Verse 53
‘And they led Jesus away to the high priest, and there come together with him all the chief priests, and the elders and the scribes.’
This was the pre-trial judicial examination before Caiaphas. ‘All’ is not to be taken literally. The point is that each group in the Sanhedrin was represented by those attending, the Chief Priests representing the Sadducees, the elders representing lay people, and the scribes representing the Pharisees. They were ‘all’ there. Whatever conclusions were then reached would be brought for ratification before the full Sanhedrin in the morning (Mark 15:1).
We must beware of describing the proceedings as illegal. There were sufficient distinguished people present here to ensure that the legal requirements were on the whole maintained. Stretched they may have been, but they were not broken. And it was not a trial. That would not have suited their purpose, for had the Sanhedrin intended to pass and carry out the death penalty they would by their laws have had to wait twenty four hours before doing the latter. This was to be circumvented by passing the case to Pilate who was under no such restriction.
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