Law & Order: Synagogue Unit

In the Old Testament justice system the people were represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the Pharisees who investigate crime and the Sanhedrin who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.

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Historians still debate whether it was the welfare lunches or the unbelievably simple and effective health care program, but Jesus certainly was the runaway leader at the polls in the third year of His Messianic campaign. By the eighth chapter of John’s gospel His political opponents, the Pharisees, were fed up and looking for a way to even the odds. When their assassination attempt didn’t pan out, the religious leaders embarked on a more subtle, yet possibly more damaging, plot in chapter nine.

A man who had been blind from birth claimed to have received sight from the “spittle and clay” stimulus package, and the Pharisees saw their opportunity to discredit one of Jesus’ most popular programs. First, they interrogated the “healed” to determine the validity of his claims. The Bible doesn’t specify, but it can be assumed that this questioning included a single candle hanging from the ceiling and at least one round of “good Pharisee, bad Pharisee.”

After the commercial break the Pharisees interviewed the “blind” man’s parents. Once again, some of the key details are missing from the scriptural account, but the mom probably served the Pharisees unleavened cookies and a cup of fresh well-water while talking about how strong he had been throughout his sightless childhood. When the Pharisees started threatening to charge them with obstruction of Levitical justice, they referred the robed ones back to their adult son.

Since all of the detective work wasn’t getting anywhere, the ASA (Assistant Sanhedrin Attorney) tried to obtain a plea bargain. He offered to drop the blasphemy charges in exchange for the healed man claiming that it was God and not Jesus who had healed him. The man refused to cooperate and was immediately sentenced to excommunication from the church.

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Stay tuned for exciting scenes from the next episode.

On the next Law & Order: Synagogue Unit: By healing the blind, Jesus caused an innocent man to be convicted of blasphemy. He desperately seeks out the wronged individual to help him find justice. What happens next could…change…everything.