The Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus is an event reported by all the Canonical Gospels, in Mark 14:53–65, Matthew 26:57–68, Luke 22:63–71 and John 18:12-24. After the arrest of Jesus, the Canonical Gospels report that Jesus was taken to the Sanhedrin, a legal body composed of the chief Sadduccees, Pharisees, and elders (Kilgallen 255). The precise location and nature of the trial varies between the canonical Gospels, and particularly between the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John. This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... Adoration of the Shepherds (1535-40), by Florentine Mannerist painter Agnolo Bronzino Nativity windows at Trinity Church, Boston, designed by Edward Burne-Jones and executed by William Morris, 1882 The Nativity of Jesus, or simply the Nativity, is the account of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. ... In the synoptic gospels, Jesus is baptised by John the Baptist. ... The temptation of Christ in Christianity, refers to the temptation of Jesus by the devil as detailed in each of the Synoptic Gospels, at Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13. ... In Christianity, the disciples were the students of Jesus during his ministry. ... The Sermon on the Mount was, according to the Gospel of Matthew 5-7, a particular sermon given by Jesus of Nazareth (estimated around AD 30) on a mountainside to his disciples and a large crowd. ... According to the canonical Gospels, Jesus worked many miracles in the course of his ministry. ... Palm Sunday is a moveable feast in the Christian calendar which falls on the Sunday before Easter. ... The narrative of Jesus and the Money Changers occurs in both the Synoptic Gospels and in the Gospel of John, although it occurs close to the end of the Synoptic Gospels (at Mark 11:15-19, 11:27-33, Matthew 21:12-17, 21:23-27 and Luke 19:45... According to the Canonical Gospels, the Ministry of Jesus began when Jesus was around 30 years old, and lasted a period of 1-3 years, with the Synoptic Gospels generally being considered to argue for it having been a period of 1 year, and the Gospel of John arguing for... Mary Magdalene is traditionally depicted with a vessel of ointment, in reference to the Anointing of Jesus, in reality the jar is more likely to have been an Amphora, a much larger object. ... The Last Supper in Milan (1498), by Leonardo da Vinci According to the Gospels, the Last Supper (also called Lords Supper) was the last meal Jesus shared with his apostles before his death. ... For the school of Peter Abelard, see Oratory of the Paraclete. ... Gethsemane by Wassilij Grigorjewitsch Perow The Arrest of Jesus is a pivotal event recorded in the Canonical Gospels, in which Jesus is arrested. ... Pontius Pilate (Latin Pontius Pilatus) was the governor of the small Roman province of Judea from 26 until 36? AD although Tacitus believed him to be the procurator of that province. ... The death and resurrection of Jesus are two events in the New Testament in which Jesus is crucified on one day (the Day of Preparation, i. ... The Harrowing of Hell is a doctrine in Christian theology referenced in the Apostles Creed, which states that Jesus descended into hell. It has been termed the most controversial in the Apostles Creed[1]. This phrase was probably the last to be added to the creed[2]. // Christs... In the Supper at Emmaus, Caravaggio depicted the moment the disciples recognise Jesus The Resurrection appearances of Jesus are reported by the Canonical Gospels to have occurred after the discovery of the empty tomb. ... In Christian tradition, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples, that they spread the faith to all the world. ... General understanding of the Christian doctrine of Ascension holds that Jesus bodily ascended to heaven in the presence of his apostles, following his resurrection. ... The Second Coming refers to the Christian belief in the return of Jesus Christ, an event that will fulfill aspects of Messianic prophecy such as the resurrection of the dead, last judgment and full establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth (also called the Reign of God), including the... A biblical canon is a list published by a religious authority of those books of the Bible that are considered inspired by God. ... For other uses, see Gospel (disambiguation). ... Gethsemane by Wassilij Grigorjewitsch Perow The Arrest of Jesus is a pivotal event recorded in the Canonical Gospels, in which Jesus is arrested. ... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... For the tractate in the Mishnah, see Sanhedrin (tractate). ... The sect of the Sadducees (or Zadokites and other variants) - which may have originated as a Political Party - was founded in the 2nd century BC and ceased to exist sometime after the 1st century AD. Their rivals, the Pharisees, are said to have originated in the same time period, but... The word Pharisees comes from the Hebrew פרושים prushim from פרוש parush, meaning a detached one, that is, one who is separated for a life of purity. ... The Synoptic Gospels is a term used by modern New Testament scholars for the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke of the New Testament in the Bible. ... The Gospel of John is the fourth gospel in the canon of the New Testament, traditionally ascribed to John the Evangelist. ...

