ask you to take your bibles this morning make your way into the book of mark into the book of mark this morning we're going to read three verses in the ninth chapter of the book of mark mark chapter number nine These verses I hope will set the tone and serve as a launching point for the message not only today but Lord willing in the coming weeks. Mark chapter number 9 notice verses 30 through 32. Mark chapter number 9 beginning in verse number 30. And they departed thence and passed through Galilee and he would not that any man should know it. for he taught his disciples and said unto them the son of man is delivered into the hands of men and they shall kill him and after that he is killed he shall rise the third day but they understood not that saying and were afraid to ask and I would point out that when the Lord says that they shall kill him he's talking about murder And there is a type of killing that is not murder. And we've talked about that in previous messages through the years. So, in Mark 9, verses 30-32, we see the Lord Jesus flatly teaching and emphatically stating that He was going to be killed. So this morning I want us to think about the murder of Jesus. And this will be the first of What I believe, unless the Lord leads otherwise, at least three, possibly four messages on this subject, the murder of Jesus. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to be in your house today. Lord, we desire You, we trust You, we thank You for who You are. Lord, I know that I myself am so often pricked in my own heart about my own sins and failures and shortcomings. I pray that today, Lord, as we're in Your house, You'd forgive based upon the blood of Jesus Christ. Lord, we understand and we know that Jesus Christ, as we read in Mark chapter 9, as He prophesied flatly detailed how that he would be killed. We know that Jesus Christ did suffer and die, and He did that for the purpose of paying for the sins of His people. Lord, we rejoice in that. And yet, humanly speaking, Lord, there's much to examine and look at as it relates to the killing or the murder of Jesus. Lord, I pray that through these coming weeks, and Lord, certainly today, You'd hold our attention on You and Your Word. And Lord, that the purpose might be to honor and glorify You and Christ Jesus. That we'd not just be wanting to heap up knowledge that would help us answer intellectual arguments, but that we would be touched spiritually and internally, that Jesus Christ was willing to yield Himself to be murdered on our behalf. Lord, I pray that you'd bless our study today. May you be exalted and lifted up. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The murder of Jesus. Now, you may be familiar with the case of Russ Faria from Troy, Missouri. Russ was sentenced to life plus 30 years for the 2011 brutal murder of his wife Betsy. She was stabbed over 40 times. And when Russ, according to Russ's account, when he came home and found her, she still had a steak knife protruding from her neck. Now there's one problem with Russ's conviction. He didn't do it. His sentence was later overturned as a result of a bench trial that occurred in 2015. Now, Russ's case received massive media attention. There have been at least six Dateline episodes chronicling the case, and his trial and involvement with Betsy's friend Pam Hupp was the focus of NBC's crime series that just recently completed, The Thing About Pam. That series starred Academy Award winner Renee Zellweger, and it was viewed by over 14 million people. There's no doubt that this case and other cases similar to Russ's have generated massive interest from the public. Russ Faria's case was a case of wrongful conviction. It was a gross miscarriage of justice. And yet as sad as that was for Russ, and his family, the miscarriage of justice was nowhere near the miscarriage of justice as it relates to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was an innocent man that was, in essence, lynched by a mob and murdered by the Jews the Jewish leaders, and the Roman authorities of the day. Those are controversial statements, but they're true biblical statements. Now in our text, as I pointed out, I hope serves as simply a launching point for our study, Jesus is teaching his disciples this very truth, that he in fact would be murdered. The murder of Jesus is the greatest travesty, it is the greatest injustice, it is the greatest perversion in legal history. The facts prove this. Now over the coming weeks we want to study the murder of Jesus. And our study will cover at least three different parts to the murder of Jesus. His arrest, His trial, if you can call it that, and the sentence that was carried out. Now this morning we're starting with the very beginning of these legal proceedings, if you will, the arrest of Jesus. And so if I were going to title this message, it would be the murder of Jesus, His illegal arrest. And as we think about his illegal arrest, I want us to spend our time this morning thinking about three elements. Three elements that contributed to