Luke 22:66-23:25
LAST WEEK- Peter denied Christ 3 times
Salvation, what must we do to be saved
Jesus in the Garden being arrested
THIS WEEK LESSON TIME
ATTENTION GRABBER
Mock Trial
USE OLDER STUDENTS
Choose a student to be a falsely accused defendant in a mock trial. Think of something outrageous to accuse the defendant of. You can come up with anything, like the defendant is accused of making the Leaning Tower of Pisa lean. Just come up with something silly.
Prepare ahead of time with 2 or 3 students who should know what you would be doing and have them come in as witnesses. They can say that they saw the defendant doing the outrageous thing he is accused of.
Try to stir the class to insist upon his guilt.
Tell the defendant that he may not speak a word to defend himself. When your trial is over, interview the defendant and see how he felt to be falsely accused and not be able to defend himself.
Explain to the class that Jesus was falsely accused, but did not defend Himself. He knew His destiny was the cross to save mankind.
Jesus Mocked and Beaten
(Matt. 26:67, 68; Mark 14:65 )
63 Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him. 64 And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him,[fn] saying, “Prophecy! Who is the one who struck You?” 65 And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him.
Jesus Faces the Sanhedrin
66 As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, 67 “If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will by no means believe. 68 And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go. 69 Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.” 70 Then they all said, “Are You then the Son of God?” So He said to them, “You rightly say that I am.”
71 And they said, “What further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.”
Jesus Handed Over to Pontius Pilate
(Matt. 27:1, 2, 11–14; Mark 15:1–5; John 18:28–38 )
1 Then the whole multitude of them arose and led Him to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.” 3 Then Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He answered him and said, “It is as you say.” 4 So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no fault in this Man.” 5 But they were the more fierce, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place.”
Jesus Faces Herod
6 When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked if the Man were a Galilean. 7 And as soon as he knew that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time. 8 Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him. 9 Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing. 10 And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him. 11 Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. 12 That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.
Our Lord Jesus endured six ”trials” before they condemned Him to be crucified.
Three of the trials were before the Jews and three before the Roman authorities.
Arrested in the middle of the night, Jesus was taken to the high priest’s residence. The religious leaders were in a hurry to try to get rid of Jesus. They wanted to complete the execution before the Sabbath and get on with the Passover celebration. Jesus had not yet officially been declared guilty, and yet the soldiers were able to mock and abuse Him.
Jesus was put on trial and charged with the crime of being Himself, God in the flesh.
66 As soon as it was day, the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, came together and led Him into their council, saying, 67 “If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will by no means believe. 68 And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go. 69 Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.” 70 Then they all said, “Are You then the Son of God?” So He said to them, “You rightly say that I am.”
71 And they said, “What further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.”
The council of the elders, also known as the Sanhedrin, was the Jewish nation’s official judicial body. If the council found Jesus guilty, it would be the last word, the nation would also find Him guilty. This was the end of the religious trial, and the key issue was
“Is Jesus of Nazareth the Messiah?”
They were sure that His claims of being the Messiah, the Son of God, were false, and that He was guilty of blasphemy, and the penalty for blasphemy was death.
Jesus knew the heart of His accusers, their unbelief, and their dishonesty. Even if He had told them all, they would not have believed. Their hearts were not right.
Jesus is the perfect example to us of how we should behave when the world laughs at our faith and us.
Jesus never sinned, yet He suffered as if He was a sinner so that we could be set free.
When we follow His example, we too may have problems with others.
Our goal should be to live as Christ lived. And part of living like Christ is trusting in God to get us through persecution and trials, like being made fun of.
Jesus stated as a fact; strongly and publicly. His authority as Messiah, the One who after His death, resurrection, and ascension, would be seated at the right hand of God, the place of honor, authority, and power. By claiming this honor, Jesus was claiming to be the Son of God.
(Q)Is Jesus the Son of God?
The High Priest recognized Jesus’ claim and accused Him of saying He was God.
For any other man, this would have been true, but in this case, Jesus was innocent because He truly was the Son of God.
Claiming to be God is punishable by death.
(Q) What do the 10 commandments say? Look at the first one!
The Jewish leaders thought they had the evidence they needed, and with fierce determination, they did everything they could to put Jesus to death.
1 Then the whole multitude of them arose and led Him to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.” 3 Then Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He answered him and said, “It is as you say.” 4 So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no fault in this Man.” 5 But they were the more fierce, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place.” 6 When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked if the Man were a Galilean. 7 And as soon as he knew that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
In Jesus’ day, a death sentence could only be carried out by the Romans who ruled the area.
Pontius Pilate was in charge of the area where Jerusalem was located.
Now that the religious leaders had Jesus convicted, they had to convince Pilate that Jesus was deserving of death.
Though Pilate mistreated the Jews and had caused them to hate him, the religious leaders pressured Pilate to cooperate with them to have Jesus executed.
Remember, our mocked trial?
Pilate’s position as Governor of the region of Judea was on shaky ground with Rome, and the last thing he wanted to deal with was a hostile crowd because the Jews were mad.
The religious leaders stood before Pilate, and falsely accused Jesus of telling lies to the nation, and refusing to pay the poll tax to Caesar, and claiming to be Christ, a king.
But Jesus was sinless, Pilate concluded, through his private interview with Jesus, that He was guilty of no crime.
Pilate said Jesus was innocent.
With the pressure from the Jewish leaders, Pilate sought a way out of his position and sent Jesus to Herod who was at Jerusalem at the time.
Pilate hoped Herod would deal with the problem so he would not have to.
Perhaps this wicked king could find some way to please the Jews.
8 Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him. 9 Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing. 10 And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him. 11 Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. 12 That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.
Herod had waited a long time to see Jesus. He hoped to see a miracle. He only wanted to be entertained by Jesus.
When his questioning failed, Herod and his soldiers got their entertainment by mocking Jesus and dressing him in a kingly robe.
For each person, God chooses the best possible way to reveal Himself. He uses His Word, circumstances, our minds, or other people to get our attention. He is persuasive and persistent but never forces Himself on us.
(Q) We call that a personal relationship with Jesus. He never gives you more than you can handle.
It is sad that Herod had Jesus, the Savior of the world, in his palace but only wanted to be entertained by Him.
Jesus holds the keys to eternal life.
(Q) What is eternal life.
He desires to come into our lives and make us new.
(Q)What should we do when Jesus knocks on the door of our hearts?
Jesus had been tried by Pilate and Herod and still had no fault found against Him. Even when He was turned over to the Jews for execution, it was only because the Jews pressured Pilate.
Still today, no one is able to find fault in Jesus. But like Pilate, Herod, and the religious leaders, many still refuse to acknowledge Him as the Son of God.
Pray Class Out
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