F. It is noteworthy that while Jesus was on trial for His life, Peter cursed and denied that He ever knew Him:

1. Listen to the words of Matthew. "Now Peter sat without in the Palace; and a damsel came to him, saying, Thou also was with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech betrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the words of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly," Matt. 26:69-75.

2. No more than five or six hours before, Peter had sworn he'd never do this. The Lord had said, "Verily I say unto thee, that this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice," Matt. 26:34. But, "Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet I will not deny thee," V. 35.

3. There is many a Christian, who has denied Jesus His time, denied Jesus His money, denied Jesus His talent, and denied Jesus the Lordship of His life. Some have denied the Lord on the job, denied Him before their friends, and have been embarrassed in many places to admit that they are one of His followers. At the day of judgment, spoken of in I Cor. 3:12-15, no doubt, there will be some very bitter regrets.

4. And, oh, what a bitter day the judgment of God will be for you who've denied Jesus to be your personal Saviour! There'll be weeping and wailing, and uncontrolled grief, when many hear the sentence read against them, "Depart from me, ye that work iniquity," Matt. 7:23.

III. AFTER THE HEBREW TRIAL, JESUS WAS BROUGHT BEFORE PILATE FOR A ROMAN TRIAL [GOD-GIVEN POLITICAL AUTHORITY]:

A. When Judea became a province, and was placed under a Roman governor, the Jews lost their power to inflict capital punishment. Thus, they brought Jesus before Pilate, the Roman governor, hoping he would pass the death sentence:

1. The Jews took Christ before Pilate about six or seven o'clock in the morning, and Pilate asked the chief priests in John 18:29, "What accusation bring ye against this man?"

a. The answer of the chief priest was evasive, and didn't really answer Pilate's question at all. They answered in John 18:30, "If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee." "Malefactor" means "an evildoer."

b. The Jews apparently hoped that Pilate would simply accept the Hebrew trial as conclusive and pass sentence upon Christ without further delay.

c. Instead, Pilate said in John 18:31, "Take ye him, and judge him according to your law."

d. The verse continues and says, "The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death."

e. This is the first time that Pilate knew of the seriousness of the offense with which Christ was charged.

2. When the Jews found that Pilate was not easily persuaded, they slyly changed the charge from blasphemy to treason:

a. They knew that a charge of blasphemy would avail them nothing with Pilate, for blasphemy was not a violation of Roman law.

b. So, they said to Pilate in Luke 23:2, "We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King."

c. Christ's trial before Pilate was an appeal, and legally it should have been reheard upon the same charge and same evidence of the initial trial; but legality in this case was again thrown to the wind. Instead of rehearing the original charges of the first trial, a whole set of new charges was levied against the Christ, and became the basis of the second trial.

B. Of the crimes of which the Jews accused Jesus before Pilate, the refusal to pay taxes was serious; but the most crucial was treason: that Christ had said He was a king:

1. Pilate took Christ to the palace and interrogated Him. In John 18:33, he asked, "Art thou the king of the Jews?" Christ replied, "Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?" in Verse 34. Pilate then replied in Verse 35, "Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: What hast thou done?" Jesus replied in Verse 36, "My kingdom is not of this world; If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence."

2. The word, "kingdom" struck Pilate with great force. By using this word, Jesus stood self-convicted; no man can have a kingdom unless He is a king. Therefore, Pilate then asked Him, "Art thou a king then?" in Verse 37. Jesus replied, "Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I unto the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice."

3. Pilate then asked his famous question of Verse 38, "What is truth?"

a He didn't even wait for an answer.

b. Pilate thought Jesus a harmless, religious fanatic from whom Rome had nothing to fear.

4. He then went before a contemptuous mob and said, in Verse 38, "I find in him no fault at all":

a. This was clearly an acquittal; the same as a jury saying, "We find the defendant not guilty."

b. Jesus should have instantly been set free, but again, injustice prevailed.

C. The Jews, upon hearing Pilate's words of Christ's innocence, cried out new accusations. They cried out, in Luke 25:5, "He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee, to this place":

1. The mention of Galilee, a hot bed of riot and sedition against Rome, both made Pilate afraid, and showed him a way out.

2. Herod, as tetrarch of Galilee, occupied a similar position to that of Pilate in Judea. Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at that time; so Pilate, seeking to escape responsibility, had Christ led away, and taken before Herod:

a. Luke 23:6-11 tells about it, and says Herod had heard of Christ, and asked Him many questions.

b. Christ answered none of them, and Herod soon grew vexed; and, to show his resentment, arrayed Christ in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate.

3. Pilate was disappointed and called the priests and rulers of the people, saying to them in Luke 23:14-16, "Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man, touching those things whereof ye accused him: no, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. I will therefore chasten him, and release him".

a. Pilate thought he could simply scourge the Lord, and thereby save the wounded pride of the crowd.

b. The crowd, however, would have none of it. In Luke 23:18, "They cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas."

c. Pilate again sought to release Jesus, but the crowd demanded the release of Barabbas. Luke 23:20,21 says, "Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. But they cried, saying, Crucify him, Crucify him."

d. The crowd came closer, shouting, in John 19:7, "We have a law, and by our law, he ought to die, because he made himself to be the Son of God."

e. Pilate again wanted to release Jesus, but more and more the people cried out, as John 19:15 records. "Away with him, away with him, crucify him."

f. Pilate answered then, John 19:15, "Shall I crucify your king?"

4. Then came the pressure that broke Pilate's resistance:

a. John 19:12,15 record the words of the people, "If thou let this man go, then thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh against Caesar." Then, as if to boast of their own counterfeit allegiance, they said, "We have no king but Caesar."

b. Pilate was afraid of a complaint to Rome; so he washed his hands of the matter, and released Barabbas.

c. He then had Jesus scourged, and delivered Him to be crucified.

D. This trial was marred by disorder and irregularity:

1. Pilate became afraid of the mob; and though he acquitted the Saviour, nevertheless a mob spirit prevailed, and turned the acquittal into a conviction, which resulted in the crucifixion.

2. Then Pilate thought he could wash his hands. and clear himself from guilt in the matter. Listen to Matt. 27:24, "When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see you to it." But no man can wash his hands of guilt apart from coming in faith to Christ. We, by God, are "made accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace," Eph. 1:6-7. Works, nor water, nor anything short of Christ's blood can take away our sins.

IV. NEVER HAS ANYONE SUFFERED THE INJUSTICE THAT JESUS SUFFERED:

A. No court of justice could ever have convicted the Lord Jesus Christ:

1. He was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners," Heb. 7:26, "without sin," Heb. 4:15; yet they convicted Him on false charges as though He were a common criminal.

2. How did they do it? Through falsehoods, lies, and injustice. Jesus had said, "The Son of man shall be betrayed," Matt. 20:18, and Judas is not the only one who betrayed Jesus. Peter later described precisely what happened when he said, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh ...." I Peter 3:18.

B. Unjust though it was, Jesus was willing to go through it all that you and I might be forgiven of our sins, and have life eternal:

1. As Isaiah put it in Isa. 53:4,5,6, "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him ....the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

2. Oh, what love God has for sinners! He laid upon His only begotten Son the iniquity of us all. What more could you ask or want?

3. This one, who took your sins upon Himself, and un-justly went to the cross and died there in your place, was placed in the grave. And after three days, He rose again; and stands ready and pleading with you to be saved. Heb. 7:24-25 makes these statements about Him. "But this man, because he continueth forever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."

4. What happened was not legal; but just the same, it brought salvation and hope to everyone who will believe. Won't you believe on Him and receive the benefits of His death today?