Jesus' illegal arrest. First, this contributing factor. This element. The Jewish autonomy in court proceedings. I'll explain what I mean by that as we get into it. The second element, the religious authority's conspiracy to murder Jesus. And then the third element, which contributed to Jesus' illegal arrest, the abandonment of Jewish legal procedure. These three elements contributed to Jesus' illegal arrest. We're talking this morning about the murder of Jesus, His illegal arrest. Now, think about, first of all, this element, the first element that contributed to Jesus' illegal arrest, the Jewish autonomy in court proceedings. Now, I do want to give you a warning. that really should preface each of these messages. There are background details that we're going to get into that may or may not be of interest to you. But I'm going to ask you to please stay with me, pay attention, because they're not just for the sheer purpose of accumulating knowledge that wouldn't be useful for anything, but they're important in understanding what happened to Jesus and what Jesus went through. This is one of those areas, the Jewish autonomy and court proceedings, that is elementary and fundamental in understanding what happened to Jesus and having an understanding about the murder of Jesus. Now, as we think about the Jewish autonomy and court proceedings, We first make this note, and you should understand this, and I think that most of you that understand the context of the New Testament understand this, that the Jews were under Roman rule. The Jews were under Roman rule. Now, Daniel, all the way back in the book of Daniel, 500 years before the New Testament events recording the murder of Jesus, Daniel, 500 years prior, prophesied that Rome was one of the four world powers that would be recognized historically and scripturally. In fact, we're not going to read these verses, but I'll give them to you. You can write them down so that you can go back and reference them if you want. But in Daniel 2, verses 41-43, Daniel speaks about the iron in the dream that was had, and this speaks of the coming Roman world empire. Now, 500 years after Daniel prophesied this, in Daniel 2, verses 41-43, this was fulfilled in 63 BC. In 63 BC, The Roman general Pompey led troops into Jerusalem and conquered Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. The Roman Senate declared, and see if you recognize this name, Herod the Great. The Roman Senate declared Herod the Great as the King of the Jews in 40 B.C. Now that title is of particular note. Herod was declared by the Roman Senate as the King of the Jews. Who's the King of the Jews? Well, it just so happens to be the guy that was murdered. That's no coincidence. In 6 A.D., 6 A.D., Rome consolidated its power and consolidated Judea proper, Samaria, and Idumea into the province that we know in Scripture as Judea. And so we're talking about the Jews being under Roman rule. Judea, which was the land where they dwelled, was under Roman rule. So the Jews, it's important to understand, were under Roman rule. But secondly, it's also important to understand that the Jews, while they were under Roman rule, were granted almost unlimited autonomy to carry out their own court proceedings. That's important. Let me say that again. The Jews, while they were under Roman rule, were granted almost unlimited autonomy in carrying out their own court proceedings. So, the same year that Judea was consolidated from these different regional areas, In 6 AD, Caesar Augustus granted the Jews full judicial authority with two glaring exceptions. Two glaring exceptions. The first glaring exception you probably already know about from studying the Bible. And that's this. The Jews could exercise no power over a Roman citizen. Now, how do you know this from Scripture? Well, you know a guy by the name of Paul, Saul of Tarsus, who was persecuted for his beliefs and his actions, and when he was hailed in to be disciplined and chastened, what did Paul say? Paul said, hey, I'm a free-born Roman. And what happened at that time? All proceedings stopped because there was no authority to take any action against Paul because he was a Roman. You'll find that again, we're not reading it for sake of time, but you'll find that recorded in Acts chapter 22 verses 25 through 29. So the Jews were granted almost unlimited autonomy in carrying out their own court proceedings. There were two glaring exceptions. First of all, the Jews had no power whatsoever over a Roman citizen. And secondly, and this is of utmost importance in the murder of Jesus, the Jews could not carry out the death penalty. They were not permitted to carry out the death penalty. Listen to this in John 18, verse 31. In John 18, verse 31, the Bible reads, Take ye Him, Him being Jesus, take ye Him and judge Him according to your law. Now there you have the autonomy that was granted unto the Jews that they were able to carry out their own court proceedings. But watch this exception that the Jewish leaders remind Pilate of. The last part of verse