What Was the Sanhedrin?

The Sanhedrin was the highest court and governing council of the Jewish people during the Second Temple period. It consisted of seventy-one members — chief priests, elders, and scribes — presided over by the high priest. Its authority was recognized by Rome in matters of Jewish religious law. The Sanhedrin figures prominently in the Gospels and Acts. It orchestrated Jesus' arrest and trial, charging Him with blasphemy after He affirmed under oath that He was the Christ, the Son of God. It handed Him over to Pilate for crucifixion. After Pentecost, the Sanhedrin arrested Peter and John, forbade them to preach in Jesus' name, and flogged the apostles. It oversaw the stoning of Stephen and later tried Paul. The Sanhedrin represents institutional religious power at its most dangerous — a body with knowledge of the Scriptures yet blind to the One of whom the Scriptures speak. Its history is a sobering warning that religious position without spiritual discernness leads to the rejection of Christ.