“Et confestim mane consilium facientes summi sacerdotes cum senioribus, et scribis, et universo concilio, vincientes Jesum, duxerunt, et tradiderunt Pilato.”
“And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.”
“Early in the morning, the chief priests, elders, scribes, and the whole Sanhedrin devised a plan. They bound Jesus, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate.”
“Immediately in the morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him up to Pilate.”
“And straightway in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him up to Pilate.”
Christ being bound before the judgment seat of an earthly judge, in open assembly is condemned as guilty unto the death of the cross, not for his own sins, (as appeareth by the judge’s own words) but for all ours, that we most guilty creatures being delivered from the guiltiness of our sins, might be quitted before the judgment seat of God, even in the open assembly of the Angels. It was not lawful for them to put any man to death, for all causes of life and death were taken away from them, first by Herod the great, and afterward by the Romans, about forty years before the destruction of the Temple, and therefore they deliver Jesus to Pilate. Cross references: : Matt. 27:1 ; Luke 22:66 ; John 18:19
It was customary with the Jews to bind and deliver over to the Roman governors those whom they had condemned in their own councils; but we must not suppose that this was the first time they bound Jesus; for, as St. John informs us, when first they apprehended him, they put manacles upon him. (Ven. Bede)
What we read of the sufferings of Christ, in the foregoing chapter, was but the prologue or introduction; here we have the completing of them. We left him condemned by the chief priests; but they could only show their teeth, they could not bite. Here we have him, I. Arraigned and accused before Pilate the Roman governor, ver 1-5. II. Cried out against by the common people, at the instigation of the priests, ver 6-14. III. Condemned to be crucified immediately, ver 15. IV. Bantered and abused, as a mock-king, by the Roman soldiers, ver 16-19. V. Led out to the place of execution with all possible ignominy and disgrace, ver 20-24. VI. Nailed to the cross between two thieves, ver 25-28. VII. Reviled and abused by all that passed by, ver 29-32. VIII. Forsaken for a time by his father, ver 33-36. IX. Dying, and rending the veil, ver 37, 38. X. Attested and witnessed to by the centurion and others, ver 39-41. XI. Buried in the sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea, ver 42-47.
Verses 1-14 They bound Christ. It is good for us often to remember the bonds of the Lord Jesus, as bound with him who was bound for us. By delivering up the King, they, in effect, delivered up the kingdom of God, which was, therefore, as by their own consent, taken from them, and given to another nation. Christ gave Pilate a direct answer, but would not answer the witnesses, because the things they alleged were known to be false, even Pilate himself was convinced they were so. Pilate thought that he might appeal from the priests to the people, and that they would deliver Jesus out of the priests' hands. But they were more and more urged by the priests, and cried, Crucify him! Crucify him! Let us judge of persons and things by their merits, and the standard of God's word, and not by common report. The thought that no one ever was so shamefully treated, as the only perfectly wise, holy, and excellent Person that ever appeared on earth, leads the serious mind to strong views of man's wickedness and enmity to God. Let us more and more abhor the evil dispositions which marked the conduct of these persecutors.