number 31 of chapter 18, The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death. Now, that had to be spoken in the context of the authority and the limited authority that they had been given by the Romans. And I say limited because there were two exceptions. The Bible clearly teaches the death penalty. The Bible in the Old Testament, the Bible in the New Testament clearly teaches the death penalty, and the Jews had previously had the authority to govern themselves when they were not under rule of any other world power, and they in fact carried out the death penalty. The Bible here is giving us insight as to the real intentions of the Jews. Folks, there's a lot we're going to get into over the next couple weeks. But at this point, when Jesus is before Pilate, Pilate finds nothing wrong that Jesus has done. And he certainly finds nothing wrong worthy of death. And so, he not even understanding at this point that the Jews wanted to put Jesus to death, said, well, you take Him back and you administer justice under your law. And of course, that meant that He thought they were going to administer justice short of the death penalty. And they say to Pilate, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death. They did not have the authority under Roman rule to carry out the death sins. Now, this is important. This is important. Because the Jews could do anything to any Jew based upon legal proceedings that they wanted, except put them to death. Listen to this, and these are two verses that we're going to read a little bit later on today, but in Matthew chapter 27, verses 1 and 2. This is after Jesus is arrested. In Matthew chapter 27 verses 1 and 2, When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death. And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Now they count, their intent was clearly to put Jesus to death. Their intent was to murder Jesus. But they did not have the legal authority to do so, which is why they sent him the pilot. Now, having established, first of all, the fact that the Jews had autonomy in their court proceedings, they could do almost anything they wanted with two exceptions. They could not carry out any penalty or sentence any Roman citizen, and they could not carry out the death penalty. This is important. This is important to know. Because the Jews had autonomy in dealing with Jesus as it relates to legal proceedings. Now we move on to the second element that contributed to Jesus' illegal arrest. The second element is this. The religious authorities conspiracy to murder Jesus. In other words, what led to Jesus' arrest? Well, first of all, the Jews had complete legal authority to do what they wanted. They could literally go in and arrest anybody that they wanted. It wasn't up to the Romans. That's important to know. Secondly, there was a religious conspiracy to murder Jesus, and this formed the basis for his arrest. Now the chief priest and all of those down the line were complicit in this conspiracy to murder Jesus. Think first of all, about the chief priests and the religious leaders' animosity and intentions towards Jesus. And so here, we just want to go back and factually prove to you that there was animosity towards the Lord Jesus Christ on the part of the chief priests and the religious leaders, and we want to show what their true intentions towards Jesus were. So we're building up. We're building up to the arrest of Jesus. And I say the illegal arrest. Now, note first of all their animosity and their intentions as it is related when Jesus teaches the parable of the householder and the heir. Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 21. In Matthew chapter number 21, We're going to read two verses, although the parable of the householder and the heir is certainly revealed starting up in verse number 33, but I want you to notice Matthew chapter 21 verses 45 and 46. Of course, the parable of the householder is about a certain man leaving his possessions and then attempting to come and regain them and they want to put him to death. And notice here Matthew chapter number 21 verses 45 and 46. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. Now, listen man, I may have commented on this before, but this is a very serious verse, but I can't help but be taken aback every time I read it, because I can't tell you the amount of people through the years in pastoring. By the way, I've got 19 years in now pastoring. Okay, 19 years. Can't tell you the number of times people have said well you were preaching that against me And then they get offended and they leave Is this not what the Pharisees are saying they perceive that he spake of them? They hear what Jesus says and they got a fellow. He's talking to us and then look at verse 46 but when they sought to lay hands on him and They feared the multitude because they took him for a prophet. And so, beloved, we're laying the groundwork. This is almost as if we were going to present this case to a jury. And we are going through all of the pieces of evidence that would show the jury