Crime Library: Criminal Minds and Methods

The Trial of Jesus Christ and The Last Supper

Matthew's Account

The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 26, verses 47-68; Chapter 27, verses 1-26, adds a few more details.   Caiaphas is mentioned by name as the High Priest.  Matthew specifies that there were two false witnesses (about tearing down the temple).  After the same questions and answers as described in the other Gospels, Caiaphas, as in Mark, rent his clothes.  Like Mark, this interrogation took place the same night as the arrest.

Pontius Pilate by Giotto
Pontius Pilate by Giotto
An interesting aspect of Pilate is that in both Mark and Matthew, Pilate realizes that the High Priests envy Jesus, that is, they fear the usurpation of their authority by him.    Also, as Pilate is in the process of judging Jesus, his wife tells him to have nothing to do with Jesus, because she had an unpleasant dream about him, a strange detail for Matthew to add to his account.  What has Pilates wife to do with all of this?

The account continues as with the other two Gospels, except for two notable items.   Pilate washes his hands before the crowd, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.  Then comes one of the most far-reaching statements in the New Testament, which has caused enduring rifts between Christians and Jews: Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.  This is the first Gospel contribution to our second mystery:  Who is responsible for the death of Jesus?

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