A5- PART T

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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