JACIEL C.

DIONSON
JURIS DOCTOR I
Illegalities on the Trial of Jesus

Some people find the trial of Jesus to be legal. In the book entitled The Prosecution of
Jesus, written by Atty. Richard Wellington Husband, alleged that the trial of Jesus was legal. On
page 281 of his book, he stated that "The arrest was legal. The hearing by the Sanhedrin was legal
The course of trial in the Roman court was legal. The conviction was legal, and was justified."
Another book written by Max Radin—a professor of law at the University of California—also
contended that Jesus' trial was legal. In his book entitled The Trial of Jesus of Nazareth, he wrote
that "If he [Jesus] had said only a tithe (tenth) of the things credited to him it was enough to make
an indictment." He further stated that "All these things take time, and there is almost necessarily
an interval of weeks and months between the later stages of the procedure. But above all the
procedure is strictly regulated by law, and any serious deviation is not merely an irregularity but
will probably prevent punishment from being inflicted." Therefore, he concluded that Mark must
have just guessed that the trial was done in a hurry and in secret. What he failed to realize is that
Jesus Christ—the one who experienced the "hurried trial" and was condemned without sufficient
evidence—rose from the dead and is very much alive today. Jesus who witnessed everything and
was put on trial, was resurrected from the dead to inform the disciples of what had happened so
that we could learn about it today. Despite these contentions, many believe that the trial of Jesus
was illegal in many ways.
Here are several reasons to prove that Jesus' trial was illegal:
1. Jesus was arrested illegally.
The priests and elders, who served as His judges, participated in Christ's arrest. The very people
who had bribed Judas were also among them. Also, Jesus was taken into custody in stealth
throughout the night. He wasn't detained due to any official criminal charges. No accusation was
made. No indication of what He had done or a warrant for His arrest existed. He was simply taken
by them.
“So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief
priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all
that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, ‘Who is it you want?’ ‘Jesus of
Nazareth,’ they replied. ‘I am he,’ Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with
them.)” ... Jesus answered, ‘I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men
go’” (John 18:3-5,8).
2. The proceeding was done at night, privately.
According to Jewish law, no meetings were allowed at night. Only during the daytime was such
an investigation permitted by law. In their book Jesus Before the Sanhedrim, the French twin
brothers Augustin and Joseph Lémann wrote that "No session of the Court [was] to take place
before the offering of the morning sacrifice" (1887, translated by Julius Magath, p. 109).
3. The Sanhedrin was illegally convened to try a capital offense on a day before an annual
Sabbath (holy day).
No court of justice in Israel was allowed to hold sessions on the Sabbath or any of the seven
Hebrew holidays, according to Isaac Wise's book Martyrdom of Jesus. No trial could begin in a
capital case on Friday or the day before a holiday since it was illegal to postpone such proceedings
for more than a single night or to continue them on the Sabbath or a holiday (1874, pp. 67-68).
By having Jesus arrested the day before an annual Sabbath—the First Day of Unleavened Bread—
the opponents of Jesus broke their own laws.
4. A trial for a capital offense should take more than one day.
The Mishnah states that "if a sentence of death is to be pronounced, it cannot be concluded before
the following day" (Mishnah, "Sanhedrin" IV, 1). This would give the accused time to present a
defense or other witnesses.
Most criminal procedural trials during the time of Christ lasted weeks, if not months, to conclude.
But within nine hours of His imprisonment, Jesus was convicted of a crime He never even did.
5. The judges were not impartial.
According to the New Testament testimony, the Sanhedrin was already planning to crucify him.
They were the ones who brought the charges against Jesus and also the ones holding His trial.
Thus, it's hard to call Jesus' trial impartial or fair.
6. The indictments against Jesus were false or unproven.
The Sanhedrin themselves looked for witnesses to testify against Jesus which has the entire process
backward. Witnesses should have been the ones to bring the charges before the trial could begin.
The Sanhedrin did not even give Jesus a chance to defend himself.
7. The verdict was unanimous.
The Rabbinic law views a unanimous verdict differently. “Contrary to reason as this rule may
appear, it is founded on Rabbinic humanity and as a necessary consequence of Rabbinic law. We
have just seen that, for very good reasons (n. 326), a verdict of guilty must not be rendered on the
day of examination, but where all suddenly agree on conviction, does it not seem that the convict
is a victim of conspiracy, and that the verdict is not the result of sober reason and calm
deliberation?”
8. Jesus was not given a defense.
The law demanded that a defense be provided, but no one offered to defend Jesus. In Deuteronomy
13:14, the high priest was supposed to "inquire, and make search, and ask diligently." Nonetheless,
it appears that they did this to identify Jesus' critics. They did not actively search for defenders.
9. A death sentence could only be passed in a legal court.
"A sentence of death can be pronounced only so long as the Sanhedrin holds its sessions in the
appointed place" (Maimonides in "Sanhedrin" XIV). But according to the New Testament, Jesus
was brought into the house of the high priest, Caiaphas.
10. They illegally switched the charges against Jesus from blasphemy to treason before Pilate.
They had to make the trial look legal, so when it finally became daylight, they brought Jesus before
their council for a fake trial. It appeared as though their trial, which had been unlawfully held at
night in Caiaphas' private residence, had been legalized. Yet after the court was dismissed, they
changed the charges to treason rather than bringing Jesus out to be stoned for blasphemy. In John
18:38, Pilate found no basis for the treason charge against Jesus. Again, in John 19:4, Pilate
determined that Jesus was not guilty of treason.
11. Most Sanhedrin members themselves were legally disqualified to try Jesus.
Some of the judges were improperly chosen. According to Josephus, men like Caiaphas, Eleazar,
Jonathan, Theophilus, Matthias, Ismael, Simon, John, Alexander, and Ananias accepted bribes and
were chosen to serve on the Sanhedrin by family members who themselves had no right to do so.
They illegally bought their way into being appointed to office and their own people did not respect
them.
Most of all, many of the judges were Jesus’ enemies! They even paid bribe money to have Him
betrayed. In The Criminal Code of the Jews, Philip Berger Benny writes, “Nor under any
circumstances was a man known to be at enmity with the accused person, permitted to occupy a
position among his judges” (1880, p. 37).

Acts 2:22-24 states, “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man
accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him,
as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and
foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible
for death to keep its hold on him." This demonstrates to us that despite the evil deeds which were
done to Jesus by those men, all they did was in line with God's purposes and will result in our
redemption. Apostle Peter also says that it is preferable to suffer for doing good than for doing
evil, if that is God's desire. Because Christ likewise paid the price for sins once—the just for the
unjust—to reconcile you to God. He was killed in the flesh but raised to life in the spirit.
References:

Leake, M. (2023). 10 reasons why the trial of Jesus was illegal.

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/reasons-why-the-trial-of-jesus-was-
illegal.html
Rhodes, H. (n.d.) 10 reasons the trial of Jesus was illegal. https://lifehopeandtruth.com/god/who-
is-jesus/reasons-trial-of-jesus-illegal/
Hoeh, H.L. (1959). Twelve reasons why Jesus' trial was illegal - 1959.
https://www.hwalibrary.com/cgibin/get/hwa.cgi?action=getspectopics&InfoID=1468420
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