Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus

The Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus is an event reported by all the Canonical Gospels of the Bible. (and and , when Annas questions Jesus about his teachings and followers, Jesus refuses to be co-operative and instead says that he taught nothing in secret, always teaching in public places, and so Annas should just ask the many witnesses what Jesus had taught. John adds that a nearby official then struck Jesus for this lack of co-operation, though Jesus subsequently answers "If I have done something wrong, say so. But if not, why did you hit me?" (; Holding all Jews, past and present, accountable for the trial of Jesus, is characteristic of Christian antisemitism, and is also called the doctrine of deicide.

Although the Bible and secular historical record that the Roman Empire actually put Jesus to death, there is curiously little anger directed against Italians or the multi-national Roman Empire in connection with Jesus' death.

Jesus assigns some of the guilt to Pontius Pilate but places the majority of the guilt on the High Priest Caiaphas. In John 19:11, "Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin." It has been widely but inaccurately said that Jesus referred to "the Jews" collectively although in fact Jesus referred only to a singular person as "he" or "the one" who was responsible.

The New Testament emphasizes the Jewish authorities as being morally responsible for Jesus' death, while noting that the Roman actually killed Jesus. In Acts 2, Peter calls on the crowd to repent for allowing Jesus' death, while also noting that Jesus was put to death "by the hands of wicked men" referring to the Romans (literally "godless" in the Greek).

Using a loose literary style found throughout its text, the New Testament does state that that "the Jews" brought Jesus to Pilate, that Pilate initially wanted "the Jews" to judge Jesus by their own laws, but that "the Jews" objected since they wanted to execute Jesus but did not have the legal authority under Roman occupation, according to familiar with Roman politics find in Pontius Pilate's words a shrewd political "dance" or ceremony enticing the Jewish leaders to admit the supremacy of Rome. Being a skilled political leader, Pilate suggests that the Jewish leaders punish Jesus, knowing full well that they were not permitted to put anyone to death under Roman occupation. Thus, when the Jews admit that they do not have the authority, they are confessing that Rome is supreme over them. Similarly, Pilate rejects the religious charges brought by the Jews, enticing the Jews to finally identify the one charge that the Roman Empire was concerned with: challenging the authority of Rome. Thus, Pilate again forces the Jewish leaders to admit that only Rome's interests are important for the administration of their nation.

ee also

*Sanhedrin
*Pilate
*Passion
*Arrest of Jesus
*Christianity and anti-Semitism
*Christianity and Judaism
*Council of Jamnia
*Halakha

References

*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
*Kilgallen, John J. "A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark" Paulist Press 1989 ISBN 0-8091-3059-9
*Miller, Robert J. Editor "The Complete Gospels" Polebridge Press 1994 ISBN 0-06-065587-9