that, look, this guy was illegally arrested. First of all, their intentions and animosity towards Jesus. They had it out for Jesus when Jesus entered into His public ministry. They didn't like what He taught. They didn't like the fact that He preached against their own sins. And they conspired to do something about it. They had animus and they had ill intentions towards Jesus. We see it revealed in the parable of the householder in the air. We see it when Jesus was cleansing the temple. And I use that term very delicately. What was Jesus doing when I talk about cleansing the temple? Well, He goes into the temple, and there were those that were in there that were making money by selling sacrifices that would be used in the temple, and they had made it a business for them. And Jesus goes in and He starts turning over the tables of the money changers, and He says, listen man, my Father's house is a house of prayer, and you've made it a den of thieves. Well, they didn't like that. They didn't like the harsh preaching of Jesus. And so what happened? In Mark chapter 11 and verse number 18, Mark chapter 11 and verse number 18, and the scribes and chief priests, notice, it's coming all the way from the top. The scribes and the chief priests heard it and saw how they might destroy Him. For they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His doctrine. So now we have a clear pattern here. That the religious leaders, beginning all the way with the chief priest and Dom, they did not like Jesus, they had it out for Jesus, they were going to try to make sure that Jesus paid for what He was doing. Which was what? Simply preaching the Word. Right? And then notice a few chapters over in Mark 14, verses 1 and 2. In Mark 14, verses 1 and 2, the Bible reads, After two days was the Feast of the Passover, and of unleavened bread, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by crab. and put him to death. Verse 2, but they said, not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. So they wanted to do this surreptitiously. They wanted to do this under the cover of not anybody being able to see what they were doing. They didn't want the proceedings to be outward and the public see what was happening. They were doing this that they might take him by craft. And again, it's revealed what their intention was. to put him to death. So we're talking about the religious authority's conspiracy to murder Jesus. It's the second element of Jesus' illegal arrest. We see their animosity and intentions toward the Lord Jesus Christ. But then secondly, we see their action in actually implementing their conspiracy. So they've got it out for Jesus. They're going to murder Jesus. They're trying to figure out how they can murder Jesus. How are we going to get this done? Oh, let's enter into the conspiracy. Now watch. Turn with me first of all to Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 22, because here we have the formation of the conspiracy. Two or more people Deciding that they are going to commit a crime and they are both complicit in the action Conspiring together to commit the crime watch Luke chapter 22 verses 1 through 6 as we see their action and implementing the conspiracy in that they are forming the conspiracy notice Luke chapter 22 beginning in verse 1 now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh which is called the Passover and And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him, for they feared the people. Are you seeing a common trend? They want to murder Jesus. There is no cause for which they can rightly kill Him. He is not a criminal. He has not committed any crime. But they don't like Him, and they don't like what He's preaching, and they want Him to be silenced. Sound familiar with anything that's going on in our nation today? They want Him to be silenced, and so what they're going to do is they're going to take Him craftily, and they want to murder Him. Notice verse 3. Then entered Satan into Judas' surname, Discariat, being of the number of the twelve. You know the devil is always ready to stand by and help people that want to commit evil actually commit that evil. He doesn't miss an opportunity. He's always available to help those that want to enter into sin. I said this before years ago in preaching a message when we were over in the other space here at the location where we're at currently. What's the word I'm looking for? The plaza. I couldn't think of the plaza. We were down there by Matt's place. And I said, look man, if you want to commit sin, The devil will always help you commit sin. If you want to go out today and you want to go out and get drunk and live lasciviously and lewdly, man, listen, there are people that will help you do that. The devil will help you do that. And so notice here, interestingly, that the religious leaders and the chief priests, they want to form this conspiracy to commit Jesus. Well, here's the devil. ready to help. And what does he do? He works on one of his own, Judas, and then look at verse number 4. And he went