We hear within the hymnology of the Church as we move to the services of Holy Friday phrases which convict the Jews of conducting the trial of our Lord unlawfully. Specifically, consider the following, all from the service of the 12 Passion Gospels:
Antiphon 1: The rulers of the people have assembled against the Lord and His Christ. A lawless charge is hurled against Me, Lord, O Lord, forsake me not!
Antiphon 2: Judas hastened to the lawless scribes and said, "What will you give me to betray Him to you?" Yet while they conspired against You, You invisibly stood in their midst.
Antiphon 3: For thirty pieces of silver and a treacherous kiss, O Lord, the Jews sought to kill You.
Antiphon 5: The disciple agrees upon the price of the Master. He sells the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. With a treacherous kiss he betrays Him to death at the hand of lawless men.
Antiphon 10: He was struck on the cheek by hands that He Himself had formed. A people that transgressed the law nailed the Lord of Glory to the Cross.
Antiphon 11: In exchange for the good things that You had done for them, a transgressing people condemned You to be crucified, O Christ, and gave You gall and vinegar to drink.
There is more, but you can see the clear indication in the hymnology of the Church that assigns to the Sanhedrin, and through them to the people of Israel, the charge of lawlessness. On what basis are these words founded?
The fact is (and these data come from BibleStudy.org) that the arrest, trial, conviction, sentencing, and execution of our Lord were each without legal precedent following the manner of Jewish jurisprudence and the law of Moses.
First, in order to bring someone to trial, one had to have some person formally accuse another of committing a crime. This did not happen. The soldiers came to Gethsamane and arrested the Lord through the betrayal of Judas without anyone having prior to that incident filed a claim of crime before the Sanhedrin. "And they led Jesus away to the high priest; and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes..... Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none." (Mark 14:53, 55) Based on the law, there had to be at least two or three people charging a particular person with breaking the law. "One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established." (Deuteronomy 19:15) Conclusion: The process of arresting and accusing Jesus was against the Law of Moses.
Next, it was Judas, one of Jesus' disciples, who lived with and accompanied Jesus throughout His ministry, who led the authorities to arrest Him. "And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders." (Mark 14:43,44) If Jesus was believed to have broken the Law, then the twelve disciples (including Judas) were considered 'accomplices' in His illegal activities. The Law forbade use of an accomplice to bring about the arrest or conviction of a person. (W. Chandler, The Trial of Jesus, Vol. 1, pgs 228-229)
Next, there was no investigation of the merits of any accusations against Jesus, nor any provision for His defense. "If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. And the judges shall make careful inquiry..." (Deut 19:16-18) There was no 'inquiry' in defending Jesus. The 'judges' in His case served as defenders, and witnesses, and prosecutors. Again, from W. Chandler, "The judges always leaned to the side of the defendant and gave him the advantage of every possible doubt."(ibid, pgs 153-154)
Then, the arrest and trial were held by night. "And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot.... Having received the bread, he (Judas) then went out immediately. And it was night." (John 13:26, 30) The Sanhedrin did this to conceal their illegal acts from the view of the people. When Judas brought the soldiers to Gethsemane to arrest Jesus, the Lord said to them, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I was daily with you in the temple preaching, and you did not seize Me..." (Mark 14-48-49) Jewish law permitted proceedings to take place only during daylight hours. "Let a capital offense be tried during the day, but suspend it at night." (Mishna, Sanhedrin 4:1)
Further, Jewish law forbade a trial to occur on the day before a major feast or a Sabbath. "They shall not judge on the eve of the Sabbath nor on that of any festival." (ibid) Since the Passover began on the day after Jesus was arrested, His trial was unlawful.
In addition, "A criminal case resulting in the acquittal of the accused may terminate the same day on which the trial began. But if a sentence of death is to be pronounced, it cannot be concluded before the following day." (ibid) In other words, if a man is to be condemned to death, a trial must last for at least two days. The trial of Jesus was completed in less than the span of five hours, by biblical accounts.
