To murder someone and get away with it, you need a good plan.
That’s what the leaders in
So they got together at the palace of the high priest, Caiaphas. Other leading priests were there, along with some Pharisees. The ruling council in
“Here’s what we need to do. We need to secretly arrest him, then do away with him.”
“Yes, but not during the Feast. The people might go crazy.”
During the Passover, hundreds of thousand of Jews were in
Those leaders precisely did not want to arrest Jesus during the Feast. That’s why they didn’t arrest Him during what we now call His “Triumphal Entry” into
They knew what they wanted to do, but not exactly how to pull it off. So they put the word out, “If you find out where Jesus is, report it so we can make plans to arrest him.”
Meanwhile, their secret meeting was no secret to Jesus. In Matthew 26:2 Jesus told His disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away – and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
Now look at what happened in the spiritual realm. About the same time the leaders hatched their plot to murder Jesus, Luke 22 makes this ominous statement, “Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot…and Judas went to the chief priests…and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.”
How fortunate. At the very time they were fishing for a way to arrest Jesus in secret, an insider comes forward offering to betray Him. Now all they had to do was wait to hear back from Judas.
Soon enough the time came. The disciples gathered in an upper room to commemorate the Passover, just like so many others were doing that night. It was a ceremonial meal which included the passing of a common cup of wine. Early in the meal, Jesus dropped a bomb.
“Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.”
This is the first time Jesus said anything about being betrayed by one of His own disciples, and they were shocked. Matthew 26 says, “They were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, ‘Lord, is it I?’” Judas played along, and the meal continued, but with a more somber tone.
Eventually Jesus told Judas, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” So Judas left, but the others did not know what he was doing.
With the betrayer gone, Jesus veered from the traditional Passover ceremony. At this point He instituted what we now call the Lord’s Supper. He took the cup and said, “…this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins…”
Meanwhile, Judas was about to earn his money. The officials had been alerted. Judas knew where Jesus was going next, to one of their favorite spots, an olive grove called the
Jesus knew what would happen there that night, but the disciples did not. Jesus tried to warn them. In Matthew 26, apparently as they walked along, He said, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me.”
Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”
And Jesus answered, “This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
It was likely about midnight when they arrived at the
When they entered the garden, Jesus asked most of the disciples to stay closer to the entrance while He took Peter, James and John further in. The heaviness of the moment began to settle on Jesus. He said, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful. Stay here and watch with Me.”
Then alone He went deeper into the garden, fell on His face and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Your will be done.”
Luke 22 says, “His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground…” as He contemplated the “cup.” The cup was not the arrest or the torture or even His death. The cup was the outpouring of divine wrath He would endure, the cup of God’s judgment on the sins of the world.
Three times Jesus came back to his disciples, and three times he found them sleeping when they were supposed to be praying. He said to Peter, “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Jesus Himself must have felt that weakness of body as He kept praying the same thing, wishing to avoid what was coming. Yet He did not give in, concluding, “Not My will, but Your will be done.”
The third time He returned to His disciples He declared, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
(as heard on Wave 94.1 FM)
The Plot – Matthew 26:3-5, John 11:47-57
The Garden of
I was inspired by and gleaned information from one of my favorite books, “The Murder of Jesus” by John MacArthur.
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