OAKRIDGE BIBLE CHAPEL

The (Kangaroo) Court Is in Session (Matthew 26:57–27:26)

A “kangaroo court” is a trivial-sounding idiom that, in reality, describes something far less playful than its title may suggest. According to one source, this expression refers to “an unauthorized mock court or legal proceeding in which some or all of the due process rights [of the accused] are ignored and the outcome appears to be predetermined.” In other words, a kangaroo court is a sham trial, it is judicial theatre, and it is malevolent injustice.

There could scarcely be a better description of what the Lord Jesus experienced in the hours leading up to his crucifixion. Though his opponents had already decided both his guilt and sentence, the people of Israel—led by their religious leaders—put their Messiah on a trial, a trial more concerned with a desired conviction and execution than with legality and truth.

Yet, there’s deep irony to Matthew’s account of this charade in that it’s the accusers who end up exposing themselves as criminal and it’s the accused, Jesus, who is proved blameless.

SERMON MANUSCRIPT

Some of you may be familiar with the expression, “kangaroo court.” It’s a trivial-sounding idiom but, what it describes, is far less playful than its title may suggest. A kangaroo court is “an unauthorized, mock court or legal proceeding in which some or all of the due process rights [of the accused] are ignored and the outcome appears to be predetermined.” In other words, a kangaroo court is a sham trial, it’s judicial theatre, it’s malevolent injustice. 

There could scarcely be a better description of what the Lord Jesus experienced in the hours before the cross. Though his opponents had already decided both his guilt and sentence, Israel’s leaders put Jesus on trial, a trial more concerned with a desired conviction and execution than with legality and truth.

Yet, there’s deep irony in Matthew’s account of this kangaroo court in that it’s the accusers who end up exposing themselves as criminal and it’s the accused, Jesus, who is shown blameless.

So, let’s go to court. If you have a Bible, turn to Matthew 26:57. As we work our way through this passage, I want us to first note the many guilty parties before, ultimately, appreciating and celebrating the only innocent party, the Lord Jesus. The kangaroo court begins in Matthew 26, starting in verse 57.

THE GUILTY

While these trials were intended to prove Jesus’s criminality, they actually reveal who the guilty truly are. And there are four. The first is Caiaphas the corrupt (26:57–58).

This gathering of Israel’s leaders is illegal for a number of reasons, the first being it’s at night (see verse 20). After the passover they went to Gethsemane where Jesus was arrested and brought here. No time to gather witnesses to testify on his behalf, no due process, no publicity, and no support as his friends had fled and Peter was trying not to be noticed. It’s Jesus against Caiaphas the corrupt and his crew (26:59–61).

They are throwing mud at the wall and hoping something—anything—will stick. They need something to justify what they know they’re going to do anyway: kill him. Finally, they find it in two people willing to twist what Jesus had said about his own body and make him out to be a temple terrorist (26:62–63).

Jesus wouldn’t dignify these slanders with a word so Caiaphas made him by placing him under oath—“I adjure you by the living God.” For Jesus to not respond truthfully now would be tantamount to modern perjury. “Are you the Christ, the Son of God? Are you the long-awaited Messiah? Are you the serpent-crusher and curse-lifter? Are you the world-blessing seed promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Are you the eternal davidic king?”

Jesus, not only answers “yes, I am the Christ,” but quotes Psalm 110 and Daniel 7 to add, “I’m also going to be the divinely authoritative judge” (26:64). Jesus looks at the one judging him and says “it won’t be long before you’re on trial and I’m swinging the gavel.”

Jesus’s affirmation of his messianic identity is all Caiaphas needs (26:65–68). Blasphemy! He’s slandering God with his delusions of grandeur! No deliberation, no witnesses, no appeals. It’s unanimous: guilty. And Israel’s leaders immediately celebrate by beating, insulting, and spitting on him. Jesus may be on trial, but Caiaphas is guilty. 

The scene then shifts from the courtroom to the courtyard, from Caiaphas the corrupt to Peter the weak. Peter, who had been told mere hours ago by Jesus that he would deny Jesus, now does exactly that (26:69–75). While Jesus is inside being abused by corrupt men, Peter is outside denying his association with him with increasing intensity (26:70, 72, 74). Immediately, he knows what he’s done (26:75). Jesus may be on trial, but Peter is guilty.

