The trial of Jesus
A number of witnesses testified against Jesus
before the Sanhedrin, a Jewish court. Although the Gospel of Mark says many of them gave false testimony, Jesus didn’t confirm or deny their accusations. In fact, Jesus remained quiet through most of his trial, refusing to respond to the charges leveled against him. But he did respond to one question. Asked, “Are you the Messiah?” he seemed to admit that he was. Caiaphas, the chief priest, called this blasphemy. And then the others agreed that Jesus should be put to death.
Jesus appears before Pontius PilateBrought before Pilate, Jesus again remained mostly silent. But to the question, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus responded, “You say so.”
Pilate wasn’t convinced of Jesus’s guilt. For a Roman governor like Pilate, preventing unrest and rebellion was the top priority. Religious issues like someone claiming to be a Jewish Messiah would have been secondary concerns. But the Gospels say that the chief priests and elders had riled up a crowd against Jesus. And they called for Jesus’s crucifixion. Wanting to diffuse the situation quickly, Pilate relentedand handed Jesus over to be crucified.
Why did Jesus have to die for our sins?Understanding the reasons Jesus was crucified from a legal perspective is helpful. But it still doesn’t tell us why God would send his only Son to earth to suffer such a painful fate. Why did Jesus actually have to die for us?
To answer that question, we have to rewind the story
back to the garden of Eden.
How sin keeps us away from GodEver since Adam and Eve turned their backs on God in the garden of Eden, human beings have been corrupted by sin. We ignore what God wants because we’d rather do what we want. We set our hearts on accumulating power and wealth for ourselves, and we don’t take good care of what God gives us. We are too darkened by our sin to find our way back to God on our own. And God’s justice requires that there be a price for our sin.
Yet despite our flaws, God loves us and wants us to be reunited with him. Jesus, God’s Son, came to earth to make our reconciliation with God possible.
How Jesus reunites us with God through his sacrificeIn Old Testament times, the people of Israel followed a system of sacrifices in order to pay the debt for their sins. God’s laws determined what types of sacrifices were required in order to atone for different sins. Most living sacrifices were to be perfect animals without blemish.
In the New Testament, Jesus, God’s Son, came to earth to reunite us with God through the ultimate sacrifice: his own life.
We could never a life worthy of God on our own. So Jesus lived a life without sin on our behalf. And then he died the painful death our sins deserve. John 3:17 says, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” By sacrificing himself for us on the cross, he took the punishment for all of our sins at once. This made him the ultimate sacrifice —once and for all satisfying the demands God’s justice required. That is why we call Jesus “Lamb of God.”
We cannot fully grasp God's essence.
But we can understand God as revealed in the Bible.
This verse describes who Jesus, as God, is.
As the faithful witness,
He showed Adam and Eve that He is
Creator.
He showed Noah that He is righteous.
He showed Abraham that He is faithful.
He showed Moses that He is mighty.
He showed the Children of
Israel
that
He provides and cares for people.
Somehow,
in
God's great mystery,
our creative, righteous, faithful, mighty, caring, loving God is also Jesus who is
"the image of the invisible God”
(Colossians 1:15).
Jesus is the creator of the visible and Invisible world
(Colossians 1:16).
He committed no sin; He is righteous (1 Peter 2:22).
He is faithful to God (Hebrews 3:2).
The poor and the sick of His day realized that Jesus was mighty.
His disciples saw that He provided and cared for people.
Jesus is the faithful witness.
Now, the faithful witness
is with you
through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus loves you,
and He washed you from your sins by His blood,
"To
Him be the glory
and the dominion forever and ever, amen."
The trial of Jesus
A number of witnesses testified against Jesus
before the Sanhedrin, a Jewish court. Although the Gospel of Mark says many of them gave false testimony, Jesus didn’t confirm or deny their accusations. In fact, Jesus remained quiet through most of his trial, refusing to respond to the charges leveled against him. But he did respond to one question. Asked, “Are you the Messiah?” he seemed to admit that he was. Caiaphas, the chief priest, called this blasphemy. And then the others agreed that Jesus should be put to death.
Jesus appears before Pontius PilateBrought before Pilate, Jesus again remained mostly silent. But to the question, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus responded, “You say so.”
Pilate wasn’t convinced of Jesus’s guilt. For a Roman governor like Pilate, preventing unrest and rebellion was the top priority. Religious issues like someone claiming to be a Jewish Messiah would have been secondary concerns. But the Gospels say that the chief priests and elders had riled up a crowd against Jesus. And they called for Jesus’s crucifixion. Wanting to diffuse the situation quickly, Pilate relentedand handed Jesus over to be crucified.
Why did Jesus have to die for our sins?Understanding the reasons Jesus was crucified from a legal perspective is helpful. But it still doesn’t tell us why God would send his only Son to earth to suffer such a painful fate. Why did Jesus actually have to die for us?
To answer that question, we have to rewind the story
back to the garden of Eden.
How sin keeps us away from GodEver since Adam and Eve turned their backs on God in the garden of Eden, human beings have been corrupted by sin. We ignore what God wants because we’d rather do what we want. We set our hearts on accumulating power and wealth for ourselves, and we don’t take good care of what God gives us. We are too darkened by our sin to find our way back to God on our own. And God’s justice requires that there be a price for our sin.
Yet despite our flaws, God loves us and wants us to be reunited with him. Jesus, God’s Son, came to earth to make our reconciliation with God possible.
How Jesus reunites us with God through his sacrificeIn Old Testament times, the people of Israel followed a system of sacrifices in order to pay the debt for their sins. God’s laws determined what types of sacrifices were required in order to atone for different sins. Most living sacrifices were to be perfect animals without blemish.
In the New Testament, Jesus, God’s Son, came to earth to reunite us with God through the ultimate sacrifice: his own life.
We could never a life worthy of God on our own. So Jesus lived a life without sin on our behalf. And then he died the painful death our sins deserve. John 3:17 says, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” By sacrificing himself for us on the cross, he took the punishment for all of our sins at once. This made him the ultimate sacrifice —once and for all satisfying the demands God’s justice required. That is why we call Jesus “Lamb of God.”
We cannot fully grasp God's essence.
But we can understand God as revealed in the Bible.
This verse describes who Jesus, as God, is.
As the faithful witness,
He showed Adam and Eve that He is
Creator.
He showed Noah that He is righteous.
He showed Abraham that He is faithful.
He showed Moses that He is mighty.
He showed the Children of
Israel
that
He provides and cares for people.
Somehow,
in
God's great mystery,
our creative, righteous, faithful, mighty, caring, loving God is also Jesus who is
"the image of the invisible God”
(Colossians 1:15).
Jesus is the creator of the visible and Invisible world
(Colossians 1:16).
He committed no sin; He is righteous (1 Peter 2:22).
He is faithful to God (Hebrews 3:2).
The poor and the sick of His day realized that Jesus was mighty.
His disciples saw that He provided and cared for people.
Jesus is the faithful witness.
Now, the faithful witness
is with you
through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus loves you,
and He washed you from your sins by His blood,
"To
Him be the glory
and the dominion forever and ever, amen."
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