book The Trial of Jesus of Nazareth, believes the accounts in the Bible are not credible, since Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were not physical eyewitnesses to the secretive proceedings. In his book, Radin claims there is “no clear statement of how the knowledge of the trial came to those who reported it.”

The author, however, does not take into account the possibility that Christ could have explained everything to His disciples when He was resurrected from the dead. Jesus was a personal eyewitness to the trial and could have accurately conveyed everything to His followers to record in the pages of the Bible. (Of course, the author also does not believe that Scripture is inspired.)

Later in the book, Radin provides insight into a common trial in Judea during Christ’s time: “We are, most of us, familiar with the procedure of criminal investigations. The accused person is arrested, arraigned before a committing magistrate, specifically accused and formally tried. He may, and he generally does, appeal to a higher court, if he is convicted. All these things take time, and there is almost necessarily an interval of weeks and months between the later stages of the procedure. But above all, the procedure is strictly regulated by law, and any serious deviation is not merely an irregularity but will probably prevent punishment from being inflicted.”

By the above description alone, Jesus’ trial was fraudulent. All of the above-mentioned events take time, and usually lots of it! Radin himself admits this. But the trial of Jesus was completed approximately nine hours after He was arrested. And due to the privacy of the proceedings, there were no witnesses to testify on behalf of Jesus—but there were many witnesses to testify against Him! How many court cases are you aware of that are similar to this? Almost certainly none.

Several pages later in the book, Radin attempts to reconcile his description of a lengthy criminal investigation with Jesus’ nine-hour process: “Mark’s version, even by his own testimony, cannot be more than a guess. Instead of a hurried night meeting, a harsh and brief interrogatory, a disregard of established rules of evidence and procedure, the trial may have been formally correct, and the judgment formally correct even from the point of view of an upright judge just though severe.”

As is the case with most scholars, Radin dismisses the Bible as a source of historically accurate information. He assumes that Mark guessed what “may have” happened and, as such, believes the investigation could have occurred some other way. Yet the accounts in the Bible are the only sources of information that cover the trial. One cannot justify his position based on another resource; he can merely render a guess or an assumption. When one believes what was written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—all very close to the proceedings—only one conclusion can be drawn: Christ’s trial was illegal, even by men’s standards.

What Was the Charge?

Some might wonder: “Why did the Jews deliver Jesus to the Romans to be killed? Could they not have put Him to death themselves?”

A common view of these matters is that the Jews did not have the authority to execute criminals. Continuing in The Prosecution of Jesus, Husband states, “According to the common view, the right to try capital cases [cases involving the death penalty] and even the right to pronounce sentences, still rested with the Sanhedrin, but the actual penalty could not be inflicted until the governor had given his sanction.”

Those who believe Jesus’ adversaries had no legal basis to execute Him usually cite John 18:31, where Pilate, the Roman governor, said to the Jews, “Take you Him, and judge Him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.”

Lifted from its context, this verse does appear to indicate that the Jews were unable to execute criminals. Yet the truth is that they did have the power to try, convict and execute people, except in cases that involved treason or sedition against the Roman government.

Consider the following: Stephen was accused of blasphemy and as a result was stoned to death by the Jewish authority, as described in the book of Acts (Ac 6:11; 7:59). The Romans were not consulted in this execution and there is no indication they disapproved.

On several occasions, the scribes and Pharisees sought to kill Jesus (Mark 11:18; 14:1; Luke 19:47; 22:2; John 10:31). If this were illegal, it is doubtful they would have even attempted to do so.

In one instance, elders of Judea brought before Jesus a woman who had been caught committing adultery, and challenged, “Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what say you?” (John 8:5). If the Jews did not have the authority to put this woman to death, Jesus might have replied, “Are you not aware of Roman law? You do not have the power to execute anyone.”

But He did not say this. He simply said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (Rom 8:7). Jesus knew full well that the Jews were legally able to execute adulteresses and criminals. Also, if it were not legal for the Jews to perform executions, consider what might have happened if word of this event reached Roman authority? Surely, if such were the case, the Jews would not have been so public about it. Finally, although he survived, the apostle Paul was stoned by a crowd in Asia, among whom were Jews.

Wherever the Jews settled during the time of Roman rule, they had the legal right to execute people under their law.

So then to what is the statement in John 18:31 referring? “From the earliest period the Roman governor took cognizance of all matters that had relation to the public security or the majesty of the Empire. Consequently there was not a time at which the Roman magistrate would not step in when a charge of treason was made, or a seditious movement began. The case against Jesus is one especially in point, for the charge against him [treason] could under no circumstances be tried by any tribunal except that of the governor” (The Prosecution of Jesus).

The Roman government would intervene in criminal affairs only when matters of treason, civil disobedience, incitement to revolution or attacks against Caesar were specifically involved. Otherwise, local administration was conducted by local officials and the regular courts of the conquered nations. Roman authorities were not involved in every criminal proceeding throughout the vast empire.

Jesus’ opponents accused Him of blasphemy, but since they did not want to execute Him themselves, they created charges of treason against Him. This way, the trial could be brought before Pontius Pilate, and, in their minds, he and the Romans would be responsible for Jesus’ death, not them.

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