Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 27:1

"Now when morning was come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:" — Matthew 27:1 (ASV)

Whether this formal decision was reached as a final stage of the first meeting or at a separate meeting held either in Caiaphas’s house or the temple precincts, we cannot say with certainty. Luke 22:66 implies a meeting in the council chamber.

The religious authorities decided just how to present their case to Pilate. If their own concern was Jesus’ “blasphemy” (26:65), they were nevertheless more likely to get Pilate to sentence him to death by stressing the royal side of messiahship rather than blasphemy, since to Pilate that would suggest treason.