Next, the judges in a criminal case were required to recuse themselves if they had a predetermined opinion on the accused. "Now it happened on another Sabbath that He entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, to see if He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him." (Luke 6:6-7) The 'judges' were people already seeking ways to destroy Jesus. "Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him." (Mat 26:3-5) Ergo, this was hardly an 'impartial' gathering. "Nor must there be on the judicial bench either a relation or a particular friend, or an enemy of either the accused or of the accuser." (Mendelsohn, Criminal Jurisprudence of the Ancient Hebrews, p. 108) Those who would have possibly voted against condemning or punishing Jesus, and especially against sentencing Him to death, were not at His trial. This would have included Joseph of Arimathea. We know this because, "Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God." (Luke 23:50-51) Luke records that Joseph had not been at the council that condemned the Lord! Nicodemus was like unto him. "There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with Him.'" (John 3:1-2) But the Gospels also record that the decision of the Sanhedrin was unanimous. "And they all condemned Him of being deserving of death." (Mark 14:64) Ergo, neither of these men, who were on the council, had been informed of the meeting - forming a "kangaroo court".
Saint Matthew records, "Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none." The Sanhedrin had gathered anyone who would offer testimony against Jesus to speak. But it was required that at least two agree on a charge, and none were in agreement! But rather than suspend based on lack of evidence, they continued to seek testimony, with that already given clearly indicated as false by the lack of such agreement. "There are six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren." (Prov 6:16-19) "If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you." (Deut 19:16-19)
In addition, Jesus did not defend Himself against the charges from these false witnesses. The high priest, frustrated at the Lord's not responding in His own defense, says, "'Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?' But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, 'I put You under oath by the Living God: tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!' Jesus said to him, 'It is as you said...' Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, 'He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses?....'" (Mat 26:62-65) The point here is that, according to Jewish law, a person could not be condemned based on his own testimony.
Further, the indictment used to justify the death penalty as illegal because the judges themselves originated the charges. Based on Mosaic Law, a charge against someone must be brought to the council by at least two or three reliable witnesses of the crime. The Sanhedrin itself could not ever originate charges. Its only purpose was to investigate charges brought before it!
If the charge then became 'blasphemy', the condemnation to death was illegal because the charge was not true. Jesus IS the Son of God. But the council took no steps to attempt to prove or disprove the claim of Jesus, which was their function!
The previously mentioned unanimity of the court was also illegal. It meant that there was not even one who was assigned the purpose of being a defender. It was illegal in Jewish law to unanimously condemn a person to death if there was no one who was a witness for the defense. "If none of the judges defend the culprit, i.e. all pronounce him guilty, having no defender in the court, the verdict of guilty was invalid and the sentence of death could not be executed." (Jesus the Christ: A study of the Messiah and His mission, James E. Talmage, pg 647, quote from Rabbi Wise, Martyrdom of Jesus , p. 74)
In addition, sentencing of a person had to be proclaimed only in the Sanhedrin's appointed place, a chamber in the temple known as the chamber of hewn stones. The sentencing of Jesus took place at the home of the high priest, Caiaphas.
Finally, those on this court changed the charge against Jesus not once, but twice! And this, too, was unlawful. It went from asking Jesus what the men who said that they heard Him say He could destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days (the first 'accusation'), to blasphemy (for acknowledging that He is the Son of God), and then to "making Himself a King," the charge that this same group finally brought before Pilate. The Sanhedrin "conveniently" switched the charge against Jesus from blasphemy (about which the Romans would not have cared at all) to treason. Having levied this charge against the Lord before Pilate, the Sanhedrin presented no corroborating evidence - only the charge. Pilate ultimately concludes (after far more investigation than the Sanhedrin gave) that the charges were unfounded. The accusation that Jesus was murdered under was that which Pilate had affixed to His Cross, "The King of the Jews."
"The pages of human history present no stronger case of judicial murder than the trial and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, for the simple reason that all forms of law were outraged and trampled under foot in the proceedings instituted against Him." (Walter M. Chandler, The Trial of Jesus from a Lawyer's Standpoint, p. 216)
"The assembly of the Jews demanded of Pilate that You, O Lord, be crucified; and finding no cause against You, they released the prisoner, Barabbas, and condemned You, the Righteous One, incurring for themselves the accusation of blood-guiltiness. Render to them, O Lord, according to their works; for they plotted against You in vain." (13th Antiphon, Holy Thursday Evening)
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