And immediately in the morning the chief priests, after consulting with the elders, the scribes, and the whole council, bound Jesus and led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate.
This hurried morning consultation shows that the leaders had already condemned Christ in their hearts, and now were only trying to give their unjust decision a legal appearance. They bind Him who came to set people free from the bonds of sin. Since the carrying out of the death sentence was in the hands of the Roman authority, they hand Him over to Pilate. Thus religious envy and political power unite against the Son of God. On the other hand, their evil counsel could not be outside God’s providence: Christ is handed over into the hands of the Gentiles, as He Himself had said beforehand, so that His death might become salvation both for Jews and for Gentiles.