John 18 & 19

The trials of Jesus

Catastrophic Failure Under Stress

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. New Orleans, located in a basin seven feet below sea level, sustained tremendous flooding damage, with up to ten feet of water flooding 80 percent of the city.

The flooding resulted from engineering failures in the levee system, which exposed weaknesses in the infrastructure. The extreme stress from the giant storm overwhelmed the levee system and caused the weakened system to fail.

John Chapters 18 and 19 trace Jesus's trials and document a human system that fails under extreme stress. Jewish leadership was built on strict adherence to laws and rules. They believed any deviance from these rules was a sin and that salvation was only earned by following the law.

Jesus’ message that he was God’s Son, who came to rescue humanity, crashed into the Jew’s legalism like Katrina’s waves overwhelmed the levee system. During a series of illegal trials, the Jewish leadership crumbled as they made increasingly desperate attempts to kill an innocent Jesus.

They Hated Jesus

The Jewish leadership hated Jesus. For many months before the crucifixion, they had plotted to kill him. They hated him religiously because he claimed to be the Son of God and their Messiah. But they blindly reasoned he could not be their savior because he was a sinner by their standards.

They also hated Jesus because he jeopardized their economic and political power. The high priests controlled the extremely profitable money exchange and sale of sacrificial animals at the temple. Jesus threatened this illegal commerce that was only made possible by their tenuous relationship with the Romans.

Their Trials were Illegal

Their hatred for Jesus pushed the Jews to break their own closely guarded laws. Each of Jesus’ trials broke Jewish judicial rules. For instance, trials were not permitted during feasts or at night, one day must pass before a death penalty could be carried out, and the accused could not be asked self-incriminating questions.

The way the Jewish leadership ran roughshod over their own rules reminds me of how Robin Williams described his alcoholism, “I violated my standards faster than I could lower them.”

They Denied God

Rome prohibited the Jews from executing anyone. So, the Jewish leaders repeatedly lied to fabricate charges against Jesus that would allow Pilate to sentence him to death under Roman law. But three times, Pilate resisted and told them he found no basis for a charge that warranted crucifixion.

The desperate Jews responded with more manipulation attempts and ultimately devolved so far as to incite a screaming mob demanding that they “Crucify him.” All their pompous religious decorum was swept away as they were overwhelmed with hatred toward Jesus.

Finally, as they screamed for Jesus to be crucified, the Jewish leaders hit rock bottom when they denied the core of their faith by crying, “We have no king but Caesar.” Matthew 27:25 records that the crowd echoed this refrain and shouted, “His blood is on us and our children’s hands.”

With these two statements, the Jews sadly sealed their fate. Like the broken New Orleans levees, their foundation shattered, and the flood roared in. Only a few years later, in AD70, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, burned the Jewish temple to the ground, and forced the Jews to abandon their Promised Land until their miraculous return in 1948.

Maintain a Strong Infrastructure

Life is filled with storms that threaten to overwhelm us. So it is critical we fix any cracks in our faith foundation before the next wave hits. Spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible study, worship, and fellowship help us shore up our spiritual infrastructure. Sure it takes effort. But New Orleans and the Jewish leadership warn us weak infrastructures can lead to dangerous failures.

God’s shows us His blueprint for a well-maintained storm protection system in James 1:2-4: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing”

So let’s get to work making repairs before the next storm.

 Maranatha

Andy