Matthew 27:1–2 (ESV) — 1 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. 2 And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor.
NOTE: I wonder if this was the perfunctory meeting to dot the "i's" and cross the "t's." Legally, the middle of the night meeting at a home was not legal. Now they meet in the morning to officially vote during the day in the official chamber, but the decision was already made earlier at the High Priest's home. Technically, they did not have the authority to put Jesus to death unless he had desecrated the temple. They did have a lot of temple testimony, but none of it related to desecration. The best they could do was a charge of blasphemy (Jesus' claim to be the Son of God), but they could not execute a person for that charge under Roman rule. If they were an independent power, they could have executed Jesus, but Roman rule required Roman involvement. Therefore, Jesus was killed by Jew and Gentile. What was the Gentile charge? Pilate never saw a sufficient charge although the Jews pressed the idea of insurrection, and "another king like Caesar." In the end, only a potential riot forced Pilate's hand. Pilate out-thought himself. He knew there was no charge worth of death but assumed when Barabbas and Jesus were put side by side on Passover, the Jewish crowd would free Jesus. Consequently, Jesus is sentenced to death for no charge (from the Romans -- Gentiles). His only charge (from the Jews) was that He claimed to be God, which he was, so that charge was not punishable by death.
PONDER:
- The coincidences of events are quite amazing. Are they really just coincidences or was a Sovereign God directing the events of the most momentous moment in human history?
PRAYER: Father, I pray we would not be dull to your incredible involvement in human history. I pray we would not miss the significance because of familiarity.
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