According to an article by The Daily Beast entitled “Sorry, America, You’re Wrong, the Jews Did Not Kill Jesus” the 25% of Americans who attributed the blame of Jesus’ death to Jews are slandered for possessing some form of illogical bias. The article contains the following:
In many ways it is strange that anyone continues to think this. In the wake of World War II a number of Christian leaders and organizations issued formal statements on this topic. The Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church categorically stated that the Jews as a whole could not be blamed for the death of Jesus.
And yet, some fifty odd years later, a quarter of regular Americans still think that Jews are to blame.
Really? Sigh.
In the New Testament, the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus refers to the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin (a Jewish judicial body) following his arrest in Jerusalem and prior to his dispensation by Pontius Pilate. It is an event reported by all four canonical gospels of the New Testament.
Jesus is generally quiet, does not mount a defense, and rarely responds to the accusations, but is condemned by the Jewish authorities when he will not deny that he is the Son of God. The Jewish leaders then take Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the governor of Roman Judaea, and ask that he be tried for claiming to be the King of the Jews.
Luke 22:54 states that Jesus was taken to “the high priest’s house” (without naming the priest), where he was mocked and beaten that night. It is added in 22:66 that, “as soon as it was day”, the chief priests and scribes gathered together and led Jesus away into their council.
Mark 14:55–59 states that the chief priests had sought witness against Jesus to put him to death but did not find any, so they arranged false witness against him, but their witnesses did not agree together. Mark 14:61 states that the high priest then asked Jesus: “Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said “I am”, at which point the high priest tore his own robe in anger and accused Jesus of blasphemy. In Matthew 26:63, the high priest asks: “tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus responds “You have said it”, prompting the High Priest to tear his own robe.
Thereafter, in Pilate’s Court, the Jewish elders ask Pontius Pilate to judge and condemn Jesus, accusing him of claiming to be the King of the Jews. Such a claim would be considered treasonous, being a direct challenge to the Roman authorities.
