Chapter 18: On Trial

Nolan describes the two different court systems at the time of Jesus' trial. Pontius Pilate headed the Roman court, while there was a Jewish Court called the Sanhedrin court. Jesus could have been tried by the Jewish court for a couple of things such as blasphemy, but was brought up on one charge by the Roman court instead. Jesus was only charged with attempting to be the Messiah. Then Pilate is described as a stubborn, hard-nosed criminal who extorted at multiple times during his career as an official. Bribery and theft were not out of the ordinary for Pilate. When a group of Jews went to look for relics of Moses, Pilate sent his army after them to slaughter them. He was constantly afraid of rebellions against him, and his paranoia often led to action. The main question in the first half of the chapter is which court is the one that drove Jesus into trial? While it does seem that the Roman court is to blame, the Jewish court played an equal part by aiding the Romans is arresting Jesus. Had the Jewish court attempted to save Jesus, a war would have followed. On trial, Jesus spent no time defending himself. Jesus tested everyone else, event though he was on trial. No one stood up for Jesus, while there were people who believed in him. There is a time for everything, and this was certainly a time for trials. Peter and Judas and the disciples were tested, Pilate was tested, and Jesus was tested as the Son of Man.