||40days|| week seven: Jesus Was Accused

Even though He taught God’s truth and healed many people, Jesus was arrested. Clearly, He said some revolutionary things and acted in some startling ways – like pushing things around in the Temple – but His arrest was part of a plot concocted by religious leaders.

He was shuffled from Annas, the former high priest, to Caiphas, the current high priest, to Pilate, the Roman governor, and pushed around in between (John 18:19, 24, 28). Religious authorities tried to rein Him in. Political authorities tried to wield power over Him. Like a common criminal, the King of the nations was mistreated.

Then He was accused. He was accused about His followers. He was accused about His teaching (18:19). He was accused as a would-be king (18:33). He was accused as a blasphemer (19:7). He was treated unjustly in one place and another (18:22; 19:1-3). He was accused as a criminal but received a petty trial (18:30). The just Judge of all the earth was accused. The only righteous One was accused of unrighteous deeds. He was abused, and treated as if He had no rights.

Jesus was arrested and accused.