Tidbit of history for this time of Year. When Jesus and some of his followers went to the Garden of Gethsemane, and after Jesus went off by himself to pray, Judas Iscariot along with several Roman soldiers and some Jewish religious officials came to where Jesus was, and after being betrayed by a kiss, took him into custody. Then, contrary to Jewish law, a night-time trial was set up by High Priest Caiaphas in order to find reason to have Jesus put to death. This was against the law, but there was a great fear among the Jewish leaders about Jesus, because many people beginning to put faith in him and the promises of a new Kingdom. They felt that if they didn't do something to stop Jesus, the Romans (who were actually ruling over the Jews at the time) would take strong action and they would lose the freedoms they did have, because the Romans wold not have tolerated any uprising by the Jews, and put their own ruler over the Jews totally, and they didn't want that.
Even though the trial was illegal, in the morning Jesus was handed over to the Romans, because the Jews didn't have the authority (according to the Romans) to carry out a death penalty, which they had concluded to be justified during the night trial. The Jewish Sanhedrin (religious court) had determined that Jesus had blasphemed and was to be put to death. So over to the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate Jesus went, and despite offering to release another prisoner (Barabbas) instead, as was a custom with the Romans, the Jews wanted Jesus killed. So, also in fear for his political life, Pilate conceded, and had it done. Before sunset, and the end of the day of Nisan 14, Jesus was dead.
