Judas, knowing where to find Jesus, guided the arresting party that was sent by\\nthe High Priest to take Jesus into custody when it was still dark outside.
The arresting party consisted of, “… a large crowd with swords and clubs, who\\ncame from the chief priests and elders of the people (Matt. 26: 47 NASB).”
It wasn’t until later that day that Jesus would be handed over to Roman\\nauthority.
Nations that were conquered and occupied by Roman soldiers were permitted to\\nconduct their own affairs, as long as they kept the peace, paid their taxes,\\nand did not violate Roman Law.
However, local authorities did not have the authority to carry out capital\\npunishment. The Jewish plan to kill Jesus would have to involve the Romans.
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\\nUpon arriving in the area of the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas, guiding the\\narresting party, approached Jesus and kissed Him, which was a pre-arranged\\nsignal (1) to identify Him as the One to be taken into custody.
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\\nUpon taking Him into custody, Jesus was brought to the residence of the High\\nPriest where He was questioned and abused. At daybreak, He was taken to the\\nchamber of the Sanhedrin (2).
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\\nMany accusations were made, but the witnesses’ testimonies were weak and\\ndiffered in detail (3).
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\\nSome might think that the “case” against Jesus was crumbling.
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\\nBut when Jesus was asked, "Are You the Son of God, then?" And He said\\nto them, "Yes, I am (Luke 22: 70 NASB)," His enemies believed they had achieved their goal.
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\\nIt didn’t matter (to them) what charge(s) He was convicted of, so long as it\\ncalled for His execution. In their opinion (4), His own testimony, amounted to\\nblasphemy.
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\\nThen they said, "What further need do we have of testimony? For we have\\nheard it ourselves from His own mouth (Luke 22: 71 NASB)."
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\\nJesus was convicted of the false charge of blasphemy (5). Under Jewish Law,\\nbeing convicted of blasphemy called for death by stoning (6).
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\\nThe problem they had was that capital punishment could not be carried out\\nwithout the involvement of the Roman government.
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\\nFor that reason, Jesus was taken to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of that\\nregion.
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\\nHowever, when Pilate did not consider Jesus guilty and worthy of death, the\\nJews who brought Him to Pilate persisted by accusing Him of being an enemy of\\nthe state (Rome) by claiming to be a king (7).
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\\nFor the second time in less than 24 hrs., Jesus was accused of actions that He\\nwas not guilty of committing. He was not guilty of blasphemy and He had not promoted\\nrebellion against the Roman Empire.
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\\nNever-the-less, Jesus was eventually sentenced to death by way of crucifixion;\\na manner of death reserved for the worst of convicted criminals, and a means of\\nexecution that Roman citizens were spared.
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\\nWhat His Jewish enemies and Roman adversaries did not know was that the false\\ncharges and subsequent consequences He faced were all a part of the plan that\\nGod allowed to take place in order for Jesus to fulfill God’s plan by atoning\\nfor the world’s sin debt on a Roman cross.
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\\nWhen Jesus cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why has Thou forsaken me?\\n(Psalms 22: 1 NASB)”, He was NOT “asking”\\nGod anything. He knew perfectly well what was taking place, and had shared this\\nknowledge with His disciples BEFORE they arrived in Jerusalem (8).
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\\nBy quoting the 22nd Psalm while on the cross, He was confirming to those\\npresent (and to us) that the numerous prophesies that had been made and\\nrecorded in the 22nd Psalm 1,000 years previously, were now being fulfilled\\nbefore their eyes. See Psalms 22, verses 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 11-18 and note the\\ndetails.
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\\nBeing falsely accused, misunderstood, abused, and put to death on charges of\\nheresy brought by religious authority, and or being prosecuted as an enemy of\\nthe state has been, is now, and will be in the future, the experience of many\\nbelievers who take a public stand for the truth (9).
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\\n(1) Matt. 26: 48 (2) Luke 16: 66 (3) Matt. 26: 59, 60 (4) Luke 22: 71 (5) Matt. 26: 65, 66 (6) Lev. 24: 16 (7) Luke 23: 4, 5 (8) Matt. 20: 18, 19 (9) John 14: 6
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