And since history did not occupy the thoughts of the ancient Christians so much, it is not surprising that we have only fragmentary information about the trial of Jesus, and there are many open questions about this matter. Here are just some of the difficulties that the historian faces:

1. The enemies of Jesus came mainly from the ranks of the Sadducees, who were responsible for law and order in the country until the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D. Therefore, it was they, the Sadducees, who determined what was right. Since, after the destruction of Jerusalem, the Sadducees disappeared from the public life of Judaism, the "Sadducean law", according to which in the time of Jesus Christ the Supreme Council, the Sanhedrin, passed sentences, also ceased to exist. That is why we do not know in detail what the laws that determined the trial of Jesus sounded.

For this reason, we cannot say with certainty whether Jesus was formally sentenced to death by the Sanhedrin on the same night (which was forbidden by "Pharisaic law"), or whether the Sanhedrin only brought charges against Jesus during the night for trial before Pilate. It is also debatable whether the Jews of the time of Jesus Christ had the right to pronounce death sentences at all, or whether the occupying Roman authorities were not too principled in their right to do so.

2. Further, it is not clear whether Pilate released on each Passover one prisoner for whom the Jewish people asked him. As Mark writes: "And at every feast he released to them one prisoner for whom they asked" (15:6). The fact is that historians have no other evidence of such a custom. Perhaps the case with Barabbas was an isolated one.

a) Jesus before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin.

14.53-64 — "And they brought Jesus to the high priest; And all the chief priests, and the elders, and the scribes gathered together to him. Peter followed Him from afar, even inside the court of the high priest; and sat with the attendants, and warmed himself by the fire. The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin sought testimony against Jesus, in order to put Him to death; And they did not find it. For many have borne false witness against Him, but these testimonies have not been sufficient. And some stood up, bearing false witness against him, and said, We have heard him say, I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will raise up another one not made with hands. But even such a testimony was not enough. Then the high priest stood in the midst and asked Jesus, "Why do you not answer?" why do they bear witness against Thee? But He was silent and did not answer anything. Again the high priest asked Him and said to Him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? Jesus said, "I; and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his garments, and said, "What more witnesses have we to do? You have heard blasphemy; What do you think? And they all found Him guilty of death."

After Jesus' arrest, he was brought before the high priest, to whom "all the chief priests, and the elders, and the scribes were gathered together unto him." They formed the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Council, the political representation of the Jewish people. The Sanhedrin consisted of 70 members and a chairman, who was the high priest. Its composition depended on the political situation. The Sanhedrin consisted of priests, mostly Sadducees, scribes, mostly Pharisees, and elders as respected members of the Jewish nobility. At that time, the power of the Sanhedrin was limited because the real rulers were the Romans. But in religious matters he had full power. He was responsible for caring for the temple and resolving issues of religious practice. In part, he even had some police and judicial power. As the Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin was responsible for trials of national importance. However, he was not competent to pronounce a death sentence. His function was not to convict the accused, but to prepare the accusation, on the basis of which the accused would be tried in a Roman court. The ideal procedural rules of the Sanhedrin are set forth in the Talmud. Of course, everyday practice was far from these ideal norms. In any case, the trial of Jesus, as it is presented very briefly in the Gospels, was accompanied by a number of violations of the law.

Thus, for example, the Court could not sit at night, as well as on the day of the great feast. Witness testimony was given on an individual basis, and only those testimonies that coincided in the smallest details were recognized as true. Each member of the Sanhedrin had to express his decision individually, from the youngest to the senior. And so on. We see that in their desire to remove Jesus, the Jewish authorities did not hesitate to violate their own laws.

But we will talk about the most important points of the process in the next conversation.

Discourse 40.

4. Trial and sentence.