his way and communed with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him unto them. Look at verse 5. And they were glad and covenanted, covenanted to give him money. And he promised and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude. So Judas is playing right into what they want to do. They covenant together to give him the 30 pieces of silver. Judas agrees that he's going to betray the Lord Jesus Christ and he's going to do it exactly the way that they wanted. Notice he says, in the absence of the multitude. They wanted this to be done where nobody was around. And nobody could protest to the proceedings. And so, they form the conspiracy. Now notice, in John chapter 18, how they actually carry out the conspiracy. Notice John chapter number 18. verses 1 through 3. And I mentioned a little bit earlier about some of the detail that we get into as far as the law goes. Well, we also are going to get our fingers limbered up by turning and pointing to a number of scriptures. Notice John chapter number 18 verses 1 through 3. In John 18, verses 1-3, we see them carrying out the conspiracy by the actual arrest of Jesus. In John 18, verses 1-3, when Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the book Kidron, where was a garden, into the which He entered, and His disciples. And Judas also, which betrayed Him, knew the place. Jesus oft times resorted thither with his disciples Judas then having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees cometh hither with lanterns and torches and weapons they effected the arrest This was a conspiracy that, notice here, it says the officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, all the way down, I believe that this means that the chief priests and the Pharisees were involved in the arrest. And notice as well who's involved with this. They have received a band of men. Do you know who this band of men was? Roman soldiers. Roman soldiers you say well, why would Roman soldiers be a part of this? I thought you that you just taught and just said that the Jews had received this autonomy to carry out their own legal proceedings Well, they did but I want you to think about the time in which this is happening this is at Passo and we know that the as we've already indicated the Jews were under Roman authority Let me ask you this. Did the Jews enjoy being under Roman authority? Were they looking for somebody to relieve them and free them from Roman authority? Of course they were. We looked at that when we were talking about Jesus making his triumphant entry. There were those that thought, well, he's king of the Jews. He's going to be a physical king, and he's going to deliver us from bondage under the Roman Empire. Well, guess what? Because they did not like being under Rome's rule, anytime there was a pilgrimage to Jerusalem by the Jews for one of the great feasts, it was usual for riots to break out. It was usual for there to be pockets of those that would revolt against the Roman government and plead for the Messiah to come so that He might relieve them of Roman rule. And so because of this, during the times of the great feasts, there were always Roman soldiers that were available to assist the Jews in the observance of their great feasts. And so it's easy to see how that these band of Roman soldiers would have been available to help the Jews effect this arrest, Because they, perhaps, and we know that they did later on, would have accused Jesus of being seditious and being a traitor against the Roman government. And so, we find their action in implementing the conspiracy, they form the conspiracy, they carry out the conspiracy and the arrest, and then notice, even after Jesus is in custody, they continue to voice their conspiracy. Notice Matthew chapter 26. Matthew chapter 26, verse number 59. Matthew chapter 26, verse number 59. And you'll notice here in Matthew chapter 26, verse number 59, this is the last verse of chapter 26. And then we get into chapter... Excuse me, it's not the last verse, but it's the last verse dealing with this particular account of Jesus' arrest. In Matthew chapter 26, notice verse number 59. Matthew 26, verse 59. Now, the chief priests and elders and all the council sought false witness against Jesus. Why? To put Him to death. Folks, we are nailing down, piece of evidence by piece of evidence, the conspiracy that the Jews and the religious leaders wanted to murder Jesus. This was their intent in arresting Him. They didn't arrest Him for any other purpose than that they intended to put Him to death. And for that, they would have had to send Him to Pilate because they didn't have the authority to do it. And so notice, even when Jesus is in custody, they voice their conspiracy. Now, move down to Matthew chapter 27 and verse number 1. Matthew chapter 27 verse number 1, the next day. Matthew 27 verse number 1, when the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death. Do you see how the conspiracy is playing out? It's conceived in the minds of the chief priests and the religious