Great Friday.

Sanhedrin’s Sentence.

(Mat. 27:1; Mark 15:1 and Luke 22:66-71)

This second, the now official gathering of the Sanhedrin is mentioned briefly, in one verse, by Evangelists Matthew and Mark: the narrative by Saint Luke is more detailed. This gathering was called to comply with the formality of the outward legality of the death sentence, passed on Jesus at the previous night’s session. The Talmud — a collection of all the ancient Jewish laws and decrees — states that in trials of capital crimes, the final sentence must not be pronounced sooner than the following day of its commencement. However, neither Caiaphus nor the Sanhedrin wanted to delay the pronouncement till some time after the feast of Passover. That’s why they hastened to observe at least the formality of a second trial. This time, the Sanhedrin assembled at dawn in much larger numbers (they were joined by the Scribes — as narrated by Saint Luke 22:66), and not at Caiaphus’ house but in the Sanhedrin hall. After spending all the time till dawn in the courtyard of the high priest, being humiliated by the guards and servants of the high priest, the Lord was brought here. They led Him into the hall of the assembled Sanhedrin and asked: “If You are the Christ tell us.” They did this, partly because there were new members that were not present at the night session, and partly because they were hoping to hear something new from the Lord. Before giving them a direct answer the Lord censures them, pointing out that being All-Seeing, He knows their intentions. The trial was formed purely for the sake of formalism: the Lord’s fate had already been determined, irrespective what He said. That’s why the Lord replied: “If I tell you, you will by no means believe. And if I also ask you, you will by no means answer Me or let Me go,” i.e. it is pointless for Me to talk: if I asked you that which would lead to the clarification of My Messianic worthiness and explanation for your blindness, you would all the same not answer Me. You would not give Me the opportunity to vindicate Myself before you and be given My freedom: but know this — after all that which has to happen due to your hatred, you will see Me differently. You will see Me in the glory of My Father: “Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of god.”

“Are You then the Son of God?” — again they asked tenaciously. The Lord formally confirms this with: “You rightly say that I am!” According to the Jewish protocols, such an answer meant a firm and decisive “Yes! I am the Son of God.” Pleased that the Lord had openly declared Himself the Son of God, and thereby gave them the right to accuse Him of blasphemy, the members of the Sanhedrin announce that there is no need for further examination and pronounce His death sentence. In reality, they had no right to pass the death sentence over anyone. That’s why, in order to get the death sentence confirmed, they needed to receive the Roman governor’s — Pontius Pilate — agreement.