Jesus and Authority

The High Priest was a member of the Sanhedrin in Palestine at the time of Jesus. True or False?

True

Describe the role the Sanhedrin played in Palestine at the time of Jesus

• The Sanhedrin was the Jewish court of law.
• It was based in the Temple in Jerusalem.
• The Sanhedrin had the power to punish Jews who broke religious laws but had no power to punish those who broke civil laws.
• This group had a lot of control over the lives of ordinary Jews.
• The Sadducees co-operated with the Roman authorities in the Temple.
• They also valued the wealth and progress that the Romans had brought to Palestine.
• The Sadducees co-operated with the Romans because they wanted to safeguard the Temple.

Explain two reasons why there was conflict between the Roman and Jewish leaders in Palestine at the time of Jesus.

• Jews believed that God gave them Palestine and they should be ruled by God alone.
• Jews believed that the land of Palestine had been promised to them and that the Romans were interfering with their religion.
• Jews wanted to be free and wait for a Messiah to free them from Roman rule.
• The Romans forced the Jews to obey Roman laws and to pay taxes.
• These taxes went towards the upkeep of the Roman army.
• There was always unrest in the country of Palestine.
• Roman soldiers always patrolled the street.
• Jews barely had enough money for their own food and clothes.
• They were angry because they had to pay these taxes.

Examine the way in which the Jewish religion was structured in Palestine at the time of Jesus.

• The Temple in Jerusalem was the holiest and most sacred place for the Jews to worship.
• A big effort was made to visit the Temple at least once a year, especially during the Passover season.
• The Sanhedrin was the Jewish court of law and they could punish Jews who broke religious laws.
• The High Priest in the Sanhedrin was always a Sadducee.
• The four Jewish religious groups at the time of Jesus were the pharisees, sadducees, essenes and zealots.
• The pharisees were in charge of local synagogues where rabbis would teach the Law of God.
• The sadducees were in charge of the Temple and they co-operated with the Romans because they wanted to keep their control of the Temple.
• The essenes resided in remote areas such as deserts to focus on their faith.
• The zealots were revolutionaries willing to use violence to fight for freedom from the Romans.

---

• Outline what happened when Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin.
• Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin because they wanted to find out how much of a threat Jesus actually was.
• Many witnesses were called forward and Jesus was continuously questioned.
• Eventually, the High Priest asked Jesus "Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?"
• When Jesus didn't deny this and said that he had a special relationship with God, he committed blasphemy for claiming that he was equal to God.
• This broke the Jewish law.
• The Sanhedrin gave their verdict that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy and brought Jesus to Pontius Pilate because the Sanhedrin did not have the ability to sentence anyone to death.

Outline two reasons why the incident you have described above led to the death of Jesus.

• When Jesus came into conflict with the Pharisees on the Sabbath, the Pharisees
• believed that the law must come first.
• The Pharisees paid attention to all of the smallest details in the Jewish law.
• Jesus challenged the beliefs of the Pharisees and said that people had the right to
• change the law.
• Jesus believed that people could interpret the law in any way to suit their own needs.
• The Pharisees were angered that Jesus thought that he was the expert of the Kingdom of God.
• The Pharisees believed that only their views were right and that Jesus was a sinner.
• The Pharisees did not want to interact with sinners.
• Pharisees wanted Jesus to be sentenced to death.