Jesus was on His way up to Jerusalem, performing many astonishing miracles along the way. The Sanhedrin got to hear about it, and a council was called to determine what to do: "The chief priests therefore, and the Pharisees, gathered a council, and said: What do we, for this man doth many miracles? If we let him alone so, all will believe in him; and the Romans will come, and take away our place and nation. But one of them, named Caiphas, being the high priest that year, said to them: You know nothing. Neither do you consider that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this he spoke not of himself: but being the high priest of that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation. And not only for the nation, but to gather together in one the children of God, that were dispersed. From that day therefore they devised to put him to death." John 11:46-52
This is interesting. The text in italics indicates that because Caiphas was High Priest that year, spoke with almost Divine/Prophetic authority. He presents the death of Jesus as necessary, to prevent a popular revolt that the Jewish authorities will not be able to contain and this will allow the Romans to intervene and put it down with typical harshness. Also, they can use the death to rally the people back to rabinnical Judaism, as Josiah had done centuries earier at the start of the Second Temple Era when he 'discovered' the Book of the Law in the ruins of the temple.
The Sanhedrin arrested Jesus, "And the chief priests and the whole council sought false witness against Jesus, that they might put him to death" (Matthew 26:59-60). The take Him up to Caiphas, who sends Him on to Pilate, who wants to keep well out of it, the last thing he wants is a populist martyr, and sends Him up to Herod Antipas to sort out, who sends Him back to Pilate who, faced with a riot,'washes his hands' of the affair, condemns Him to death, and tells the Jews he's doing it at their insistence (cf Matthew 27:24).
A note: The Jews took Jesus to Pilate because they said it was unlawful for them to execute a man. This was patently not true, as they tried to stone Him on previous occasions, and had the authority to try, condemn and execute their own people on religious grounds — they were going to stone the woman taken in adultery, were they not? — but the Jews wanted Jesus dead, but wanted someone else to do it, in case they became the object of populist discord, so they employed false witnesses and whipped up a mob to see that it was done.
