Sanhedrin trial of Jesus

Jesus about to be struck in front of former High Priest Annas, as in John 18:22 (Madrazo, 1803)

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In the New Testament, the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus refers to the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin (a Jewish judicial body) following his arrest in Jerusalem and prior to his dispensation by Pontius Pilate. It is an event reported by all four canonical gospels of the New Testament, although John's Gospel does not explicitly mention a Sanhedrin trial in this context.

Jesus is generally quiet, does not mount a defense, and rarely responds to the accusations, but is condemned by the Jewish authorities for various accusations: violating the Sabbath law (by healing on the Sabbath), threatening to destroy the Jewish Temple, sorcery, exorcising people by the power of demons and claiming to be both the Messiah and the Son of God. The Jewish leaders then take Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the governor of Roman Judaea, and ask that he be tried for claiming to be the King of the Jews.

The trial as depicted in the Synoptic Gospels is temporally placed informally on Thursday night and then again formally on Friday morning. However, since the Jewish preparation day begins Thursday at sunset, according to the Gospel of John this informally happened Wednesday night and then again formally on Thursday morning, with him eventually being taken off the cross Thursday night, being the beginning of the Jews 'day of preparation', as it is written at John 19:42.

The idea that the 'day of preparation' begins on Thursday night, is thought by some to be an error due to the bias of later 'Christian' thought. This trial takes place in the night portion of the 14th day of the 1st month, i.e. Passover, making the 'day of preparation' a reference to the preparation of the Passover Meal and the cleansing of the home of all leaven. If this is true, the 'Sabbath' the next day is not a reference to the weekly Sabbath, but the High Sabbath of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Interestingly, John calls this Sabbath a "high one" in John 19:31 (KJV, but called a 'special Sabbath' in the NIV). The High (special) Sabbaths that are associated to the Biblical Feast Days (Leviticus 23) can fall on any day of the week, not just Saturday. It is the belief of most Hebraic Believers that Messiah was crucified on the afternoon of a Wednesday and rose again on the evening of the Weekly Sabbath, just before the 1st day of the week, which began at sunset according to the Scriptural meaning of a day (Genesis 1, i.e. evening and morning). When the women went to the grave in the morning, His tomb was already empty, He was already gone. A Wednesday to Saturday time frame fulfills the only sign given that He was the Messiah, i.e. the sign of Jonah, three days and three nights in the grave (Matthew 12:40) and His claim that He would rise again on the third day (Matthew 20:19, Mark 12:34, Luke 24:46).

Trial

In the narrative of all the canonical gospels, after the arrest of Jesus he is taken to the Sanhedrin. From a historical perspective, in the era in which the narrative is set, the Sanhedrin body was an ad hoc gathering, rather than a fixed court. The portrayal of the Sanhedrin contradicts that of Jewish tradition and texts, which portray the Sanhedrin to be an established court based in Jerusalem with strict guidelines on how to function. This is often considered by Christian sources to have been a deliberate contradiction by the Gospel authors, accusing the Sanhedrin of illegally violating the Torah during the trial.

In the four canonical gospels, Jesus is tried and condemned by the Sanhedrin, although not all members were present. According to Luke, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus dissented from this decision. Jesus is mocked and beaten and condemned for various accusations, violating the Sabbath law (by healing on the Sabbath), threatening to destroy the Jewish Temple, sorcery, exorcising people by the power of demons and claiming to be both the Messiah and the Son of God. Although the Gospel accounts vary with respect to some of the details, they agree on the general character and overall structure of the trials of Jesus.

Matthew 26:57 states that Jesus was taken to the house of Caiaphas the High Priest of Israel, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. Matthew 27:1 adds that, the next morning, the priests held another meeting. Mark 14:53 states that Jesus was taken that night "to the high priest" (without naming the priest), where all the chief priests and the elders gathered, and Mark 15:1 adds that another consultation was held among the priests the next morning. Luke 22:54 states that Jesus was taken to "the high priest's house" , where he was mocked and beaten that night. It is added in 22:66 that, "as soon as it was day", the chief priests and scribes gathered together and led Jesus away into their council.

In John 18:12-14, however, Jesus is first taken to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest at that time. Annas was the former high priest, and it appears that Caiaphas sought Annas' confirmation of Caiaphas' actions. In 18:24, Jesus is sent from Annas to Caiaphas the high priest, and 18:28 states that, early in the morning, Jesus was led from Caiaphas to Pontius Pilate in the Praetorium.

