Day 85: The Trial of Jesus

The religious authorities in Jerusalem were not unanimous about what stance to take towards Jesus. The Pharisees threatened to excommunicate his followers... The Sanhedrin, having declared Jesus deserving of death as a blasphemer but having lost the right to put anyone to death, hands him over to the Romans, accusing him of political revolt, a charge that puts him in the same category as Barabbas who had been accused of sedition. The chief priests also threatened Pilate politically so that he would condemn Jesus to death. CCC 596

In today's reading, the Catechism relates the sordid details of the trial of Jesus as recounted in the Gospels. For all intent and purposes, it was a show trial, or perhaps a few shows trials as He was paraded around to important provincial leaders of the day (Matt 26:57-68; Lk 23:6-9; Jn 18:12-14) before finally landing on Pilate's doorstep (Matt 27:1-2). Ignoring the portent of his wife's dream (Matt 27:19), Pilate caved under pressure (Matt 27-24), and Jesus was condemned to death (Jn 19:15-16). I remember reading Crucify Him by Dale Foreman years ago about how the trials of Jesus had problems with Jewish law and possibly Roman. 

The "bad guys" in this story are well-known among Christians. Judas, Caiaphas, the Sanhedrin, Pilate, etc. Yet as the Catechism acknowledges, "the personal sin of the participants is known to God alone" (CCC 597). Sadly, Jews have faced persecution for centuries by some misguided souls, believing that they alone hold the responsibility for Christ's Passion. The Catechism Compendium tells us that it is actually all of us who are to blame:

The passion and death of Jesus cannot be imputed indiscriminately either to all the Jews that were living at that time or to their descendants. Every single sinner, that is, every human being is really the cause and the instrument of the sufferings of the Redeemer; and the greater blame in this respect falls on those above all who are Christians and who the more often fall into sin or delight in their vices. (#117)

Jesus freely chose death for our sakes, to conquer it, redeem us, and give us eternal life. Whenever I look at the crucifix, sometimes I think in shame how He was treated by ignorant humanity. Yet even in His suffering on the cross, He understood and was compassionate (Lk 23:34-43). I like how the Catechism Companion, Vol I sums up the biggest thing to take away from this:

God can take even the worst brokenness and bring about great good. As Christians, we believe this is what happened with Jesus' death and resurrection. Our sins crucified Jesus, but God used his death to bring about the greatest thing that has ever happened - our salvation and our redemption. (p. 174)

Jesus at Herod's Court, by Duccio, c. 1310