Jesus’ third trial was held before the whole Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, that is, the ruling body of the Jews there. It appears that this trial was legal. Note that what Jesus actually answered in Luke 22:70 was, “You say that I am!” That seems to be what most translations have (with or without the exclamation mark, but the Greek is emphatic, so I put it in). Weymouth’s translation is different from most. Personally, I like the International Standard Version: “You said it, I AM.” You may remember from our study of the names of God that I AM is one of the most sacred names, and since the Sanhedrin immediately decided that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy, this may well be how they took what he said. The sentence for blasphemy was death. The Jews, however, could not impose a death penalty, so they bundled him off to the Roman governor, Pilate.
By the way, I was surprised to learn that there was apparently a Sanhedrin in every sizable Jewish community. Presumably this is why Jesus says in Mark 13:9 and Matthew 10:17 that his followers will be delivered to the “Sanhedrins” (or “councils,” depending on your translation). There was more than one. Nevertheless, the only specific Sanhedrin I can find a New Testament reference to is the one in Jerusalem.
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66-69 As soon as it was day, the whole body of the Elders, both High Priests and Scribes, assembled. Then He was brought into their Sanhedrin, and they asked Him, “Are you the Christ? Tell us.”
“If I tell you,” He replied, “you will certainly not believe; and if I ask you questions, you will certainly not answer. But from this time forward the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of God’s omnipotence.”
70 Thereupon they cried out with one voice, “You, then, are the Son of God?”
“It is as you say,” He answered; “I am He.”
71 “What need have we of further evidence?” they said; “for we ourselves have heard it from his own lips.”
1b-2 All the High Priests and the Elders of the people consulted together against Jesus to put Him to death; and binding Him they led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate the Governor.
3-4 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He was condemned, smitten with remorse he brought back the thirty shekels to the High Priests and Elders and said, “I have sinned, in betraying to death one who is innocent.” “What does that matter to us?” they replied; it is your business.”
5-6 Flinging the shekels into the Sanctuary he left the place, and went and hanged himself. When the High Priests had gathered up the money they said, “It is illegal to put it into the Treasury, because it is the price of blood.”
7-8 So after consulting together they spent the money in the purchase of the Potter’s Field as a burial place for people not belonging to the city; for which reason that piece of ground received the name, which it still bears, of ‘the Field of Blood.’
9-10 Then were fulfilled the words spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah, “AND I TOOK THE THIRTY SHEKELS, THE PRICE OF THE PRIZED ONE ON WHOM ISRAELITES HAD SET A PRICE, AND GAVE THEM FOR THE POTTER’S FIELD, AS THE LORD DIRECTED ME.”
John 18:28-30; Luke 23:2; Matthew 27:11-14; John 18:31-38; Luke 23:5-6, Friday, around 5 a.m. Fourth trial, a hearing before Pilate (10/13/14)
Fellow-reader Donna B. recently taught me a new expression: “Not my circus, and not my monkey.” It means that whatever the situation is, it is not my problem! Jesus’ fourth trial was a hearing before Pontius Pilate. Pilate doesn’t come across as a strong character, although to be fair he was in a difficult situation. He was governor of Judea (a province full of notorious troublemakers), and the capital city of Jerusalem was a tinderbox packed with people who had come into town for the Passover. Now the religious leadership wants him to crucify the most popular man in the country, although he can’t find any reason to impose the death penalty. Imagine Pilate’s relief when it turns out that the man is a Galilean: Jesus is not his problem!
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28-29 So they brought Jesus from Caiaphas’s house to the Praetorium. It was the early morning, and they would not enter the Praetorium themselves for fear of defilement, and in order that they might be able to eat the Passover. Accordingly Pilate came out to them and inquired, “What accusation have you to bring against this man?”
30, “If the man were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.” “We have found this man,” they said, “an agitator among our nation, forbidding the payment of tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be himself an anointed king.”
11 Meanwhile Jesus was brought before the Governor, and the latter put the question, “Are you the King of the Jews?” “I am their King,” He answered.
12 When however the High Priests and the Elders kept bringing their charges against Him, He said not a word in reply.
13-14 “Do you not hear,” asked Pilate, “what a mass of evidence they are bringing against you?” But He made no reply to a single accusation, so that the Governor was greatly astonished.
31, 2 “Take him yourselves,” said Pilate, “and judge him by your Law.” “We have no power,” replied the Jews, “to put any man to death.” They said this that the words might be fulfilled in which Jesus predicted the kind of death He was to die.
33 Re-entering the Praetorium, therefore, Pilate called Jesus and asked Him, “Are *you* the King of the Jews?”
34 “Do you say this of yourself, or have others told it you about me?” replied Jesus.
35 “Am I a Jew?” exclaimed Pilate; “it is your own nation and the High Priests who have handed you over to me. What have you done?”
