Reflections on the Trials of Jesus extra detail of Pilate’s being seated on his tribunal (:), with the anec-
dote of his wife’s dream, and the detail of his washing his hands (derived
from Deut. :–). The rest follows as in Mark, except that the reported
inscription on the cross is longer: ‘‘This is Jesus, the king of the Jews’’ (:).
The narration is thus a little fuller, with extra details, and occupies sixty-
four verses, or a matter of a chapter and a half. The structure is identical: two
examinations, neither in the form of a trial concluded by a verdict, and an
order for crucifixion prompted by the demands of the crowd.
LukeLuke’s account similarly follows a Last Supper which involves the eating
of the paschal lamb (:–), and begins with the arrival on the Mount
of Olives of Judas with a ‘‘crowd’’ (ochlos), not otherwise identified (:).
When Jesus addresses them, however, they turn out to be (or to include) high
priests, captains (stratēgoi) of the temple, and elders. They take Jesus to the
house (oikos) of the high priest, who is not named. Peter’s denial follows (:
–), but the structure of the narrative then becomes crucially different.
Forwhendawnbreaksaformalcouncilofthepeople(to presbyterion tou laou)
is convened: ‘‘high priests and scribes, and they took him to thesynhedrion’’
(:). The shift is crucial in two different ways. Firstly, Luke transfers to
here Jesus’ reply to the question as to whether he is theChristos, and his answer
quoting Daniel. Secondly, this passage is the only one in the four Gospels
which seems to represent a formal meeting of the body normally known in
modern literature as ‘‘the Sanhedrin.’’ This concept has its problems, as we
will see below; and the termpresbyterionis used of ‘‘the Sanhedrin’’ only by
Luke himself (otherwise in Acts :). However, Luke clearly intends to dif-
ferentiate between an examination at night in the house of the high priest
and some sort of formal meeting of a council in the morning. None the less,
even here, no concluding verdict of the meeting is represented.
Luke continues by specifying, as neither Mark nor Matthew does, exactly
what accusations were put forward when Jesus was brought before Pilate:
‘‘We have found this man disturbing our people, preventing them from giv-
ing tribute to Caesar and calling himselfChristos Basileus’’ (:). However,
Pilate asks the same question, ‘‘Are you the king of the Jews?’’ Luke then gives
a unique twist to the story by having the high priest (and the crowd?) say
that Jesus has been upsetting the people, teaching throughout Judaea, begin-
ning from Galilee. This prompts Pilate to ask if Jesus is a Galilean, and, on
discovering that he is, to send him for examination to Herodes (i.e., Herodes
Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea), who happens to be in Jerusalem.