THE SIX TRIALS OF CHRIST

THE SIX TRIALS OF CHRIST, by John W. Lawrence, Kregel Publications, 1996

1. The Trial Before Annas
2. The Trial Before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin
3. The Trial Before the Sanhedrin
4. The First Trial Before Pilate
5. The Trial Before Herod
6. The Second Trial Before Pilate
My autographed copy of this book is from Know Your Bible Hour publications, dated 1977, but is no longer available.

Preface
     You are about to take a journey that is entirely different from any you have ever taken before. Few have ever experienced what you are about to experience as you walk with Christ through a day of His life. Don’t stop your walk with the Lord until you are standing there beside Him this particular night of human history, and feel something of His heart. He had told His disciples. He had told His disciples, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt.11:28). They had done that. But He had also said to them, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (11:29). This, the disciples had failed to do-at least during the time when the Lord walked with them on earth. They never had learned His heart. During the coming hours He will say to three of them, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Tarry ye here, and watch with me" (26:38), but they will fall fast asleep. Yet what they failed to learn, they came to understand later on, and so can we as we re-live this day in His life.
     There has never been another twenty-four-hour period like this before in all of time, and there shall never be another. Everything in Scripture moves either toward this one day in human history, or everything moves away from it. It stands as the ne plus ultra of time.
     Something of the importance of this day can be seen by taking a moment to examine the extent to which Scripture covers it at length. For instance, in the four Gospels we have four chapters devoted to the first thirty years of Christ's life, while we have 85 chapters devoted to the last three and a half years He was on this earth. The emphasis is clearly placed by God on the last three and a half years.
     Of the 85 chapters devoted to the three and a half year ministry of Christ, 56 chapters are given to the entire period up to the last week, while 29 chapters concern the last week alone. The emphasis is clearly on the last week.
     Now of the 29 chapters that speak on the events of the last week, 13 of these chapters are devoted to the events of the last day which began at sundown and ends at sundown. With 13 chapters devoted to one day's events, and 16 chapters for the other six days, the emphasis is clearly upon the last day.
    Matthew Last week-8 Last day-2
    Luke    -6, and 2
    Mark    -6, and 2
    John    -9, and 7
     But let us carry this one step further. The events of the last day are given in a total of 584 verses in the four Gospels. Of these, 219 are devoted to the betrayal, arrest and the six trials, with the remaining 265 verses given to all the other events of the day which include the passover supper and teaching ministry of Christ in the Upper Room, the Lord's supper, the high priestly prayer of John 17, the prayers in Gethsemane, the carrying of the cross, the crucifixion, together with all the events of the cross, and finally the tomb and burial. Something of the emphasis on the arrest and trial can be observed also by considering the time involved. The betrayal had to take place between 2:00 and 2:30 A.M., and we shall discover that the trials were concluded by approximately 6:30 in the morning. This makes less than a five hour period, leaving 19 hours for all the other events of the day. If the entire day was covered as extensively as this period, twice as much would have been written in Scripture about this day.
    Anyway one looks at it, these trials are the emphasis of the Holy Spirit's writing of Scripture in reference to the life of Christ. Yet even though this is true, very few have made an effort to write or speak upon them, and even less to thoroughly study them. Therefore let us make an effort to correct this. Take time with an open Bible to read all the Scriptures involved. It is not my comments about the Scripture that are important, but the Scriptures themselves. Take time to meditate upon these things. Re-live them in your life. Become familiar with everything that happened, and you will be richly rewarded.
     Having concluded the study of these trials, we will endeavor to discover why so much space is devoted to them. The message is vital, and, furthermore, it is practical.