In this extended passage (Matthew 26:57-75), we find an account of Jesus’ trial or at least an informal hearing before the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish judicial council in the land, a kind of
supreme court (Mat. 26:57-68). It was still under the jurisdiction of the Romans and could not carry out a sentence of death unless approved by the Romans (See John 18:31). The council charged Jesus with blasphemy and ruled that He was deserving of death (see Leviticus 24:16).
In second part of this passage, we find an account of Peter’s denial of Jesus (Mat. 26:69-75) which the Lord had predicted earlier (26:34). Those who arrested Jesus in Gethsemane led Him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders were assembled (vs. 57). Peter followed at a distance, and entered the high priest’s courtyard to see what the outcome would be. It was during this time that he was asked three times about Jesus and his relationship to Him. And three times Peter denied Him. When the rooster crowed, Peter remembered the word of Jesus. Matthew wrote, “So he went out and wept bitterly.”