36 “My kingdom,” replied Jesus, “does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my subjects would have resolutely fought to save me from being delivered up to the Jews. But, as a matter of fact, my kingdom has not this origin.”
37 “So then *you* are a king!” rejoined Pilate. “Yes,” said Jesus, “you say truly that I am a king. For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world – to give testimony for the truth. Every one who is a friend of the truth listens to my voice.”
38 “What is truth?” said Pilate. But no sooner had he spoken the words than he went out again to the Jews and told them, “I find no crime in him.
5 But they violently insisted. “He stirs up the people,” they said, “throughout all Judaea with His teaching – even from Galilee (where He first started) to this city.”
6 On hearing this, Pilate inquired, “Is this man a Galilaean?”
Luke 23:7-12, Friday, around 6 a.m. Fifth trial, before Herod Antipas (10/14/14)
Pilate was onto the idea that Jesus was a Galilean like a duck on a June bug. Herod, the Tetrarch of Galilee, was in town for Passover, so Pilate immediately sent Jesus on to him. This is the same Herod who had had John the Baptist beheaded at the demand of his step-daughter; Jesus doesn’t even dignify Herod’s questions by answering them. Herod, getting nothing out of him during this fifth trial, sends Jesus back to Pilate.
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7 And learning that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction he [Pilate] sent Him to Herod, for he too was in Jerusalem at that time.
8-9 To Herod the sight of Jesus was a great gratification, for, for a long time, he had been wanting to see Him, because he had heard so much about Him. He hoped also to see some miracle performed by Him. So he put a number of questions to Him, but Jesus gave him no reply.
10 Meanwhile the High Priests and the Scribes were standing there and vehemently accusing Him.
11-12 Then, laughing to scorn the claims of Jesus, Herod (and his soldiers with him) made sport of Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous costume, and sent Him back to Pilate. And on that very day Herod and Pilate became friends again, for they had been for some time at enmity.
Luke 23:13-16; Matthew 27:15-16; Luke 23:19; Matthew 27:17-23; Luke 23:20-23, Friday, around 6 a.m. Sixth trial, before Pontius Pilate (10/15/14)
Finally we’re getting to Jesus’ sixth and final trial, before Pilate. Pilate hadn’t found any crime that Jesus was guilty of, but (probably with relief) he sent him off to Herod. Herod, a Jew, couldn’t find anything either, and he sent him back to Pilate. Now Pilate’s wife weighs in, saying that Jesus is innocent. Pilate really doesn’t want to execute Jesus, and he really doesn’t want a riot.
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13-16 Then calling together the High Priests and the Rulers and the people, Pilate said, “You have brought this man to me on a charge of corrupting the loyalty of the people.
But, you see, I have examined him in your presence and have discovered in the man no ground for the accusations which you bring against him. No, nor does Herod; for he has sent him back to us; and, you see, there is nothing he has done that deserves death. I will therefore give him a light punishment and release him.”
15-16, 19 Now it was the Governor’s custom at the Festival to release some one prisoner, whomsoever the populace desired; and at this time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. – Barabbas! who had been lodged in jail for some time in connection with a riot which had occurred in the city, and for murder.
17-18 So when they were now assembled Pilate appealed to them. “Whom shall I release to you,” he said, “Barabbas, or Jesus the so-called Christ?” For he knew that it was from envious hatred that Jesus had been brought before him.
19 While he was sitting on the tribunal a message came to him from his wife. “Have nothing to do with that innocent man,” she said, “for during the night I have suffered terribly in a dream through him.”
20-21 The High Priests, however, and the Elders urged the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to demand the death of Jesus. So when the Governor a second time asked them, “Which of the two shall I release to you?” – they cried, “Barabbas!”
22 “What then,” said Pilate, “shall I do with Jesus, the so-called Christ?” With one voice they shouted, “Let him be crucified!”
23 “Why, what crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they kept on furiously shouting, “Let him be crucified!”
20 But Pilate once more addressed them, wishing to set Jesus free.
21 They, however, persistently shouted, “Crucify, crucify him!”
22 A third time he appealed to them: “Why, what crime has the man committed? I have discovered in him nothing that deserves death. I will therefore give him a light punishment and release him.”
23 But they urgently insisted, demanding with frantic outcries that He should be crucified; and their clamor prevailed.
Matthew 27:24-30; John 19:4-16a, Friday, around 6 a.m. Pilate yields and condemns Jesus. (10/16/14)
The Roman occupiers were stern, but they were reasonably law-abiding and even-handed. Neither Pilate nor Herod could find any capital offense that Jesus might be guilty of, and Pilate didn’t especially want to inflict the death penalty. On the other hand, he couldn’t afford a riot in the crowded city of Jerusalem, which would get a lot of people killed and – probably more importantly to Pilate – get him in trouble with Rome. He tried to work out a compromise with a severe beating and humiliation of Jesus.