In the Synoptics, Jesus is taken to the Sanhedrin, with Matthew adding that the Sanhedrin had assembled where Caiaphas was located, possibly implying that the gathering occurred at the home of Caiaphas. At the time in which the narrative is set, this body was an ad hoc gathering, rather than a fixed court (Brown 146), as in the latter Council of Jamnia, and its gathering in Caiaphas' home is historically plausible, though irregular. Daniel J. Harrington argues that being located in a home makes it more likely that this was a small first preliminary hearing and not a full trial. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Sanhedrin of the Pharisees, probably a different sanhedrin, was led by Gamaliel from approximately the year 9 to 50. This is believed to be the same Gamaliel who appears in Acts 5:34 and 22:3. Shammai may have also played a role. Yhosef Bar Kayafa (Hebrew יְהוֹסֵף בַּר קַיָּפָא, ), also known as Caiaphas (Greek Καϊάφας) in the New Testament, was the Jewish high priest to whom Jesus was taken after his arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, and who played a part in Jesus trial before the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate. ... Ad hoc is a Latin phrase which means for this [purpose]. It generally signifies a solution that has been tailored to a specific purpose, such as a tailor-made suit, a handcrafted network protocol, and specific-purpose equation and things like that. ... After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai relocated to the city of Yavne/Jamnia and founded a school of Jewish law there, becoming a major source for the later Mishna. ... Rabbinic Judaism (or in Hebrew Yahadut Rabanit - יהדות רבנית) is a Jewish denomination characterized by reliance on the written Torah as well as the Oral Law (the Mishnah, Talmuds and subsequent rabbinic decisions) as halakha (Legally Binding, i. ... The word Pharisees comes from the Hebrew פרושים prushim from פרוש parush, meaning a detached one, that is, one who is separated for a life of purity. ... Gamaliel the Elder, or Rabbi Gamaliel I, was the grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder. ... Shammai (50 BCE–30 CE) was a Jewish scholar of the 1st century, and an important figure in Judaisms core work of rabbinic literature, the Mishnah. ...

A depiction of the Sanhedrin trial, by Giotto

In the Gospel of John, however, Jesus is first taken to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest. The Gospel of John identifies Caiaphas as the high priest at that time. According to John, 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 to what he said. (While it is true Jesus preached openly, he does instruct those who knew about his Messiahship not to tell anyone who he was in the Gospel of Mark, which some see as emphasizing the presence of secret teachings, and teachings that were taught to only the disciples and not the crowds - see Mark 4:34 for an example.) John adds that a nearby official 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?" (Gospel of John 18:23 (CEV). John states that having this lack of co-operation, Annas sends Jesus to Caiaphas, though John does not mention at all what happens when Jesus meets Caiaphas, instead focusing on the denial by Simon Peter. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (850x847, 143 KB) Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337), Cappella Scrovegni a Padova, Life of Christ, Christ before Caiaphas File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Sanhedrin Trial of... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (850x847, 143 KB) Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337), Cappella Scrovegni a Padova, Life of Christ, Christ before Caiaphas File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Sanhedrin Trial of... There are several things that have been named Giotto: Giotto di Bondone an Italian painter. ... Annas is a Jew mentioned in the Gospels as being high priest (Kohen) from AD 7 to 4, as well as president of the Sanhedrin before which Peter and John were brought (Acts 4:6). ... This page gives the traditional list of High Priests of Israel up to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. The earlier parts of the list are possibly legendary. ... In Judaism, the Messiah (מָשִׁיחַ Standard Hebrew Arabic: Al-Masih, المسيح), Tiberian Hebrew , Aramaic ) initially meant any person who was anointed by a prophet of God. ... In certain passages of the New Testament, notably in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus commands his followers not to reveal to others that he is the Messiah. ... The Gospel of John is the fourth gospel in the canon of the New Testament, traditionally ascribed to John the Evangelist. ... The Contemporary English Version or CEV (also known as Bible for Todays Family) is a new translation of the Bible into English, published by the American Bible Society. ... According to tradition, Peter was crucified upside-down, as shown in this painting by Caravaggio. ...