Another of Jesus’s former followers is up next: Judas the traitor (27:1–2). Morning breaks and the show goes on. Jesus has been convicted by Israel but Israel needs permission from Rome, their occupying nation, to crucify. So, they go to Pilate, Rome’s representative in the area. 

Judas is now seeing the result of his treachery (27:3–5). Jesus, the one he followed for years, the one he saw heal and teach, the one who had claimed to be the Christ, was going to die. 

And this realization sparks a remorse in Judas. Note, not repentance but remorse. Those are different. Repentance carries sorrow for sin against God. Remorse carries regret for the inconveniences being experienced because of choices made. We may ask someone, “Are you sorry for what you did or sorry you got caught? Are you grieved by the idea that you’ve wronged someone or wronged God, or by the fallout of your actions?” Judas was the former, and he tries to ease that burden but is met with indifference by the leaders who, the night before, already got what they wanted.

The remorse and death of Judas the traitor actually leads to fulfillment of prophecy (27:6–10). A tragic but not unforeseen end. Jesus may be on trial, but Judas is guilty.

Finally, we come to Pilate the pragmatist (27:11). Caiaphas’s charge was religious (Are you the Christ?). Pilates’s is political (Are you the King?). And, as he did with the high priest, Jesus accepts it: “It is as you say.”

To Pilate, Jesus’s silence doesn’t make sense (27:12–14). “Your life is at stake? Defend yourself, man!” Rome, in an act of political savvy, would recognize Israel’s passover by releasing someone in bondage (27:15–16). Pilate wasn’t going to pass-up this opportunity for goodwill. He already had someone ready to go—Barabbas. 

None of this makes sense to Pilate (27:17–24). He doesn’t see the legitimacy of the charges but he does see Israel’s envy. His wife says “don’t do it” and he’s got a known criminal to barter with. But, the crowd is loud, this conversation doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, so he says, “see to that yourselves.” And with those words indifference he sounds a lot like Israel’s leaders speaking to a remorseful Judas (27:4).

Pilate’s pragmatism is contrasted with the bloodlust of the mob (27:25–26). But, as much as Pilate wants to symbolically wash his hands and declare himself innocent of this man’s blood, indifference isn’t blamelessness. Jesus may be on trial, but Pilate is guilty.

There’s lots of blame to go around: Caiaphas the corrupt, Peter the weak, Judas the traitor, and Pilate the pragmatist. Jesus may be on trial in this text, but the guilt clearly lays elsewhere.

In his book, Whatever Became of Sin?, Karl Menninger tells the story of a man who, in September of 1972, stood on a street corner in a busy part of Chicago. “As pedestrians hurried by on their way to lunch or business, he would lift his arm, and pointing to the person nearest him, loudly say a single word, ‘Guilty!’ Then, without any change of expression, he would resume his stiff stance for a few minutes before repeating the gesture: the raising of his arm, the pointing, and the solemn pronouncing of the one word, ‘Guilty!’

“The effect on the passing strangers was extraordinary, almost eerie. They would stare at him, hesitate, look away, look at each other, then at him again, then continue on their ways. One man, turning to another who was my informant, exclaimed, ‘But how did he know?’”?

Scripture is clear: we’re all guilty (see Ps 14:1–3; Isa 53:6a; Rom 3:23). Without exception, every human being who has ever lived is guilty before a holy God, whether they feel guilty or not. Our guilt may be seen in corruption, weakness, treachery, pragmatism, or something else. It doesn’t matter because guilt is guilt. The question is, how do we deal with our guilt? Is there a detergent strong enough, pure enough to out these damning stains?

THE INNOCENT

Praise God, there is. Back to our passage, in the same way the accusers turn out to be the guilty, the accused turns out to be the innocent. Jesus the Christ, throughout this passage is shown as pure when contrasted with the impurity that surrounds him.