But pay careful attention to John 19:7-8. Pilate wasn’t really alarmed until he found out that Jesus was accused of saying that he was the Son of God. The Greeks and Romans had a long list of demigods, many of whom were the offspring of a god and a mortal. (Hercules is probably the one you’d recognize right off the bat.) Demigods were not as powerful or important as gods, but they weren’t to be trifled with, either, and arresting a demigod would certainly explain his wife’s dream. Pilate immediately returns to Jesus to demand an explanation, but he doesn’t get one. Finally, the priests implicitly threaten to tell Rome that Pilate is trying to release a man who is claiming to be king (rather than Caesar). Pilate can’t take any more of this, and he gives in.
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24 So when he saw that he could gain nothing, but that on the contrary there was a riot threatening, he called for water and washed his hands in sight of them all, saying, “I am not responsible for this murder: you must answer for it.”
25 “His blood,” replied all the people, “be on us and on our children!”
26-27 Then he released Barabbas to them, but Jesus he ordered to be scourged, and gave Him up to be crucified. Then the Governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, and called together the whole battalion to make sport of Him.
28-30 Stripping off His garments, they put on Him a general’s short crimson cloak. They twisted a wreath of thorny twigs and put it on His head, and they put a sceptre of cane in His right hand, and kneeling to Him they shouted in mockery, “Long live the King of the Jews!” Then they spat upon Him, and taking the cane they repeatedly struck Him on the head with it.
4-5 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, “See, I am bringing him out to you to let you clearly understand that I find no crime in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the wreath of thorns and the crimson cloak. And Pilate said to them, “See, there is the man.”
6 As soon then as the High Priests and the officers saw Him, they shouted “To the cross! To the cross!”
“Take him yourselves and crucify him,” said Pilate; “for I, at any rate, find no crime in him.”
7 “We,” replied the Jews, “have a Law, and in accordance with that Law he ought to die, for having claimed to be the Son of God.”
8-9 More alarmed than ever, Pilate no sooner heard these words than he re-entered the Praetorium and began to question Jesus. “What is your origin?” he asked. But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 “Do you refuse to speak even to me?” asked Pilate; “do you not know that I have it in my power either to release you or to crucify you?”
11 “You would have had no power whatever over me,” replied Jesus, “had it not been granted you from above. On that account he who has delivered me up to you is more guilty than you are.”
12 Upon receiving this answer, Pilate was for releasing Him. But the Jews kept shouting, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar’s. Every one who sets himself up as king declares himself a rebel against Caesar.”
13 On hearing this, Pilate brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judge’s seat in a place called the Pavement – or in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
14 It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about six o’clock in the morning. Then he said to the Jews, “There is your king!”
15 This caused a storm of outcries, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!”
“Am I to crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king, except Caesar,” answered the High Priests.
16a Then Pilate gave Him up to them to be crucified.
More of The Chronological Gospel
Birth Announcements and Early Lives of Jesus and John the Baptist
Early Ministries of Jesus and John the Baptist
Jesus’ Early Ministry
Jesus’ Galilean Ministry
Sabbath Controversies
The Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Plain
John the Baptist
Signs and Parables
Miracles and Mission Trips
Bread of Life
Miracles and Meanings
Transfiguration and Teachings
To Jerusalem for the Festival of Tabernacles
Some Results of Luke’s Research
Light
More of Luke’s Research
On the Road Again
The Raising of Lazarus
Holy Week: Palm Sunday and Monday
Holy Week: Tuesday, Parables and Questions
Holy Week: Wednesday Part 1, Discussions
Holy Week: Wednesday Part 2, Be Ready!
Holy Week: Thursday Part 1, Jesus' Celebration of the Passover
Holy Week: Thursday Part 2, Jesus' Farewell Discourse
Holy Week: Friday Part 1, Jesus' Arrest and Two Informal Trials
Holy Week: Friday Part 2, More Trials
Holy Week: Friday, Part 3, and Saturday, Jesus' Death and Burial
The Empty Tomb
Final Appearances of Jesus Prior to Pentecost
Copyright 2014 by Regina L. Hunter. All rights reserved. Scripture readings are from the Weymouth New Testament (1912); caps indicate quotations from the Old Testament. "The Scourging of Jesus" by Gustave Doré is from the Thomas family Bible, now in a private collection of a family member. This page has been prepared for the web site by RPB.
Opinions expressed on this page are solely those of the author, Regina Hunter, and may or may not be shared by the sponsors or the Bible-study participants. Thanks to the Holy Spirit for any useful ideas presented here, and thanks to all the readers for their support and enthusiasm. All errors are, of course, the sole responsibility of the author.
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