According to the Gospels of Mark and of Matthew, the sanhedrin wish to condemn Jesus to death, but they find the lack of evidence against him to be unhelpful. Matthew and Mark state that many false witnesses made statements to the Sanhedrin, including a claim that Jesus had said he would destroy the man-made temple, and replace it with a non man-made one three days later; according to Matthew and Mark the statements did not agree with each other, and hence since multiple witnesses are required by the Deuteronomic Code, the Sanhedrin are unable to condemn him by this. For other uses, see Gospel (disambiguation). ... The Gospel of Mark (anonymous[1] but ascribed to Mark the Evangelist) is a Gospel of the New Testament. ... The Gospel of Matthew (literally, according to Matthew; Greek, Κατά Μαθθαίον or Κατά Ματθαίον) is one of the four Gospel accounts of the New Testament. ... Herods Temple in Jerusalem was a massive expansion of the Second Temple along with renovations of the entire Temple Mount. ... The Deuteronomic Code is the name given, by academics, to the law code within Deuteronomy, except for the portion discussing the Ethical Decalogue, which is usually treated seperately. ...

All the Synoptic Gospels state that Jesus was asked by the Sanhedrin if Jesus was Christ, Son of God, and Jesus responding with confirmation. Due to the nature of the Greek language, though, this could be translated simply as an anointed, a son of God, or as the Christ, the Son of God, with quite different implications. The former of these simply requires that Jesus had been anointed, and that Jesus was a religious leader (a son of God was a common Jewish term simply referring to any person who was particularly religious); since Jesus had been anointed at Bethany, when a woman poured expensive perfumed oils over him, an anointed, a son of God is simply a very naturalistic and fairly worldly statement for Jesus to confirm. This does, however, seem irrelevant to the case at hand and so the translation the Christ, the Son of God has consequently remained the preferred, more logical choice, seeing as how it is on par with the blasphemy charge driven against him by the members of the Sanhedrin. Christ is the English translation of the Greek word (Christós), which literally means The Anointed One. ... Son of God is a biblical phrase from the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), and the New Testament. ... Mary Magdalene is traditionally depicted with a vessel of ointment, in reference to the Anointing of Jesus, in reality the jar is more likely to have been an Amphora, a much larger object. ... Look up blasphemy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The Synoptics also state that Jesus added that the Son of Man would be seen sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One, and coming on the clouds of heaven. Many Christians interpret this as a reference to a future second coming of Jesus, though in ancient times the gnostics read it quite differently as referring to enlightenment reaching each individual - that each individual human (son of man) would spiritually escape the earthly realm and rejoin the world of the monad (mighty one). Apparently, though, the Sanhedrin saw this as Jesus once more attributing Messiahship to himself, enraging them. The Synoptics state that these responses were sufficient for the Sanhedrin to be able to legally argue that Jesus was guilty, with Matthew and Mark adding that the high priest rent his clothes and said that Jesus' responses were blasphemy. In Matthew and Mark, the Sanhedrin then angrily beat Jesus, and then blindfold him and challenge him to prophesy who it is that hits him. In Luke this blindfolding, and challenge to prophesy, also occurs, but it is the guards who do this, and it occurs before the question is posed to Jesus by the Sanhedrin. The phrase son of man is a primarily Semitic idiom that originated in Ancient Mesopotamia, used to denote humanity or self. ... The Second Coming refers to the Christian belief in the return of Jesus Christ, an event that will fulfill aspects of Messianic prophecy such as the resurrection of the dead, last judgment and full establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth (also called the Reign of God), including the... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Within certain variations of Gnosticism, especially those inspired by Monoimus, the Monad was the highest God which created lesser gods, or elements (similar to aeons). ... Look up blasphemy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Both the Synoptics and the Gospel of John state that early in the morning the Sanhedrin reach their conclusion, and bind Jesus, taking him to Pontius Pilate. The Gospel of John treats the Jewish authorities as being responsible for Jesus' death, stating that the Jews brought Jesus to Pilate, that Pilate initially wanted the Jews to judge Jesus by their own laws, but that the Jews object since they want to execute Jesus but don't have the legal authority, according to John 18:31 yet Acts 6:12 records them ordering the stoning of Saint Stephen and also James the Just according to Antiquities of the Jews 20.9.1. The Jesus Seminar's Scholars Version translation notes for John 18:31: "it's illegal for us: The accuracy of this claim is doubtful." However, Dr Donald Guthrie treats the text of John`s description of Pilate as reliable, stating Pilate: "recognised no basis for the serious charge brought against Jesus by his accusers." (IVP New Bible Commentry) Ecce Homo (Behold the Man!), Antonio Ciseris depiction of Pontius Pilate presenting a scourged Jesus to the people of Jerusalem. ... Stoning, or lapidation, refers to a judicial or quasi-judicial execution method carried out by an organized group throwing stones or rocks. ... St. ... Saint James the Just (יעקב Holder of the heel; supplanter; Standard Hebrew Yaʿaqov, Tiberian Hebrew Yaʿăqōḇ), also called James Adelphos, James of Jerusalem, or the Brother of the Lord[1] and sometimes identified with James the Less, (died AD 62) was an important figure in Early Christianity. ... Antiquities of the Jews was a work published by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the year A.D. 93. ... The Jesus Seminar is a research team of about two hundred New Testament scholars founded in 1985 by the late Robert Funk under the auspices of the Westar Institute. ... Dr Donald Guthrie was a British New Testament scholar who wrote several books and worked for the London Bible College, now London School of Theology. ... IVP may stand for: Intravenous pyelogram, a medical test The initial value problem of mathematics Inter-Varsity Press, the publishing wings of the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (in the UK) and Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship (in the US) This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a...

Criticism of the Sanhedrin Trial

The following are some of the Mosaic Laws that were violated by the Sanhedrin in the trial of Christ: bribery (De 16:19; 27:25); conspiracy and the perversion of judgment and justice (Ex 23:1, 2, 6, 7; Le 19:15, 35); bearing false witness, in which matter the judges connived (Ex 20:16); letting a murderer (Barabbas) go, thereby bringing bloodguilt upon themselves and upon the land (Nu 35:31-34; De 19:11-13); mob action, or 'following a crowd to do evil' (Ex 23:2, 3); in crying out for Jesus to be impaled, they were violating the law that prohibited following the statutes of other nations and that also prescribed no torture but that provided that a criminal be stoned or put to death before being hung on a stake (Le 18:3-5; De 21:22); they accepted as king one not of their own nation, but a pagan (Caesar), and rejected the King whom God had chosen (De 17:14, 15); and finally, they were guilty of murder (Ex 20:13). Torah, (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or especially law. It primarily refers to the first section of the Tanakh–the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, or the Five Books of Moses, but can also be used in the general sense to also include both the Written... Ochlocracy (Greek: οχλοκρατια; Latin: ochlocratia) is government by mob or a disorganized mass of people. ...

