Sanhedrin trial of Jesus
In the New Testament, the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus refers to the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin 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, 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. The High Sabbaths that are associated to the Biblical Feast Days 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. 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 and His claim that He would rise again on the third day.
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, 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.
states that Jesus was taken to the house of Caiaphas the High Priest of Israel, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. adds that, the next morning, the priests held another meeting. states that Jesus was taken that night "to the high priest", where all the chief priests and the elders gathered, and adds that another consultation was held among the priests the next morning. states that Jesus was taken to "the high priest's house", where he was mocked and beaten that night. It is added in that, "as soon as it was day", the chief priests and scribes gathered together and led Jesus away into their council.
In, 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, Jesus is sent from Annas to Caiaphas the high priest, and 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. 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, 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.
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. 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, 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.
In, 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, 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.
Comparison
The following comparison table is based on the New International Version English translation of the New Testament.| Matthew | Mark | Luke | John |
Matthew 26:57–67
| Mark 14:53–65
| Luke 22:54–71
| John 18:13–28
|