A5- PART T

PART T: Trial
PART T: TRIAL
Jesus is tried by the Sanhedrin and shuffled off to Herod who ridicules him.
The traitor, Judas, has second thoughts.
A man who broke the Law outrageously
no longer need be treated with respect –
abuse, in fact was what the man deserved.
The guards and soldiers had their bit of fun.
They jeered and spat and covered both his eyes
and played an ancient, cruel children’s game
the Greeks called ‘Kollabixe’. One by one
they all gave him a punch. After each blow
the cry went up, ‘Who struck you? Prophesy!
You claimed to be the Christ. Then prophesy!’
Still dark, the Sanhedrin, all seventy one
of them, we can assume, had gathered as
a court, to try, in haste, this Nazarene
on unsupported charges in dispute.
Undoubtedly this was irregular.
The High Priest Caiaphas was in the Chair.
The man before them no doubt bore the marks –
the blood and bruise – of punching and misuse.
This fact made little difference to the Court
for, innocent or guilty legally,
they had decided, well before they met
that he must be despatched without delay.
The charge was made that Jesus said that he
would devastate the Temple on his own
and without further help from human hands
within three days would build another one.
Though witness after witness took the stand
their testimonies did not correspond.
Charge after charge was seen to contradict.
Jesus made no attempt to intervene.
To everyone’s surprise he said no word.
Here was a man in mortal danger who
refused to say a word in self-defence.
So this was not the way he could be trapped.
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A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables
The High Priest chose to try another tack.
‘The men you call disciples, what of them?
And what exactly is it that you teach?’
But Jesus would have none of this. He said,
‘Why question me? What I have taught, I’ve taught
quite publicly, in synagogues, in fields
or in the Temple’s precincts – anywhere
where anyone who wanted to, could hear.
They are the ones you should be questioning.
The listeners all know what I have said.
Why don’t you question them?’ At which response
an officer smacked Jesus in the face.
‘Is that the way to answer the High Priest?’
‘If what I have just said is not the truth
then bring in witnesses to contradict.
Why use brute force when what I say is true?’
Almost in desperation, Caiaphas,
aware that Jesus might well slip the net,
since neither by paid witnesses nor trick,
could he be tempted to condemn himself,
then posed again the question he’d been asked,
by many who had seen his miracles…
did Jesus claim to be the very Christ?
‘I urge you, by the Blessed One Himself,
to tell us if you are the Son of God.
Come, tell us now, in all solemnity.’
‘Oh, yes. It’s as you say’ was the reply.
‘Indeed, I’ll tell you more. The day will come
when you, you all, will see the Son of Man
as David prophesied, at God’s right hand
in clouds of glory, coming down from heaven.’
The High Priest knew his Psalms and recognised,
at once, the implications of the claim.
This man had turned the tables. He would rule:
and some day he would judge their makeshift trial.
Whatever qualms of conscience troubled him
the wily Caiaphas could see at once
that Jesus by these words condemned himself.
The man whose wisdom and whose innocence
frustrated all their tricks and villainies
by this assertion played into their hands.
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PART T: Trial
Outrageously he claimed to be the Son
of God. No pious Jew could stand for that.
A gesture silenced all the witnesses.
Triumphantly, and as the Law prescribed
the High Priest tore his vestments and called out.
‘Have we not heard enough? This blasphemy!
This monstrous insult to Almighty God!
You sitting here are witnesses enough.
What is your verdict on the Nazarene?’
And by acclaim they shouted to a man
that he deserved to die. So hurriedly
they dragged him off to Pontius Pilate’s court
for he alone could sentence him to death.
That power had been denied the Sanhedrin
when Rome had conquered them and took control.
In Caesarea, on the coast, was where
the Roman procurator, Pilate lived.
It was unusual for him to be
sojourning in Jerusalem. No doubt
he felt a public celebration such
as Passover deserved a Roman eye
and an emphatic hint of Roman power.
This suited the Sanhedrin perfectly.
They rushed with Jesus, now condemned, en masse
towards the Roman Governor’s residence.
The time for trial was the crack of dawn.
That was the Roman way and Passover
was almost on them. Normally his court,
where he alone was judge, took place inside
the palace that he used as headquarters
while in Jerusalem. The members of
the Sanhedrin could not go there that day.
They would undoubtedly defile themselves.
Thus, all the Jewish notables were forced
to make a clamour just outside the doors
of the Praetorium. How Pilate must
have sighed! More trouble he could do without!
Appeasement was the watch-word for the feast.
A Passover must pass without a hitch.
So swallowing his pride, he compromised
and went outside himself to face the fray.
‘Why bring this fellow here to me?’ he asked.
‘Take him away and judge him for yourselves.
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A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables
You’ve laws and courts enough. Why bother me?’
‘But we are not allowed to execute,
‘and this man’s crimes are such that he should die:
and you will think so when you hear him speak.
He claims to be the Christ, the King of Jews.’
It is of note that this was not the charge
on which the guilt of Jesus was pronounced.
The charge was blasphemy: and that infringed
no Roman law, and therefore no concern
of Pilate as the Roman Governor.
The introduction of a regal claim
designed to show that Jesus was a threat
to Roman rule was much the better bet.
Rebellion and insurgency they knew
was what would spark the Governor’s interest.
So Pilate signalled Jesus to go in
while those accusing him still stayed outside.
What happened next is quite remarkable.