leaders. They form this idea that they're going to get this guy. They then begin to form the conspiracy. They get Judas, through the leadership of Satan, to agree to betray the Lord Jesus Christ. Then after Jesus is in custody and has been illegally arrested, they continue to further the conspiracy by trying to find false witnesses who will say something against Jesus. We know their true feelings revealed, because in Mark chapter 15 and verse number 10, the Bible says that Pilate knew that the chief priests had delivered him, Jesus, for envy. They were envious of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they wanted him dead. He was murdered. What were the actions that led to his murder? His illegal arrest. We see it in the Jews' autonomy. to carry out their own legal proceedings. We see it in the religious authorities conspiracy to murder Jesus. And then finally this third element. We see that the abandonment of Jewish legal procedure shows what they were about. The religious leaders completely abandoned proper legal procedures. There were rules to be followed and legal procedure to be followed. Now I want to say this, that not the murder of Jesus, certainly in the murder of Jesus there was no just cause to put Him to death. But if you go back to His arrest, there is absolutely no legal basis for the arrest of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I want to show you this And I want to begin by a brief explanation of our legal procedure, because obviously, if you can equate what's happening and the Jewish legal procedure to ours, I think it helps you understand. Now, when's the last time you got arrested, Brother Steve? That's a loaded question. That's like, do you still beat your wife? I won't ask if anybody's ever been arrested. But in our legal system, the police cannot just arrest you for any reason. They can't stop your car, and Jim's wearing his Pittsburgh Stiller garb, and they say, well, we don't like the Pittsburgh Stillers, so we're going to arrest Jim. You can't do that, unless you're in Cleveland. If you're in Cleveland, you can do that. No, not even in Cleveland. You can't do that. In order for you to be arrested, there has to be this little legal term met, which we call Probable cause. Probable cause. What is probable cause? Probable cause is very simply a reasonable basis or a reasonable ground to believe that a crime has been committed. You can't just be arrested because you don't have hair or you have red hair or you have blue hair. Those things are not against the law. So a crime must have been committed and the police must have a reasonable basis for belief or a reasonable ground that a crime has been committed. That's probable cause. So there can be probable cause for your arrest. What happens? Well, if there's probable cause for your arrest, you know, somebody calls the police and says, my boyfriend just punched me in the face. Did the police just roll up and arrest the boyfriend? No, they go to the house. They respond to the 911 call. They're dispatched to the house. They investigate the case. The police see that the woman actually has a bruise under her eye. She actually is willing to cooperate and say that this happened. The boyfriend has fled the scene. He didn't want to stay and talk to the police. The woman gives an audio, video, recorded interview of what happened. She has injuries. She wants to go to the hospital and be treated because perhaps maybe she has an orbital fracture. You know what that is? That's probable cause. That's probable cause. So the police find the boyfriend and they arrest the boyfriend. What happens then? The arrest process is not done. They bring him to the police station. They have 48 hours to have this individual charged with a crime. If he is not charged with a crime within 48 hours, he must be released. Guess who determines whether or not he's charged with a crime? The St. Clair County, if it's in St. Clair County, the St. Clair County State's Attorney's Office. And so the assistant state's attorneys that work for the state's attorney get all the police reports and all the evidence and they determine whether or not an actual crime has been committed. Is there probable cause to believe a crime has been committed? Yes, and so we charge that individual with that crime. The detective that works the case comes by and picks up the charging document and the arrest warrant, and they take it over to a felony judge. And a felony judge looks at the case, talks to the officer, they swear the detective in. The detective has to swear under oath that what he's saying or what she's saying is correct. The judge listens to that, determines he's going to sign the arrest warrant, and then he or she sets a bail or an amount of bond. Those are the procedures for a proper arrest. Once the individual is arrested properly and detained, And perhaps they post bail or bond, maybe they don't, but the next thing that happens is that there's an arraignment. At the arraignment, this is the first time that the defendant will appear before