While preparing for this Sunday’s story, it made me think of famous trials in history and the sentencing the followed. There is no shortage of interesting ones in history. Here’s some examples:
- OJ Simpson: 1995 – on trial for the murder of his ex-wife and her boyfriend.
- Al Capone: 1931 – charged and convicted of ‘tax evasion,’ but his real crimes were lengthy including illegal bootlegging, trafficking and plenty of murders.
- Socrates: 399 BC – convicted of refusing to recognize the accepted Greek ‘gods’ of his time.
- The Chicago White Sox baseball team: 1921 – dubbed with the name “The Black Sox” for throwing a World Series in a sports gambling scandal.
- The Nurenburg Trials: 1945-46 – the trial of multiple Nazi leaders for hideous war crimes against humanity during WWII.
- Vice President Aaron Burr: 1907 – tried for treason against the USA in a land theft accusation. He also famously was in a gun fight duel with Alexander Hamilton whom he fatally shot.
- The Salem Witch Trials: 1692-1693 – women who were on trial for supposed “witchcraft” seizures.
- The Lindbergh baby kidnapping trail: 1935 – convicted Bruno Richard Hauptmann in a complicated trial that never seemed to get resolved.
- The Saddam Hussien Trial: 2005-06 – was convicted for crimes against humanity and the murder of his people and eventually hung.
- Galileo: 1633 – tried and convicted by the powerful Catholic Church at the time for teaching that the sun, not earth was not the center of our universe.
As I have been studying the story out of the Gospel of Mark for this coming Sunday’s message, it led me think about accusations, judgements, evidence and ultimate verdicts from historically famous trials. I then looked up a list of ‘famous trials’ of the past, and believe me, there are plenty more. And it was an interesting exercise for me to think about who had a fair trial or not; who was truly guilty or not; who was ‘stonewalled’ by the system and who was not; and who deserved the sentence they got and who did not.
The story I will be teaching is truly the most famous trial in all of history — the Trial of Jesus Christ. I look at it this way —- All of Humanity puts God on Trial!
This is our story this coming Sunday as we get closer to Easter Sunday and the resurrection. I ask you to read the story of Jesus’ trial closely before you join in worship with us Sunday. It is found in all four gospels, but we will study the story out of Mark 15:1-20. You need to contemplate on this passage deeply to grasp the depth of the conviction and sentencing that Jesus was handed.
Jesus was accused of and put on trial for three “offenses.”
- Blasphemy: The charge submitted by the religious people of His time
- Treason: The charge submitted by the Roman government of His time.
- Weight of Sin for all Humanity — the charge against all the world — and this includes you and I.
Two of these offenses were false and led to His sentencing. But the third accusation was true. This is where the real story resides. See you Sunday morning as we study God’s Word together.