Jesus and Pontius Pilate seem to talk
as it were, ‘man to man’. No voices raised.
The tone is almost philosophical.
‘You’ve heard what they are saying in the street:
that you misguide the people and forbid
the payment of the Roman tax and claim
to be a king – the King of all the Jews’.
What is it you can say in your defence?’
But Jesus offered no defence at all.
Here was a man who might be crucified
who made no move at all to save himself.
The Governor could not believe his ears.
‘I’ll ask you once again, “Are you indeed
‘The King of all the Jews?” Jesus replied
at last, ‘So tell me, do you just repeat
what you have heard outside, or could it be
that you do genuinely want to know?’
‘I don’t know if you are or if you’re not.
Am I a Jew? All that I know is this.
The priests and dignitaries of your tribe
have passed you on to me. What have you done?’
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PART T: Trial
‘My royal throne is of another world.
My soldiers would be fighting for me now
to save me from the clutches of the men
outside if I were claiming to be king
of territory of the kind Rome rules.
The kingdom that I claim is not that kind.’
‘Right, then’, said Pilate, ‘so you are a king.’
‘I am indeed, and that is why I’m here.
The reason I was born was to proclaim
the truth, and everyone who seeks the truth
will listen to my words and follow me.’
‘Ah, yes, but what is “truth,”? ‘ said Pilate.
He’d heard enough and went out to the crowd.
‘I find no fault in this man,’ he announced.
‘He should be tried and sentenced by your Law.’
The furious explosions of offence
that greeted this announcement and the spleen
and anger it engendered were all plain.
Among the voices raised were those who said
that Jesus represented wider threats
to Rome than any local lawbreaker.
He was a Galilean who had spread
his own rebellious message far and wide.
Here Pilate saw his chance, ’Well if he comes
from Galilee then I shall seek the view
of Herod. That will be appropriate
for now.’
So, as was half the world beside, Herod
himself was also in Jerusalem
and when he heard the Governor had sent
this Galilean sorcerer he’d heard
so much about for him to interview
he was delighted. He should do some tricks
for him. He settled down to entertain
himself. The prisoner refused to say
a word. Whatever questions he was asked:
however loudly priests and scribes accused:
the prisoner made no response at all.
Thus, interest soon changed to ridicule.
‘Was it a king he claimed to be? they asked.
Then they would dress him up appropriately
Something bizarre, something to make them laugh
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A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables
A something to amuse the royal guard
Something to make a mockery of his claim.
Something to demonstrate his pettiness.
King Herod’s judgement of the prisoner,
far more significant than any words,
was demonstrated by the way in which
he sent him back to Pilate in a robe
ill-fitting, gaudy and ridiculous.
Some private joke between them -not quite clearwent
with him and resulted in a change
of mood; a sort of handshake between men
who’d long been enemies. One thing it did –
confirm what Pilate had already judged.
The Nazarene did not deserve to die.
It was the custom at each Passover
to free a prisoner that the Romans held.
The practice was designed, presumably,
to curry favour with the populace
by demonstrating on their festive day
a leniency that was not typical
of Roman rule. Pilate must make a choice.
The Procurator was considering
his course of action when the Nazarene –
this Jesus – had been brought to him for trial.
He had received petitions on behalf
of one Barabbas who had made himself
a reputation as a murderer,
a robber and accessory to what
might well be thought of as insurgency.
He was not Pilate’s favoured candidate.
As well as this, a message from his wife
was passed to him as he took up his place
upon the Judgement Seat from which he must
pronounce the fate of the young man they called
‘The Christ’. She said she’d had a dream that nighta
dream which troubled her considerably.
‘Be sure that you set free the Nazarene.
Do not condemn a just and upright man.’
And thus is was that Pilate sat inside
determined that he would go out and face
the hostile crowd and tell them that his mind
was made up to release the Nazarene.
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PART T: Trial
While Pilate was considering what next
to do to ease his way through Passover
and cause as little fuss as possible
the Jewish elders had a visitor.
The man who’d helped them seize the Nazarene,
now conscience-stricken, re-appeared to say
that Jesus was completely innocent
and furthermore that he had gravely sinned
in playing any part in his arrest.
The Chief Priests had but little time for him.
If Judas the Betrayer changed his tune –
well! – turncoats sometimes turn their coats again.
The fool thought he could save the man on trial
by handing back the money he’d been given.
‘If that is what you’ve done, you’re on your own.
Don’t come to us for sympathy’ they said.
The thirty silver pieces hit the ground –
the normal price for which you’d buy a slave.
The bribe which had suborned fidelity
lay gleaming on the Sanctuary floor
flung there by one who could no longer bear
the thought of his own stupid faithlessness.
A haunt where heathen kings once burnt alive
their fellow men and women, Judas knew.
Gehenna was close by. They called it ‘Hell’
There was a gorge, steep-sided: just the place
for accidents: or where a man might go
intent to harm himself. And there, it’s said
that Judas hanged himself: or may have tried
and slipped and left his guts caught on a rock…
as what was left of him slipped down… and down.
But all of this was of no consequence
to those to whom Iscariot went for help.
Their minds were occupied with niceties.
This money they now had! What could they do
with it? Blood money it was called. It was –
a bribe paid to a killer they had hired.
To put that in the Temple Treasury?
Impossible! The Law would be infringed!
It was a sum of some significance.
Whatever were they going to do with it?
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A gospel in blank verse with rhymed parables
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