the court, and the charges for which he or she is charged with will be formally read, they will be asked to enter a plea, and then a date is set for a preliminary hearing. The preliminary hearing is to determine whether or not there's probable cause to hold this person over for a trial. The defendant can waive their preliminary hearing or they can insist that a preliminary hearing take place. If a preliminary hearing takes place, it is like a little trial where the state presents evidence, the defendant may present evidence, and then the judge determines, is there probable cause? Remember, the burden is probable cause, not beyond all reasonable doubt. So if the judge determines that there's probable cause to hold this person over, that person is then held over and a trial date can be set. That's the legal process. Now let me ask you this. In your knowledge of Scripture, do you recall much of that happening in the case of Jesus? Because the Jewish legal procedure is in essence the same as ours with some variation. And certainly if you go back to, and we're going to think about this here in just a moment, you go back to the Jewish legal procedure that was in existence at the time of Jesus' murder, you're going to find that the Jews did not follow their own legal procedure. Now, having established the process. And there was a reason that I wanted to go through that. because you need to understand the legal process in order to understand how jesus was illegally arrested and how he was actually murdered by the authorities of the day now think about having considered the the legal process think about the evidence that the jews abandoned their own criminal legal procedure now with the jews Remember, the Jews had a civil law, they had a ceremonial law, and then, of course, they were given the moral law by God. And so, because they were God's people, there were some rules that they were to follow and that were implemented that we don't follow today. And these are important as we think about the illegal arrest of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to think about the evidence that they abandoned their own criminal legal procedure. Now, think about this. First of all, According to the Jewish legal procedure that was in existence at that day, no steps of criminal proceedings could be implemented after sunset. No steps of criminal proceedings could be implemented after sunset. In other words, you couldn't arrest somebody, bring them in, arraign them, have a preliminary hearing, and set a trial date. You couldn't do that. Now, this was done. By the way, if you're interested, I can send you references to this, where all of this historical data is coming from. I didn't just dream this up. But this was done to avoid the possibility that there would be a conspiracy. It was done to avoid the possibility there would be a conspiracy, and especially a conspiracy that could be hid by cover of night. Now, does that not strike you? That that law existed to prevent what actually happened to Jesus? That procedure existed to prevent what actually happened to Jesus. Once the sun had officially set, authorities were not to proceed with any form of criminal proceeding. Now think about this. Luke chapter 22, verse number 6. And He promised and sought opportunity to betray Him unto them in the absence of the multitude. So the Jews are intentionally framing this to be done under the cover of night. Now was Jesus arrested at night? He was. He was. We can prove it. Listen to this. In Mark 14, excuse me, in John 18 in verse number 3. We already read this verse. John 18 in verse number 3. Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh hither with lanterns and torches and weapons. You don't need a lantern and a torch in daytime. This was done under the cover of night to further the conspiracy and hide it from the people. And it was an absolute infringement on Jewish criminal procedure. No steps of criminal proceedings were to occur after sunset. Secondly, any man who served as a judge or a member of the Sanhedrin was not allowed to participate in an arrest. Now, it would be awful odd and strange if the judge who is going to preside over your trial is the one who came out and arrested you? Could you say, well maybe the fix is in? You know, they got it out for me. I mean, the judge is the one who arrested me. The judge is the same one who's going to preside over my trial. Now, we haven't gotten into the makeup of the Sanhedrin or any of the other courts, but we're going to do that as we get into the study in coming weeks. But suffice it to say that judges or members of the Sanhedrin were not allowed, according to Jewish criminal procedure, to participate in an arrest. Well, how'd that work out? Mark chapter 14 verse 43, And immediately, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. I posit to you that they were present at the arrest of Jesus. Look at Luke chapter 22, and bear with me, we're almost done. Luke chapter 22, verses 52 and 53 in Luke 22 verses 52 and 53 then Jesus said unto