In all four Gospel accounts, the trial of Jesus before the priests and scribes is interleaved with the Denial of Peter narrative, where Apostle Peter, who has followed Jesus, denies knowing him three times. The intercalated narrative of Jesus’ resolute determination offers contrast to the framing narrative of Peter’s aggrieved denials (Mark 14:53-54, 14:66-72). Luke 22:61 states that as Jesus was bound and standing at the priest's house Peter was in the courtyard. Jesus "turned and looked straight at him", and Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times."

In the Gospel accounts, Jesus speaks very little, and gives very infrequent and indirect answers to the questions of the priests, according to John 18:22 prompting an officer to slap him. In Matthew 26:62, the lack of response from Jesus prompts the high priest to ask him: "Answerest thou nothing?" In the Gospel accounts, the men that hold Jesus at the high priest's house mock, blindfold, insult and beat him, at times slapping him and asking him to guess who had hit him that time.

Mark 14:55–59 states that the chief priests had sought witness against Jesus to put him to death but did not find any, so they arranged false witnesses against him, but their witnesses did not agree together. Mark 14:61 states that the high priest then asked Jesus: "Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" And Jesus said "I am", at which point the high priest tore his own robe in anger and accused Jesus of blasphemy. In Matthew 26:63, the high priest asks: "tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus responds "You have said it", prompting the High Priest to tear his own robe, breaking Mosaic Law (Leviticus 21:10).

In Luke 22:67, Jesus is asked: "If thou art the Christ, tell us. But he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe". But, in 22:70, when asked "Are you then the Son of God?", Jesus answers "You say that I am", affirming the title Son of God. At that point, the priests say "What further need have we of witness? for we ourselves have heard from his own mouth", and they decide to condemn Jesus.

Thereafter, in Pilate's Court, the Jewish elders ask Pontius Pilate to judge and condemn Jesus, accusing him of claiming to be the King of the Jews. Such a claim would be considered treasonous, being a direct challenge to the Roman authorities.

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  Matthias Stom's depiction of Jesus before Caiaphas, c. 1630.

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  Rembrandt's 1660 depiction of Peter's Denial. Jesus, in the upper right hand corner, is at the high priest's house, his hands bound behind him, and turns to look at Peter.

Comparison

The following comparison table is based on the New International Version (NIV) English translation of the New Testament.

Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
Matthew 26:57–67 Jesus taken to Caiaphas' court. Sanhedrin brought forth false witnesses. Jesus remained silent. Caiaphas: 'Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?' Jesus: 'You say so, but from now on you will see the Son of Man next to the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.' Caiaphas tore his clothes and said: 'Blasphemy! Who needs more witnesses, now you have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?' The rest answered: 'He is worthy of death!' Jesus spat on and beaten. 'Prophesy, who hit you, Messiah?' Denial of Peter.	Mark 14:53–65 Jesus taken to the high priest. Sanhedrin brought forth false witnesses. Jesus remained silent. High priest: 'Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?' Jesus: 'I am, and you will see the Son of Man next to the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.' High priest tore his clothes: 'Who needs more witnesses, now you have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?' They all condemned him as worthy of death. Jesus spat on, blindfolded and beaten. 'Prophesy!' Denial of Peter.	Luke 22:54–71 Jesus taken to high priest's house. Denial of Peter. Jesus mocked and beaten. Blindfolded and asked: 'Prophesy! Who hit you?' Sanhedrin ask Jesus if he is the Messiah. Jesus: 'You won't believe me, but from now on the Son of Man will be next to the power of God.' All: 'Are you then the Son of God?' Jesus: 'You say that I am.' All: 'Who needs more testimony? We've heard him say it himself!'	John 18:13–28 Jesus taken to Annas' court. Denial of Peter (part 1). Annas questioned Jesus about his disciples and teaching. Jesus told Annas about his ministry. Officer of Annas slapped Jesus, who asked him why. Annas sent Jesus, bound, to Caiaphas. Denial of Peter (part 2). Jesus taken from Caiaphas to Pilate.

See also

• Chronology of Jesus
• Jesus at Herod's court
• Denial of Peter
• Kiss of Judas
• Life of Jesus in the New Testament
• Passion of Jesus
• Pilate's court
• Thirty Pieces of Silver

Further reading

• Brown, Raymond E., et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, 1990, ISBN 0-13-614934-0.
• Crossan, Dominic, Who Killed Jesus? Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus, 1995, ISBN 0-06-061480-3.

External links

• Media related to Caiaphas at Wikimedia Commons