The fact that Caiaphas resorts to false witnesses means legitimate ones couldn’t be found! As hard as they tried, they couldn’t do it (26:60). There’s no guilt to expose in Jesus and many know it. That’s why the trial’s at night, away from public eyes. And when put under oath (26:63), Jesus responds with the truth, knowing it will condemn him. Through Caiaphas’s corruption we see Jesus’s innocence.

Speaking of taking oaths, Peter voluntarily takes one (26:72). Jesus is placed under an oath and speaks truth knowing it will bring him harm. Peter puts himself under an oath and lies to protect himself from harm. No wonder he went out and wept bitterly. Through Peter’s weakness we see Jesus’s innocence, his perfection.

Even Judas knows Jesus is guiltless (27:4). And the religious leaders don’t disagree. They won’t use blood money in God’s house (27:6). This money is tainted. Through Judas’s treachery we see Jesus’s innocence.

Pilate knows Jesus isn’t guilty (27:18, 23a). Pilate’s wife knows Jesus isn’t guilty (27:19). In contrast to the undisputedly guilty Barabbas and the self-declared innocence of Pilate, our attention is drawn to he who is truly blameless. Through Pilate’s pragmatism we see Jesus’s innocence.

And add to all of that, throughout this passage Matthew makes a point of highlighting our Lord’s silence in the face of injustice and slander (26:63, 12, 14). This refusal to self-defence is a testimony to his innocence and fulfills what Isaiah predicted (see Isa 53:7). Through his silence we see Jesus’s innocence.

The irony is thick in this kangaroo court. Those not on trial are revealed as guilty. The one being accused, on the other hand, is proven sinless, pure, innocent. As clear as Scripture is that all are guilty, it is just as clear that Jesus was not (see Isa 53:9b; Heb 4:15; 7:26).

And it’s because of his innocence and righteousness that his undeserved death can provide the detergent strong enough, pure enough to remove our damning stains of sin (see 1 Pet 3:18a; Heb 9:24–28).

God says, Be holy for I am holy. To which we must say, we can’t be. The Bible says, and our experience affirms, we are not holy. But Jesus says, hide in my holiness, in my perfection, in my innocence. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. How? Because by faith, Jesus’s righteousness—his innocence—is credited to our account. By faith, the corrupt, the weak, the pragmatic, and even the treacherous, can be see innocent before a holy God.

THE VERDICT

The testimonies have been given, the witnesses have been called. We’ve seen who’s really guilty and who’s really innocent. It’s now time for the verdict. The decision. The answer to the question Pilate asks in verse 22. Is he who he claimed to be: The Christ, the Son of God, the promised deliverer from sin and the coming eternal King? What will we do with this Jesus who is called Christ? What’s your verdict?

If you’ve never trusted in Jesus for eternal life, you’ve got him on trial. And it’s a kangaroo court because you’re the guilty one, not him. What will you do with Jesus who is called Christ? What’s your verdict?

But even us Christians can put our Lord on trial. When we’re unwilling to submit to his authority, we’ve got him on trial. When we question the legitimacy of his word or read it through cultural sensibilities, we’ve got him on trial. When we lose sight of his innocence and his identity, failing to give him the worship he’s due, we’ve got him on trial. And it’s always a kangaroo court because we’re guilty, not him. He’s the perfect one, the Saviour, the judge, the coming king. He’s our redeemer, the spotless lamb of God, come to take away the sins of the world as only a spotless lamb can. 

What will we do with Jesus who is called Christ? What’s our verdict? I want to encourage you this week to worship him for his innocence and his identity, his purity and his person. He is the Christ, the Son of God, the coming Judge and King. And he can be all of those things because he, unlike us, is without sin. Praise the Lord for such a precious provision.

 



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Josiah has served the Oakridge Bible Chapel family as one of its elders and one of its pastoral staff members since September 2018, before which he ministered as an associate pastor to a local congregation in the Canadian prairies. Josiah's desire is to be used by God to help equip the church for ministry, both while gathered (edification) and while scattered (evangelization). He is married to Patricia, and together they have five children—Jonah, Henry, Nathaniel, Josephine, and Benjamin.

Josiah Boyd

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