"The Sandhedrin Delivers Jesus to Pilate"

Matthew 27:1-2: When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.

As the Jews had no authority, under the Roman regime, to visit the death penalty upon anyone, they were unable to carry out the Levitical law which condemned a blasphemer to death (Leviticus 24:15-16), unless they took things into their own hands and acted contrary to the code imposed upon them by Caesar's government. They later did thin in the case of Stephen who, like his Lord, was charged with blasphemy

In the case of Jesus the chief priests and other leaders were anxious to shift the responsibility for His death to the Romans, in order that the people who had heard Jesus gladly might not turn indignation upon them. Therefore, having declared Him worthy of death their next move was to bring Him before Pilate, the procurator of Judea at that time.

They waited until daybreak before taking Jesus to Pilate. Someone probably remembered in their excitement to complete the trial that it was illegal to have a trial in the night. Thus, it was significant that they waited until daybreak before taking their case to the Governor.

It is likely that Pilate had alreay heard of Jesus as some harmless zealot of a Jewish sect. Now Pilate is called upon to pass judgment upon Christ as a seditionist, who was endeavoring to arouse the populace for rebellion against Rome and to accept Him as their King instead of Caesar. Of course, none of this had been discussed when Jesus was under examination by the Jewish Sanhedrin. They were wise enough to know that Pilate could care less about Jewish law.

To Pilate, this was a forsaken outpost of the Roman Empire. Rome never had a favorable attitude toward the Jews, and had only contempt toward their laws. Thus, an argument that would bring Cesar into the mix was necessary to win Pilate's approval.

It is interesting, as a sidelight, to know that liberal critics of the Bible enjoyed making fun of the name "Pilate" as there was no outside proof that there was a Procurator by that name in Judea. in 1931 in Ceaserea, the place on the coast of the Mediterranean where Paul would later be bound, they found an inscription with the name of Pilate and the name of the emperor. Liberals then had to retreat to some other criticism. How thankful we can be for archaeology, which only proves the Bible true!