But that law, although it had not undergone any alteration as to the affairs of religion, had no longer any coercive power as to the external or civil regulations of society. In vain would they have undertaken to pronounce sentence of death under the circumstances of the case of Jesus; the council of the Jews had not the power to pass a sentence of death; it only would have had power to make an accusation against him before the governor, or his deputy, and then deliver him over to be tried by him.
Let us distinctly establish this point; for here I entirely differ in opinion from Mr. Salvador. According to him, (p. 88), “the Jews had reserved the power of trying, according to their law; but it was in the hands of the procurator alone, that the executive power was vested; every culprit must be put to death by his consent, in order that the senate should not have the means of reaching persons that were sold to foreigners.”
No; the Jews had not reserved the right of passing sentence of death. This right had been transferred to the Romans by the very act of conquest; and this was not merely that the senate should not have the means of reaching persons who were sold to foreign countries; but it was done, in order that the conqueror might be able to reach those individuals who should become impatient of the yoke; it was, in short, for the equal protection of all, as all had become Roman subjects; and to Rome alone belonged the highest judicial power, which is the principal attribute of sovereignty. Pilate, as the representative of Cæsar in Judea, was not merely an agent of the executive authority, which would have left the judiciary and legislative power in the hands of the conquered people—he was not simply an officer appointed to give an exequatur or mere approval (visa) to sentences passed by another authority, the authority of the Jews. When the matter in question was a capital case, the Roman authorities not only ordered the execution of a sentence, but also took cognizance (cognitio) of the crime; it had the right of jurisdiction à priori, and that of passing judgment in the last resort. If Pilate himself had not had this power by special delegation, vice præsidis, it was vested in the governor, within whose territorial jurisdiction the case occurred; [pg 558] but in any event we hold it to be clear, that the Jews had lost the right of condemning to death any person whatever, not only so far as respects the execution but the passing of the sentence. This is one of the best settled points in the provincial law of the Romans.
The Jews were not ignorant of this; for when they went before Pilate, to ask of him the condemnation of Jesus, they themselves declared, that it was not permitted to them to put any person to death: “It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.” John xviii. 31.
Here I am happy to be able to support myself by the opinion of a very respectable authority, the celebrated Loiseau, in his treatise on Seigneuries, in the chapter on the administration of justice belonging to cities. “In truth,” says he, “there is some evidence, that the police, in which the people had the sole interest, was administered by officers of the people; but I know not upon what were founded the concessions of power to some cities of France to exercise criminal jurisdiction; nor why the Ordinance of Moulins left that to them rather than civil cases; for the criminal jurisdiction is the right of the sword, the merum imperium, or absolute sovereignty. Accordingly, by the Roman law, the administration of justice was so far prohibited to the officers of cities, that they could not punish even by a simple fine. Thus it is doubtless that we must understand that passage of the Gospel, where the Jews say to Pilate, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death; for, after they were subjected to the Romans, they had not jurisdiction of crimes.”
Let us now follow Jesus to the presence of Pilate.
Section IX.—The Accusation made before Pilate.
At this point I must entreat the particular attention of the reader. The irregularities and acts of violence, which I have hitherto remarked upon, are nothing in comparison with the unbridled fury, which is about to display itself before the Roman Judge, in order to extort from him, against his own conviction, a sentence of death.
“And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders, and scribes, and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.” Mark xv. 1.
As soon as the morning was come; for, as I have observed already, every thing which had been done thus far against Jesus was done during the night.