Friday, April 06, 2007
Jesus on trial
Today, Christians remember the most famous criminal trial in world history. Jesus the Christ, an itinerant preacher in occupied Judea, was convicted of sedition and executed. It was, from start to finish, a kangaroo court.
He was arrested under cover of darkness and his first hearing was conducted in the dead of night. The witnesses couldn’t get their stories straight and the whole thing got kicked over to the Roman governor, who tossed it over to the King Herod. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, had already gotten himself in deep do-do with the boys back in Rome for stirring up the local populace. The Romans had a keen appreciation for peace and quiet. The last thing Pilate wanted was to get the locals all worked up over one of these impossible religious questions. If the death of one innocent man was the price of peace, so be it.
The religious establishment saw Jesus as a threat to the fat living they were getting off sacrificial pigeons and ceremonial washings. They got the mob all fired up, which is never difficult. By the time the good folks found out what was happening, as is usually the case it was too late.
(Broadcast April 6, 2007)
He was arrested under cover of darkness and his first hearing was conducted in the dead of night. The witnesses couldn’t get their stories straight and the whole thing got kicked over to the Roman governor, who tossed it over to the King Herod. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, had already gotten himself in deep do-do with the boys back in Rome for stirring up the local populace. The Romans had a keen appreciation for peace and quiet. The last thing Pilate wanted was to get the locals all worked up over one of these impossible religious questions. If the death of one innocent man was the price of peace, so be it.
The religious establishment saw Jesus as a threat to the fat living they were getting off sacrificial pigeons and ceremonial washings. They got the mob all fired up, which is never difficult. By the time the good folks found out what was happening, as is usually the case it was too late.
(Broadcast April 6, 2007)
