Condemnation By The Council Series

HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS

(29) Condemnation By The Council

Matthew 27:1; Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66-71 (focal passage)

Tom Lowe

2/5/2008

Date: Friday of Jesus’ Final Week

Location: Jerusalem

This is the account of Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. He makes an undeniable claim that He is the Messiah and Son of God.

The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. — Psalm 110:1

And as soon as it was day, the [1]elders of the people and the [2]chief priests and the [3]scribes [4]came together, and led him into their [5]council, saying, (Luke 22:66)

When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: (Matthew 27:1)

And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate. (Mark 15:1)

We left Christ in the hands of the chief priests and elders, condemned to die, but they could only show their teeth; about two years before this the Romans had taken from the Jews the power of capital punishment; they could put no man to death, and therefore early in the morning another council is held, to consider what is to be done. And here we are told what was done in that morning-council after they had slept for two or three hours.

At daybreak (5:00–6:00 a.m.), the elders ... led Jesus away to their council, or Sanhedrin. The members of the Sanhedrin asked Him outright if He was the Messiah. Jesus said, in effect, that it was useless to discuss the matter with them. They were not open to receive the truth. But He warned them that the One who stood before them in humiliation would one day sit on the right hand of the power of God (see Psalm 110:1).

This hearing is the third stage of the religious trial. They discussed in detail the charges and how they would present them in order to gain the death sentence. It took place before the Sanhedrin in the morning to make the trial official.

The trial held at night could not sustain a verdict since it was illegal for several reasons. First, no case was to be completed on the same day it was begun unless the defendant was acquitted. Secondly, a night was supposed to elapse before the verdict was pronounced “so that feelings of mercy might have time to arise.” In this case, the religious leaders seemed intent on stifling any feelings of mercy, and their one purpose was “to put him to death.” However, since night trials were unconventional, they convened a morning session to give legal validity to their verdict. Third, when an official body like the Jewish Sanhedrin, by the unofficial and illegal action of its members, goes in search of witnesses against Jesus, when it brings Jesus before Annas, a man who no longer had any judicial authority (though he probably still exercised a tremendous amount of influence), when the high priest attempts to force the prisoner to testify against Himself, the only fair conclusion is that we are dealing here with a case not of justice but of the perversion or miscarriage of justice.

Under Roman rule, the Jewish leaders had no authority to inflict capital punishment. It was for that reason that the apostle Mark adds, “They bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate, the Roman governor.” Though their hatred of everything Roman was intense, they were willing to “use” this power to satisfy a greater hatred. Opposition to Jesus unites the bitterest foes.

Art thou the Christ? tell us. (Luke 22:67a)

So now, this imposing body, with Caiaphas in charge, is asking Jesus to make a statement that can be used by them to formulate a charge sufficient to have Him put to death! If He will now only cooperate and tell them that He is the Christ—with all the political overtones they could read into this confession (that He is the Messiah, the Jewish King)—He could be accused before the Roman authorities of being a danger to the state and destroyed. It is for this reason that they asked Him the question whether He is the Christ, and not because they would really want to know whether He is or not.

The Sanhedrin subjected Christ to the same set of questions He had been asked in the nighttime trial, and the answers He gave were essentially the same (see Matthew 26:63-66 and Mark 14:61-64).

And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not [6]believe: (Luke 22:67b)

And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go. (Luke 22:68)