Luke 22:71

And they said, What further need have we of witness? for we ourselves have heard from his own mouth.

By the sheer power of morality and intellect, Jesus at last forced the officialdom of the Hebrews into using the only charge that he would permit them to use, namely, his claim to be the divine Messiah. All of the other charges which they had so maliciously advocated against him for so long, such as sabbath breaking, casting out demons by the power of the devil, etc., all dropped out of sight here, even that garbled quote about destroying the temple; and the only reason the leaders had for demanding Jesus' death came into view, not merely here, but in every one of the four gospels, that being that "he made himself the Son of God" (John 19:7). That was the issue that Jesus chose to seal with the blood of the cross; and the fury of the Sanhedrin at being forced to face the issue became apparent in their deceitful conduct before Pilate.

This, of course, was the death penalty, pronounced by the sacred court of the Jews; but the fact of the death penalty having been removed from their jurisdiction sent the next phase of the trials into the courts of the Gentiles. Wonderful, wonderful was the appearance of Jesus in these fantastic trials, wherein he so gloriously attested his eternal power and Godhead.