00i Introduction

INTRODUCTION SOME QUESTIONS ARISING THE TRIALS RAISE SOME INTERESTING QUESTIONS.WAS the arrest legal? Did the Romans take part in the arrest? Was Jesus arrested on a warrant? Was there a formal Jewish trial? Before what Jewish tribunals did Jesus appear? Who was the presiding Judge? What was the true nature of the proceedings before the Hebrew tribunals? What was the system of law in force? Was the proper legal procedure observed? Was the charge properly laid? Of what offense was Jesus “convicted” by the Hebrew tribunal? Why was the charge changed before Pilate? Why did the Jews not execute Jesus? What defense, if any, did Jesus make before the Hebrew tribunals? And before Pilate? Why did the Jews refer the case to Pilate? What were Pilate’s functions? What was Pilate’s view of the case? Had Herod power to try the case? Did Pilate know that the Jews had previously “tried” Jesus?

Why did Pilate condemn to death One he declared to be innocent? The uncertainty of the state of the national laws at the time, the passage of nearly two thousand years, and the scantiness of the material available make it impossible to answer these questions dogmatically; but such material as we have makes the study one of absorbing interest and we may hope to perceive at least a glimmer of the truth of what happened in those far-off days.