This week, the country and the world will be focusing on the biggest trial in the history of mankind that took place approximately 2,000 years ago. That of Jesus Christ. It all started with people despising Jesus and accusing Him of various wrongs. The Pharisees were followers of the Old Testament and traditions. The Sadducees who were connected with the priests believed only in the five books of the Old Testament and did not believe in life after death. The priests and teachers of law held similar views. All these could not agree with the teachings of Jesus and considered Him a threat to the status quo and hence the trial which culminated in the death sentence, crucifixion and resurrection as narrated by the four gospels of the Bible’s New Testament. To commemorate this occasion was the beginning of the Easter Holiday which Christians will be celebrating from tomorrow.
This historical drama and Christ’s life has been revisited through hundreds of books and enacted in no less than 40 movies like Jesus Christ Superstar and The Passion of The Christ. Then, the main actors were the elders, religious leaders, men of law, the public, the carpenter, the disciples, the soldiers, the grave provider, the government of the time and most important, the traitor.
All these people knew Jesus right from the virgin birth. They saw Him growing up, heard His teachings and parables, and witnessed the miracles He performed. In addition, they were there when He said He was the Son of God and King of the Jews and severally predicting His death, resurrection and His Second Coming. Despite all these, they categorically refused to accept what He stood for and proceeded to kill Him. Even after sending the Holy Spirit to the disciples after His ascension in the form of tongues of fire on their heads making each speak in his own language, some could still not believe and said those people had probably taken too much wine.
Despite what has been said and done for centuries about this incident, today we can still pose a major question: If Jesus lived in our times, would people, now knowing Him better, react the same or differently? Let us take some actors in our current circumstances, travel back in time to AD 30 and sample what their reactions would have been.
The Religious Institutions
AD 30: As the Feast of Passover was approaching, the priests, elders and scribes convened a council and discussed ways of eliminating Jesus and sought assistance of Judas Iscariot. Then they took Him and handed Him to the Sanhedrin, a Jewish judicial body. After interrogating Him, they found Him guilty of claiming that He was Christ and Son of God. The next step was to the highest court in the land.
Year 2012: Pastor William Kasee, Miracle of Faith Ministries: The miracles Jesus Christ did: healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead etc proved that He is the Christ and the Son of God. If you look at all what Jesus did, you cannot condemn Him to die, but it is written that He had to die for our sins. It is only God who can do what Jesus did; raising Lazarus from dead after four days in the tomb is enough proof that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. Nicodemus the teacher of the law believed in Jesus for He said: no one can do the signs you do unless God is with him.
The Judicial System
AD 30: Around 63 BC, the Roman general Pompey took over Jerusalem. From then on Israel was ruled by kings appointed by Rome, one of them being King Herod who ruled from 37BC-4BC. During this time the Roman Empire was represented by Pontius Pilate. So the Sanhedrin took Jesus to these two men. They accused Him of perverting the nation, forbidding taxes to be paid to Caesar, claiming to be Christ, a king. But both found no fault in Jesus. Pilate, seeing nothing in Him to deserve a death sentence wanted to release Him but people shouted crucify Him! Crucify Him! They instead asked for Barabas, a murderer to be released. As the top judge, Pilate had the powers to release or crucify Him, and he said so, but he gave in to their demands and authorised His execution.
Year 2012: SK Kivuva, Lawyer, Kivuva Omuga & Co. Advocates: One of the universal benchmarks of criminal justice is that an accused person must be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Due process dictate that every accused person has the right to have a fair and public hearing before an impartial tribunal established under the law. An accused person must be informed of his charge with sufficient detail at the time of arrest. He must be given adequate time and facilities to prepare for his defence. The right of legal representation is now recognised in our constitution. These basic rights were violated during the entire legal proceedings leading to the conviction and sentencing of Jesus.
The high priest paid a bribe for his arrest. No explanation was given to Jesus at the time he was arrested. Unreasonable force was used by the soldiers carrying out his arrest. His inherent right to human treatment and respect to his dignity was grossly violated. He was tortured and stripped naked contrary to the universal bill of human rights. No complainant reported any criminal responsibility against Jesus. His trial was rushed through in order to achieve the intended results. He was neither given any opportunity to be represented nor allowed to appeal against the illegal conviction. If Jesus was arraigned in courts today in Kenya, He will probably never be allowed to take any plea. This is more so because His alleged conduct did not violate any criminal laws of our country. In our modern society, His trial and sentence can only be cast as a movie devoid of all elements of criminal trial.
