How in the world could an innocent man like Jesus end up being convicted, tortured and nailed to a tree? One thing is for certain—rational thinking was not present or practiced among His enemies in those dark hours.
In the early morning hours of that Friday, the leaders of this inquisition “led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium…But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover” (John 18:28). Slow down and get the picture here.
Jesus had been arrested upon a deceptive identification from Judas and hauled off (bound like a vicious criminal) to stand trial before the high priest (Mark 14:53). Jesus spent that night before Annas, Caiaphas and then the Sanhedrin, in a series of unlaw middle-of-the-night trials. (The Jews were breaking their own laws.) In those trials, “the chief priests and the entire Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death” (Matt. 26:59). Did you catch that? They were not seeking “true testimony” but “false testimony.” What kind of debased persons do that? “Many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree” (Mark 14:56). It’s hard to get lies to all sound alike!
Finally, when Jesus affirmed that He is “the Christ, the Son of the Blessed…they all condemned Him to be deserving of death” (Mark 14:61-64). After spitting on Him, blindfolding Him, beating Him and mocking Him that night (Mark 14:65), the revered religious leaders “plotted against Jesus to put Him to death…bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate” (Matt. 27:1-2). For the last several hours, they were not concerned in the least about truth, about law or about decency. But, then their traditions (not God’s law) kicked in. They would not enter the Praetorium, “lest they should be defiled” and not be able to “eat the Passover” (John 18:28). All night, they had been riding their emotions and would not ease up one bit on condemning and killing an innocent man. But, then, oh wait! We are more than ready to kill Him but we can’t violate our traditions and go inside.
Emotions are powerful! They can lead us to do great things that we normally wouldn’t do. They can also lead us to say, do and believe things that are not rational or Biblical. Sometimes a parent doesn’t want to affirm that their own child’s behavior is sinful (because of their emotional attachment), so they take an irrational or unbiblical position. Sometimes we get weary of society force-feeding immorality to us and so we give in (emotionally easier) rather than take a stand. May God help us to not get so caught up in our emotions (like Jesus’ enemies) that we lose sight of the purity of His truth!