So they arrested Him and led Him to the high priest’s home. And Peter followed at a distance. The guards lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter joined them there.
Luke 22:53+55
The guards in charge of Jesus began mocking and beating Him. They blindfolded Him and said, “Prophesy to us! Who hit You that time?” And they hurled all sorts of terrible insults at Him.
At daybreak all the elders of the people assembled, including the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. Jesus was led before this high council, and they said, “Tell us, are You the Messiah?” But He replied, “If I tell you, you won’t believe Me. And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated in the place of power at God’s right hand. ” They all shouted, “So, are You claiming to be the Son of God?” And He replied, “You say that I am.” “Why do we need other witnesses?” they said. “We ourselves heard Him say it.”
Luke 22:63-71
I have given you this section across the gospel accounts before, when we were beginning the analysis of Peter’s denial and the trial of Jesus. We saw at the time the strange arrangement of this material in the Harmony of the Gospels that are available to us. When I gave you this segment in Gem 1230 along with the segment on Peter’s denial, I told you in Gem 1231 that there was an issue concerning the various trials and just how many of them there were, given the way each gospel writer handles the facts. This variation in the gospel accounts makes working out the order of the trials somewhat complicated. I will turn to this issue now while you pause to think about the passage above and the differences between the gospel accounts. Remember, the differences and similarities give you an indication of the focus for each gospel writer.
We can piece together from all four gospels that there were six phases to the trial (or trials) of Jesus. There were three phases held before Jewish authorities and three phases held before Roman authorities. These are as follows:
First Phase: Before Annas
John is the only gospel writer who includes this phase in his gospel. In John 18:12-24, he tells us that upon Jesus arrest he was taken directly to Annas, the ex-High Priest. As I indicated to you in Gem 1232, it is likely that Annas was resident in Caiaphus’ house, given the fact that Caiaphus was his son-in-law. The Jewish people, and likely the Sanhedrin, preferred Annas to Caiaphus.
2nd Phase: Before Caiaphus
All four gospel writers tell us that Jesus was taken to appear before Caiaphus, the High Priest at the time. (Matt 26:57-68, Mark 14:53-65, Luke 22:54-65 and John 18:24). John in recording this phase and the one before it, gives us the order in which these events happened. This was therefore, the first official trial since Annas had no authority.
3rd Phase: a Second Hearing Before the Sanhedrin after Dawn
Again, all three synoptic gospel writers record this phase for us. (Matt 27:1, 11-14; Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66-71)
4th Phase: Before Pilate
All four gospel writers record a trial before Pilate. (Matt 27:2, Mark 15:1-5, Luke 23:1-5; John 18:28-38)
5th Phase: Before Herod Antipas
Only Luke records that the trial before Pilate was interrupted by Pilate himself sending Jesus to Herod Antipas. (Luke 23:6-12)
6th Phase: Before Pilate
After the brief appearance before Herod Antipas, Jesus is brought back to Pilate as Luke tells the story, and the other writers record for us the last phase of the trial which matches with that of Luke. (Matt 27:15-26; Mark 15:6-15; Luke 23:13-25; John 18:39-19:16)
I am only intending to follow through on Luke’s account in detail but as you can see, in following Luke’s account we pick up on the others as well as it is only Luke who has given us the details of the appearance before Herod Antipas and of course as I referred to above, John adds the initial brief appearance before Annas. So effectively we cover all phases anyway.
Take the time now to dig into the comparison above for the first segment before us now. Ask the LORD to help you see things you have not seen before.
Nobody ever left a legacy by maintaining the status quo!
Rick Godwin
There has never yet been a man in our history who led a life of ease whose name is worth remembering.
Theodore Roosevelt
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Albert Einstein
It is quite useless knocking at the door of heaven for earthly comfort. It’s not the sort of comfort they supply there.
C. S. Lewis