Evening star., 1961-03-25


man Olympiad.
The first Easter occurret
during an enlightened era
--~>~>
Nj. Burnurd 7. Welsh is a we'll know
trial lawyer in Rockville, Nd. H
plsO is professoriol lecturer in Ior
OF the Washington College Of Low
American University.
much like the one in which vi
say that we live. Virgil, Horace
OVID and Livy were writing
then. 1t was also an imperial
istic age-again much like tn,
one in which we sometimes sa.
we do not live. The First Tri
umvirate had been succeeded
by the Second Triumvirate
Rome had recently won tn,
battle of Actium, and the rul,
ing Caesars junketed to east.
ern areas on good will tour
and summit conferences.
Therefore, the first Eastel
happened during a period o
material magnificence which
the world has yet to surpass
The excitement of day-to-day
living obscured the teaching
and the trial of Him who loveC
all living creatures and Who
by living, made it possible fol
plain people to appreciate the
dignity and value of life.
But these plain people
brought Christ to trial anc
pfior to Easter executed Hin
in the name Of the law. AND
these people and the judges
who brought Him to trial and
committed an awful judicia
murder were knowledgeable
people and learned judges
Furthermore. the law applied
by them to convict Him was
enlightened and civilized. That
statute had existed as q well
defined body of law for more
than 500 years longer than the
United States has existed as
a Nation.
Therefore, we question how
III came to pass that the Mar
whose death and rebirth we
now celebrate became one oi
the first victims of capital
punishment: and why the
story of His trial should be
told this time of the year
There are still those for whom
Easter is essentially a time oi
thoughtful promise; a perioc
Of the year when the thoughts
Of what transpired upon 9
Cross at a place called Col
gotha expand to include the
storysof the events leading uE
to- His trip to that awesoInt
place. All Of this prompts in
quiry into the nature. Of the
Justice which was dispensed tc
the Nazarene upon His "day in
court
Preliminary Trials
The chief actors in the
forthcoming legal tragedy were
Annas, Caiaphas, Herod and
Plate. They were to become
both the accusers and the
judges Annas and Caiaphas
were related by marriage and
both Of them were ambitious
and willy politicians. Caiaphas
concentrated his political tai
e1tS TO the inner workings OF
the Sanhedrin, and Annas
became friendly with the Ro-
mans, even though he lent
them money.
Tiberius was the Emperor OF
all Rome and had sold to Herod
the right to govern the prov
inee of Galilee and an equiva-
lent right to PLATE to govern
Judea. The very fact that this
right was for sale indicates
that the purchaser expected to
make money from the admin
istration Of this right; and
such a purchaser would least
Of. all desire a revolution. This
Herod of Galilee was the son
of Herod the Great who was
the tyrant who had once
ordered the slaughter Of the
first born infants 80 years be-
fore. Thus his son. Herod Of
Galilee, who was to later sit
in the seat Of Judgment upon
the Nazarene, had inherited
Iprejudices against Him and His
race and was eventually sue
coed where his father had
failed.
PLATE was a cruel and des-
pdtic administrator, and, what
made him more dangerous to
anyone who had to be Judged
by him, was the fact that he
was insecure in his Job. He
also. was afraid of the Jews
and -abhorred the thought that
they would bring the fact of
his inadequacy to the attention
of Tiberius.
Neither Herod nor Plate had
been lawyers, although they
had received q formal legal
education. But they were first
Of all politicians and their
assumption Of judicial respon-
sihility was an unwelcome duty
which was imposed upon them
by their office.
Caiaphas was a shabby in
dividual. He permitted Jewish
leaders to meet with him in
his palace to discuss with him
ways and means of arresting
Christ. This conduct amounted
who was later to take the part
to an overt expression Of bias
and hostility from the man
Of q Judge over the Man he
! had conspired against. But
more dastardly than this was
his conduct in actually con-
spring with Judas for the
arrest Of the Nazarene. Cal
aphss was present when Judas