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On what day did the Sanhedrim visit Pilate for the purpose of obtaining a guard?
Matthew: On the Sabbath ([xxvii, 62]).
Matthew, after describing the death and burial of Jesus, says: “Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate.” It is generally conceded by Christian commentators that by “the next day” Matthew refers to the Sabbath, for if Jesus was crucified and buried on Friday, no other day can be meant. To avoid the disagreeable consequences of such an admission a few have contended that by “the day of preparation” is meant the Preparation of the Passover. But this renders the passage unintelligible. By “preparation” Matthew means, not the Preparation of the Passover, but the preparation of the Sabbath. This is made clear by the other Synoptics. After relating the events of the crucifixion, Mark begins his account of the burial with these words: “And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath” ([xv, 42]). Luke, after giving an account of the crucifixion and burial, says: “And that day was the preparation and the Sabbath drew on” ([xxiii, 54]).
It is claimed by the Evangelists that the Jewish priests of that period were such rigid observers of the Sabbath that they sought to put Jesus to death for simply healing the sick on that day. That the Sanhedrim desecrated the Sabbath, and especially the Passover Sabbath, by visiting and transacting business with a heathen ruler cannot be accepted as possible.