Matthew 26 records how Jewish leaders condemned Jesus for blasphemy because He said He was the Son of God. Under the law of Moses, the penalty for blasphemy was death. But the Jews lived under Roman rule and could not execute anyone without Roman permission. Furthermore, blasphemy was not punishable by death under Roman law. Matthew 27 records how the Jews changed their charge when they took Jesus before Pilate. They accused Jesus of claiming to be king of the Jews, which was punishable by death as treason against the Roman government.Although the Resurrection of Jesus is of greatest importance as a witness that He is the Christ, Elder Gordon B. Hinckley, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, reminded us that “no member of this Church must ever forget the terrible price paid by our Redeemer who gave his life that all men might live—the agony of Gethsemane, the bitter mockery of his trial, the vicious crown of thorns tearing at his flesh, the blood cry of the mob before Pilate, the lonely burden of his heavy walk along the way to Calvary, the terrifying pain as great nails pierced his hands and feet, the fevered torture of his body as he hung that tragic day. …“… We must never forget it, for here our Savior, our Redeemer, the Son of God, gave himself a vicarious sacrifice for each of us” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1975, 137; or Ensign, May 1975, 93).While reading Matthew 27 you may want to mark the parts you want always to remember.