the chief priests and captains of the temple and the elders which were come to him and did you get that? then Jesus said unto the chief priests and captains of the temple and the elders which were come to him be ye come out as against the thief with swords and staves while I was daily with you in the temple you stretched forth no hands against me but this is your hour and the power of darkness and they certainly committed these acts and deeds under the cover of darkness. And so we see here that they were not permitted to be part of the arrest process because they were going to set a judgment on the Sanhedrin. Seventy-one members of the Sanhedrin, chief priests set in on the Sanhedrin and was not permitted to be there at the arrest. And then thirdly and finally we see evidence of the abandonment of criminal legal procedure that makes the arrest of Jesus illegal This is elementary, but there must be criminal charges that form the basis for the arrest. I was being silly a few moments ago and said, well, Jim rolls up in a stiller's gear, a cop can't arrest him for just wearing stiller's gear. That's not illegal. There must be a criminal infraction. There must be criminal charges that form the basis for the arrest. When you arrest somebody, when you arraign them, that's part of the formal arrest process. They must be apprised of what they are being arrested for. Was that done with Jesus? i read you again uh... matthew chapter twenty six and in fact if you don't mind turning over to matthew chapter twenty six i believe these are the pat last passages the last passage that i have returned to but matthew chapter twenty six notice begin reading in verse number fifty six we've already read first uh... fifty nine but now we want to reverse fifty six down through fifty nine at the twenty six fifty six to fifty nine But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest's palace, and went in and sat with the servants to see the end. Now the chief priests and elders and all the council sought false witness against Jesus to put him to death. Now what's missing from that? What is missing from this account? There's no accusation of what he did wrong. There's no account of what he's being arrested for. There's no indication that Jesus had broken any Roman law or Jewish law. There's no charges levied against him. In fact, when Pilate was examining Jesus, do you remember what Pilate said? He actually said this three times to the people. What evil has he done? What law has He broken? There was no reason for Jesus to be arrested. He had not broken any law. And they could not accuse Him of breaking any law. In fact, they tried to get false witnesses to make something up. And they had difficulty with that. Folks, Jesus was murdered. And it all began with this illegal arrest. He is taken as a common criminal and hailed into the court of judicature. He's not told what he's charged with. In fact, they didn't have anything to charge him with. They had already conspired together and determined that they were going to get rid of Jesus. And so they illegally arrested him and brought him in. Now, if that were to happen today, as in the case of Raspharia, you've got to feel bad for Raspharia, man. He spent four years in prison. for a crime he did not commit. Now, the woman that actually did it, Pam Hupp, I believe did it, is going to finally stand trial in July of this coming year. And the evidence was there. And I don't want to speak ill of any other prosecutor, but man, you can do your own research on the case. Like, wow, Russ Faria was wrongfully convicted. Now, thankfully, he wasn't put to death. But Jesus Christ was wrongfully convicted, illegally arrested, and murdered. And you know what? He did it for us. He submitted Himself to that treatment. We go back to the verses that we read this morning in our opening verses in Mark 9. And what do we see in Mark 9? We see that Jesus Christ said, that the Son of Man would be delivered in the hands of men, they would kill Him, and after He's killed, He would rise the third day. And He certainly did. We know all that to be true. There's much to study concerning the murder of Jesus. Today we looked at the murder of Jesus in light of His illegal arrest. We considered the Jewish autonomy and court proceedings as the first element that contributed to that illegal arrest. We looked at the religious authorities conspiracy to murder Jesus and there's no doubt the proof is there and then thirdly we thought about the abandonment of Jewish legal procedures through the wall out the window so we're gonna do what we can to get this guy man listen Jesus Christ who gave himself for us endured all of this. I'd be willing to say that if you were illegally arrested you'd be calling the Belleville News Democrat or whatever newspaper you'd want it, you know, on all the television stations you'd want this cry injustice and rightfully so. And yet Jesus endured it on our behalf. In the coming weeks we'll study more of the murder of Jesus next moving into the trial of Jesus. Let's pray.