3. JESUS IS CONDEMNED

Verses

“Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!”

“What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.
— John 19:15 (NLT)

Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”
— John 19:11 (NLT)

“Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.”
— Luke 22:53 (NLT)

Luke 22:66–71

Questions

Why does Jesus submit quietly and peacefully?
Why is Jesus condemned by religious leaders?
What was their fear?

Meditation

Throughout Scripture many faithful servants of God find themselves imprisoned or condemned.

Joseph.
Jeremiah.
John the Baptist.
The apostles.

Again and again the story appears: those who speak truth or challenge injustice are opposed by the powers of their day.

Jesus now stands in that same place.

False witnesses testify. Religious leaders demand punishment. Political authority gives in to the pressure of the crowd.

Jesus partook in the consequences of injustice.

He was condemned in an unjust system.
He was put on trial by a religious establishment that felt threatened by His message.
False witnesses were brought forward to accuse Him.

Yet even Pontius Pilate — the Roman governor presiding over the trial — could not find a charge worthy of death.

“What has he done?” he asked.

Still the crowd cried out: “Crucify him.”

When they shouted those words, they knew that in only a few hours they would watch Him die.

Not on screens.
Not from stadium stands.

But on the side of the road as they passed by on their daily errands.

The prophet Isaiah had spoken of this long before:

“He was oppressed and treated harshly,

    yet he never said a word.

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.

    And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,

    he did not open his mouth.” 

  –Isaiah 53:7 (NLT)

The One who restored dignity, healed the broken, and proclaimed the kingdom of God now stands condemned by those who feared losing control.

Yet even in this injustice, the purposes of God were unfolding. The innocent One would suffer so that the guilty might receive mercy.

On Good Friday the Church prays:

“Look with compassion, O Lord, upon this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross.”
— Book of Common Prayer, p. 276