15:1–5 In this passage the Jewish leaders meet to make a formal decision about Jesus (v. 1) and they hand him over to Pilate, the Roman governor, whose interrogation of Jesus is then briefly described (vv. 2–5). All three Synoptic Gospels record a morning meeting of the Jewish Council to deal with Jesus (cf. Matt. 27:1; Luke 22:66), which is further evidence that any hearing held during the night must have been either an interrogation or some sort of pretrial hearing, not a formal trial. Otherwise no additional morning meeting would have been necessary.

The reason for taking Jesus to Pilate is not given in the Synoptics, but in John 18:31 we are told that the Jewish Council did not then have the right to carry out executions. This has been disputed by some scholars, but there is sufficien…