The Trial Begins

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Bound, and surrounded by unfriendly faces, the angry mob pushed and pulled Jesus as they led Him away in the darkness. They first arrived at the home of Annas, father-in-law of that year’s High Priest, Caiaphas. Then Annas sent Him to Caiaphas.

Once there, Jesus began to face false accusers. One after the other came forward with fabricated and contradictory testimony. The chief priests and elders desperately wanted a reason to put Christ to death. And then two men claimed, “We heard this man say He was able to destroy God’s temple and rebuild it in three days!”

Standing up from his chair, his voice rising in anger, Caiaphas examined Jesus: “Did You say those words? Is their testimony true? Will You answer me or not?”

Jesus remained silent.

Becoming more incensed, the High Priest glared at Him. “I adjure You by the living God,” he charged, “that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God!”

Looking back at Caiaphas, Jesus answered, “What you have said is correct.” Knowing what would come next, He continued, “Nevertheless I say unto you, hereafter shall you see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of Power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

His anger boiling over, Caiaphas tore his clothes and shouted, “Blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Now you have heard His blasphemy!”

He eagerly asked the chief priests and members of the Sanhedrin, “What do you think?”

“He must be put to death!” they decreed in agreement. They did not understand that their minds were being used as tools of the devil—but also God’s supreme purpose.

There stood Christ—a perfect, sinless human being, who, for telling the truth, was now sentenced to death by His own creation. Yet because He was filled with love for mankind, He was willing to endure much more.

The atmosphere rose to a fever pitch. Taunts, insults and blows came crashing down. Blindfolded, Jesus could not see the attacks coming. Time and again, they struck His face while spitting in it, and delivered painful strikes to His body. Blood and spit ran down His swollen face. Bruises from broken blood vessels began to show. Taunts rang in His ears: “Prophesy to us, You who claim to be Christ. Tell us, who hit You?”

As morning came, the chief priests and elders plotted how they would put Jesus to death—but who would do the deed for them (Matt. 26:57-68; 27:1; Mark 14:53-65; 15:1)?

Facing Pilate and Herod

Having hatched their plan early in the morning, the religious leaders led Jesus to Pilate, hoping for a speedy execution. Once there, they accused Him before Pilate to make their case. “We found this man perverting the nation and forbidding the people to give tribute to Caesar, saying He was a king, Christ.”

Pilate asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“It is as you say,” Jesus replied.

Satisfied with Christ’s answer, Pilate turned to the chief priests and said, “I find no fault in this Man.”

This was not what they wanted to hear, so they began to plead their case more earnestly: “But He is a troublemaker! He stirs up all of the people, teaching throughout the land.”

Hearing Jesus was from Galilee, Pilate thought he had a way out. This is Herod’s business, not mine, he thought, so he ordered that Jesus be sent to Herod.

Having heard of His fame, Herod was pleased to see Jesus. At last, I might see Him perform a miracle! Herod questioned Him at length while the chief priests and scribes levelled their accusations.

Yet Christ stood still and kept silent.

Growing restless, Herod made sport of Him. “And [he] with his men of war [soldiers] set Him at naught [despised utterly], and mocked Him, and arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him again to Pilate” (Luke 23:11).

Again, the religious leaders accused Jesus before Pilate. But Pilate, perceiving their motives (Mark 15:10), desired to let Christ go.

“You brought this Man to me to put to death, but neither I nor Herod find any reason to do so. You have a custom that one be released for the Feast; let me first scourge Him and then I will let Him go,” Pilate said, hoping to placate them.

Was Jesus Crucified on a Cross or a Stake?

This world’s professing Christianity has traditionally taught that Christ died on a cross. Since Christ Himself warned against blindly following the traditions of men (Mark 7:6-7), we must not make assumptions.

Recognize that the cross has long been understood to be a symbol widely used by many pagan religions in various forms of sex worship. Its roots are ancient, with its original design being that of a line through a very narrow oval shape—which connotation is easy for the imagination to understand.

In the gospel accounts, the Bible says that Christ was nailed to a cross. The Greek word used for “cross” is stauros, which means “stake, pole, upright post or cross.” Interestingly, other scriptures record that Christ was nailed to a “tree” (I Peter 2:24; Acts 5:30, 10:39, 13:29). The Greek word used in these passages is xulon, meaning “timber, stick, club, tree or other wooden article or substance.”

In ancient times, Roman soldiers used to crucify people using wooden structures of various shapes. Sometimes they used upright stakes or poles. Other times they used wooden crosses by attaching beams either at or just below the top.

The Bible does not specify the exact shape of the “stauros” or “xulon” on which Christ was crucified. If God thought it was important for us to know, He clearly would have recorded it, leaving us no doubts. Christ may or may not have been crucified on a cross. The shape of the instrument is not important, but Christ’s sacrifice is! “No!” they cried. “We do not want this Man—we want Barabbas!” Not believing his ears, Pilate appealed to the crowd: “Who would you have me release to you?”

“Give us Barabbas!” they shouted in unison. “Crucify Jesus!”

When Pilate asked, “Why, what evil has He done?”, the crowd continued their frenzied cries of “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” (Luke 23:1-25).

Symbolically washing his hands of the matter, Pilate released Barabbas, a robber and murderer (Matt. 27:24). Beaten, bruised, swollen, weary and humiliated, the One who was innocent took the place of one deserving death.

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