By Olusola Adeyegbe.
This Easter season, a video has gone far and wide on social media. In it, a lawyer—poised, articulate, and clearly well-read—is asked to comment on the death of Jesus. His response? Jesus Christ was murdered. With the certainty of a courtroom submission, he laid out his argument, even citing case law to bolster his point. It sounded convincing. It touched a few hearts. At last, it seemed, some were daring to say that the crucifixion wasn’t divinely ordained—but a cold, calculated murder.
But let’s pause and take a deeper look.
The antagonists of the Saviour levelled two major accusations against Him. First, that He claimed to be the Son of God—a grievous offence under Jewish law. Second, that He called Himself the King of the Jews—a political landmine that, on the surface, could be construed as rebellion against Rome.
Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, was unmoved by the first charge. To him, it was a religious squabble—irrelevant to Roman authority. On the second, he quickly discerned the manipulation and envy behind the accusation and plainly declared: I find no fault in Him.
But then came the twist. Caiaphas, the high priest, played a masterstroke of political blackmail: If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Translation? We’ll escalate this to Rome. We’ll say you harboured a rebel. And just like that, Pilate caved in—choosing career over conviction—and handed Jesus over to be crucified.
This wasn’t just a failure of law. It was the collapse of human conscience under pressure and power. But it goes even deeper.
What unfolded that day was not merely a miscarriage of justice. It was a cosmic betrayal. The Creator sent His Son in human form, and humanity—blinded by arrogance, indolence and deception from the Darkness —nailed Him to a cross. This wasn’t just the killing of an innocent man. It was Darkness unleashing its full fury on the Light.
The Word made flesh—Love incarnate—was subjected to humiliation, brutality, and death in a spectacle that mocked both law and love. This wasn’t a legal matter. It was a cosmic war in a courtroom.
Now back to the viral video. Is it an expression from some deep spiritual insight? Some even suggest the video may have been intended as comedy. If that turns out to be true, then of course the statements in the video may not be taken seriously. But still, the lawyer’s framing leaned heavily on legalese, invoking principles like nullum crimen sine lege (no crime without law), and arguing that Jesus couldn’t have been legally convicted because the act wasn’t codified at the time.
To a casual listener, that might sound intellectually compelling. But it’s a narrow and inadequate lens for such a profound matter.
The trial of Jesus occurred under both Jewish and Roman legal systems. The charges were both religious and political. And contrary to the lawyer’s claim, there were laws in place—Jesus was simply falsely accused under them. His argument might hold in a courtroom, but it barely scratches the surface of the spiritual gravity of that moment.
In fact, Israeli lawyer Yitzhak David once sought a legal review of Jesus’ trial before Israel’s Supreme Court. His proposal was rejected—first, because it was considered a historical, not legal, matter. A second attempt was also dismissed, with the reasoning that Jesus was executed by Roman authorities, not the Jews. Any legal challenge, the court ruled, would thus lie with Italy, not Israel. (France-Soir, July 8, 1972).
All of this legal back-and-forth, while intellectually intriguing, misses the heart of the matter.
To reduce the monumental crime committed against the Son of God to mere legal analysis is to trivialise an event that reshaped human history and continues to impact lives today.
This Easter, let’s not be swayed by slick arguments or surface-level analysis or perhaps comedy. Let’s return to the Cross—not as legal analysts, or comedians but as grateful recipients of the grace extended to us through Jesus. The true significance of the death of Jesus is that He died to put a seal on His Message of Truth. It is His Message that saves.
Have you paused lately to reflect on the price that was paid—for you to receive the Word of salvation? The Word alone is our redemption. By following and living the Redeeming Word we receive salvation.
May this season awaken not just your mind, but your spirit.