The Sanhedrin, or any other Jewish court was forbidden to sit at night (Ex 18:24) nor could it meet during a festival, as it was the first night of Passover (Num 28:18). Scholars in the area of biblical criticism take these inconsistancies with Jewish practice to indicate that such a trial most likely did not take place. This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

Holding all Jews, past and present, accountable for these violations, is characteristic of Christian antisemitism, and is also called the doctrine of deicide. This article is about the history of Christianity and anti-Semitism. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The Scholars Version notes for Mark 14:53-72: "...It is difficult to reconcile much of Mark's picture with known Jewish judicial procedures: a secret court session, at night, with trumped-up and contradictory evidence. Jesus' initial refusal to speak is no defense. Finally Jesus' avowal of his messiahship (14:62) provokes the desired verdict."

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia article on Jesus: The Last Supper: The Jewish Encyclopedia was an encyclopedia originally published between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. ...

There could be no question of anything corresponding to a trial taking place on this occasion before the Sanhedrin. Whatever inquest was made must have occurred during the Thursday night and outside Jerusalem (for on entering the city a prisoner would have had to be given up to the Roman garrison), and can not have been held before a quorum of the seventy-one members of the Sanhedrin. It is more probable that the twenty-three members of the priestly section of the latter, who had most reason to be offended with Jesus' action in cleansing the Temple, met informally after he had been seized, and elicited sufficient to justify them in their own opinion in delivering him over to the Romans as likely to cause trouble by his claims or pretensions to the Messiahship, which, of course, would be regarded by them as rebellion against Rome. Nothing corresponding to a Jewish trial took place, though it was by the action of the priests that Jesus was sent before Pontius Pilate. The Gospels speak in the plural of the high priests who condemned him — a seeming contradiction to Jewish law which might throw doubt upon their historic character. Two, however, are mentioned, Joseph Caiaphas and Annas (Hanan), his father-in-law. Hanan had been deposed from the high-priesthood by Valerius Gratus, but he clearly retained authority and some prerogatives of the high priest, as most of those who succeeded him were relatives of his; and he may well have intervened in a matter touching so nearly the power of the priests. According to the Talmud, Hanan's bazaars were on the Mount of Olives, and probably therefore also his house; this would thus have become the appropriate place for the trial by the Sanhedrin, which indeed just about this time had moved its place of session thither.

The narrative of Jesus and the Money Changers occurs in both the Synoptic Gospels and in the Gospel of John, although it occurs close to the end of the Synoptic Gospels (at Mark 11:15-19, 11:27-33, Matthew 21:12-17, 21:23-27 and Luke 19:45...

See also

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

For the tractate in the Mishnah, see Sanhedrin (tractate). ... Pontius Pilate (Latin Pontius Pilatus) was the governor of the small Roman province of Judea from 26 until 36? AD although Tacitus believed him to be the procurator of that province. ... The Passion is the theological term used for the suffering, both physical and mental, of Jesus in the hours prior to and including his trial and execution by crucifixion. ... Gethsemane by Wassilij Grigorjewitsch Perow The Arrest of Jesus is a pivotal event recorded in the Canonical Gospels, in which Jesus is arrested. ... It has been suggested that Christian opposition to anti-Semitism be merged into this article or section. ... Judaism and Christianity are two closely related Abrahamic religions that in some ways parallel each other and in other ways fundamentally diverge in theology and practice. ... After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai relocated to the city of Yavne/Jamnia and founded a school of Jewish law there, becoming a major source for the later Mishna. ... Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halakhot and Halachah with pronunciation emphasis on the third syllable, kha), is the collective corpus of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law as well as customs and traditions. ...

References

• Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament Doubleday 1997 ISBN 0-385-24767-2
• 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