THE TRIAL OF JESUS CHRIST

3/29/2026

What are the sources for information on the Trial of Jesus?
How do scholars divide, more or less, in their treatment of the Trial?
What are the strengths and limitations of the historical-critical method?
What sense can be made giving serious regard to Scripture, history, and theology?

(Length: 56 min.)

No. 1 Background and SourcesI
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Who wanted Jesus put on trial?
What issues concerned them?
What was their plan for his arrest?
What happened in the Garden of Gethsemane?
Who was there?
Were Romans there?

(Length: 59 min.)

No. 2 The Arrest
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Who was Annas?
Why was Jesus taken to him first?
What was the Sanhedrin?
How did it originate?
How did it change over time?
What do we know (or not know) about its procedures?
What was going on with Peter in the courtyard below?

(Length: 1 hr. 0 min.)

No. 3 The Preliminary Hearing
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What happened when Jesus appeared before the Sanhedrin?
Who was there?
What was he charged with?
Was fair process observed?
What was he convicted of?
What was the plan of the high priests having secured a conviction on religious grounds?

(Length: 1 hr. 3 min.)

No. 4 The Jewish Trial
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Who was Pontius Pilate?
Why was he involved?
What was his role in conducting trials?
What laws did he care about?
What laws did he not care about?
Who did he really fear, and why?

(Length: 53 min.)

No. 5 Pontius Pilate
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What happened at Jesus’ trial before Pilate?
Why did Pilate think he was innocent?
Why did Pilate send Jesus to Herod?
Who was Herod?
Why did Herod send Jesus back to Pilate?
Why did Pilate have Jesus scourged?
Why did Pilate have him crucified?

(Length: 1 hr. 1 min.)

No. 6 The Roman Trial
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How did crucifixion originate?
Why did the Romans use it?
How was it done in general; how was it done to Jesus?
What figures did Jesus meet along the way?
What day was he crucified on?
What is the significance of that day in relation to the Passover Feast?

(Length: 1 hr. 9 min.)

No. 7 The Crucifixion
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Jesus was crucified between two "robbers”
One reviled him, the other asked for his help; why?
What did Jesus promise the one who asked for help?
What was the significance of Jesus' words to him?

(Length: 1 hr. 22 min.)

No. 8 The Two Thieves
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How did one come to be a centurion?
What does the New Testament say about specific centurions?
What was specially significant about the words of this Centurion?

(Length: 2 hr. 3 min.)

No. 9: The Centurion
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Why were women at the Cross, and not men (except for John)?
What role did women have in Salvation history?
What details do we know about the women here?

(Length: 1 hr. 11 min.)

No. 10: The Women at the Cross: The Gospel Accounts
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Who was Mary Magdalene and was she the "sinner woman?"
Who was Mary, the mother of James and Joses?
Who was Salome?

(Length: 1 hr. 4 min.)

No. 11: The Women at the Cross: Three Marys and Salome
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Who were the rich women following Jesus and supporting them out of their means?
Who was Joanna, “the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward?”
Was Joanna the one whom Paul said was "prominent among the apostles?"

(Length: 1 hr. 7 min.)

No. 12: The Women at the Cross: Susanna and Joanna
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Why did Jesus call his mother, "Woman," (and not "Mother")?
What is Mary's connection to Eve?
What was the significance of the Wedding at Cana?
Why is Mary called, "Mother of All Christians?"

(Length: 1 hr. 31 min.)

No. 13: The Women at the Cross: Mary, Jesus' Mother
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Who was this rich Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews?
Why did he meet with Jesus, defend Jesus, and help bury Jesus?
Was Nicodemus a non-believer, a weak believer, or a confirmed believer?

(Length: 1 hr. 22 min.)

No. 14: Nicodemus, The One Who Came At Night
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What do we know about Pharisees in general?
What did Nicodemus think, study, and teach as a Pharisee?
Was Nicodemus alone among Pharisees to become believers?
Should Nicodemus be regarded as "St. Nicodemus?”

(Length: 1 hr. 57 min.)

No. 15: Nicodemus, The Pharisee (Part 1)
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No. 15 Nicodemus, The Pharisee (Part 2)
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Why did Jesus call John a "Son of Thunder?"
Why didn't John go berserk at the Crucifixion?
Where in Galilee did John grow up?

(Length: 56 min.)

No. 16 John, The Fisherman (Part 1)
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Where was Bethsaida?
How was John raised? Where and how did he pray?
What was expected of a commercial fisherman?
Why did Jesus value his skill set?

(Length: 57 min.)

No. 17 John, The Fisherman (Part 2)
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Was John initially a disciple of John, the Baptist?
Why did Jesus treat John (along with Peter and James) to witness secret events?
What did John experience at the raising of Jarius' daughter from the dead, the Transfiguration, and Agony in the Garden?

(Length: 1 hr. 24 min.)

No. 18 John, The Apostle (Part 1)
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Why did John stop an exorcist from casting out demons in Jesus' name?
Why did John ask Jesus to sit at his right hand when Jesus was to come in glory?
Why is John the "Beloved Disciple" mentioned in the Fourth Gospel?
When did John cease to become a "Son of Thunder" and become the "Apostle of Love?"

(Length: 1 hr. 18 min.)

No. 19 John, The Apostle (Part 2)
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Scribes at Calvary? Why?
How did the oral Torah come to us in writing?
How did scrolls and “books” come about?

(Length: 1 hr. 6 min.)

Scribes: Lawyers at Calvary (Part 1)
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What did scribes do?
How were they trained?
How did people regard them?
How do they compare with lawyers today?

(Length: 1 hr. 4 min.)

Scribes: Lawyers at Calvary (Part 2)
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Jesus and the "suits" - who is gaming who?
Good scribes - who, where, when, really?
They want to kill him for not washing his hands?
Why do they hate him so much?

(Length: 1 hr. 38 min.)

Scribes: Lawyers at Calvary (Part 3)
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Why was the crowd delighted to watch Jesus debate the scribes?
Why did the scribes "fear" Jesus? For physical reasons?
Jesus says some scribes were damned; he says others were "not far" from the Kingdom; why?
If timing was everything, when could the scribes best nab Jesus and execute him?

(Length: 57 min.)

Scribes: Lawyers at Calvary (Part 4)
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What were scribes doing the two days before Jesus' arrest and how was that similar to modern legal process?
What was their plan to convict Jesus of a capital crime?
How did they nearly lose before Pilate? And Herod?
How did they "save the day?"

(Length: 58 min.)

Scribes: Lawyers at Calvary (Part 5 End Game)
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