The Law Enforcers
AD 30: The soldiers mocked Him, Hail King of the Jews! They stripped Him, blindfolded Him, put a scarlet robe on Him and a crown of thorns on His head. They also struck Him, divided His garments by casting lots and pierced His side with a spear. If you are the King of Jews, save yourself! They mocked Him.
Year 2012: Mureithi Mutahi, District AP Commandant Limuru: Today, law enforcers have to conduct thorough investigations before they make an arrest. Modern police officers are more professional and respect human rights and therefore torture and mistreatment of suspects is strictly discouraged. Whichever way we look at it, Jesus did not deserve what He underwent.
Other Actors
There were other people who played key roles in this sad event. It is not clear for instance how the cross was sourced but a man called Simon was found on the way and forced to assist Jesus in carrying it. But we can still pose a question to any carpenter today: If he were approached by authorities to sell a ready-made cross or make one specifically to crucify Jesus, how would he behave?
Then there was the issue of the body which was taken by Joseph of Arimathea after he got permission from Pilate to have it. He wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb which had been hewn from a rock. He then rolled a large stone against the door. Later, it was sealed and guards put there. Three days later the stone would be found removed and the body missing. In today’s circumstances, how would a mortuary attendant react from the moment the body comes in until it is discovered missing knowing it belonged to Jesus?
Perhaps the most important person today in this repeat act would be Mary, Jesus’ mother. Would she, for example, take the government head-on demanding the release of her son irrespective of whether He was charged with treason or not? Would other women join her as we saw mothers stripping at Uhuru Park’s Freedom Corner sometimes back crying for their sons who were in detention?
Millions of Judas Iscariots
AD 30: When Judas agreed to betray Jesus for 30 coins of silver, he took a huge multitude with him to the Garden of Gethsemane. They carried swords, clubs, torches and lanterns. He went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. But Jesus said to Him, “Friend why have you come?” And the soldiers took Him away. Judas was not alone in this. Peter denied Him three times. One of the criminals who were hanged alongside Him said, “If you are Christ, save yourself and us!” Thomas, one of His disciples too. He said unless he sees in His hands the print of the nails and put his fingers there and also put his hand in His side, he could not believe that He had resurrected.
Year 2012: In this story’s interview, no-one was willing to take Judas’s position. However, all the people talked to agreed that they would not have betrayed Jesus or subjected Him to that inhuman treatment. Which raises two fundamental questions: One, what if Judas refused that assignment of betrayal? Many scholars are in agreement that the crucifixion would have gone on anyway as someone else would have taken up his stead. It was God’s plan for mankind, they say, as it was even foretold by various prophets.
Judas was not absolutely necessary, the argument continues, for the authorities knew Jesus already. Jesus actually asked them why they were coming with swords and clubs while He used to be with them daily, preaching in the temples and synagogues. In any case He had all the powers to stop the whole process. The debate therefore concludes that the whole issue was God’s will and regardless of the betrayal, Jesus was destined for crucifixion.
But just supposing it was not “the plan” and Jesus went on to live for many years, say 969 years like Methuselah, the oldest person in the Bible? Then the only plausible answer would be Christian religion would not exist and the world would be entirely different from what we know it today.
The second question: Are we sincere that we cannot betray Jesus today if the scenario changes? Because the picture on the ground suggests otherwise: People of Jesus’ time had been colonised by the Romans. They expected a messiah who would deliver them from that foreign domination and nothing else mattered, including Jesus’ teachings, miracles and promise of better life in the hereafter. As He told them, probably they had ears and could not hear and eyes but could not see.
But 20 centuries is a long, long time. The level of knowledge and education has increased many folds since then. At the same time world problems like wars, diseases, famine and injustices have gone up many times over as the population increased. This has warranted man’s endeavours to seek solutions to life’s predicament, one of which is from religion.
Take Christians for instance. They consist of 2.2 billion out of the current seven billion world population. From an analysis of daily happenings, this massive group including those who profess to “be born again” have refused to follow Christ’s ways to the letter, still making Him the “stone that the builders rejected.”
In King Leopold’s Ghosts by Adam Hochschild, an administrator was complaining of the slave trade which was being practised by Christians around 1526 in the then Congo. He wrote to the King of Portugal in protest: “... Just as the Jews crucified the son of God because of covetousness, my brother, so today He is again crucified.” Though this official was talking of slavery alone this statement rings true even today. Everyday, Christians are betraying and denying Jesus in many ways and many more times than it happened while He was on earth. And seeking the reason why this is so would be good food for our thoughts this Easter.
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