Hey everybody! Thank you for joining me in daily Bible reading as we seek to glorify Jesus, know Him more, and interpret the truth of His Word.
If this is your first time going through the Bible, I am incredibly excited to have you here. If this is your 5000th time, I am humbled that you are here and hope you grow in your relationship with Jesus along with me. May we all seek to know Him more and apply what we learn to further our mission of spreading the gospel. If you missed a day and want to catch up, visit the archives page HERE! But there is no shame if you start today! Day 309, Matthew 26:3-5 — The Plot to Kill Jesus Matthew 26:3-5 (NASB1995) “Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, named Caiaphas; 4 and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him. 5 But they were saying, ‘Not during the festival, otherwise a riot might occur among the people.’” Context Matthew 26 directly follows Jesus’ Olivet Discourse (23-25), as the gospel transitions into its final act. The chapter details the last hours of Jesus’ life before His crucifixion. Review Yesterday, we read about the significance of Passover and its typological connection to Jesus’ death. Following Jesus’ Olivet Discourse (Matthew 23-25), He foretells His coming death to the twelve one last time. Jesus foretold His death before but this one has added weight, as we are just hours from its fulfillment. He also adds that it will happen during Passover. This timing was significant because Passover was a time of celebration for ancient Jews to remember God saving them from Egyptian slavery. During the first Passover in Exodus 12, God ‘passed over’ the homes of His people who marked their houses with the blood of a lamb (Ex. 12:13). The Egyptians who did not faced the angel of death who killed every firstborn son. The symbolism between that story and Jesus’ own Passover narrative here is striking. In the Exodus narrative, God saved His people and passed over their firstborn sons by the blood of lambs in Exodus. However, He will not Passover His own Son in the Passion Narrative because Jesus is the Lamb of God and His blood saves. Thus, just as the ancient Hebrews used the blood of a lamb to save themselves during the first Passover, Jesus is the spotless lamb whose blood will save His people from the penalty of death brought by sin at the last. God could have planned for Jesus’ death to occur at any time. However, God precisely planned for it to happen during Passover week—the very week that has represented His redemption of His people throughout history. We can never overstate the significance of this timing. Discussion Today, we read about the religious leaders’ plot to kill Jesus. We will reference John’s gospel for further context. Even though the religious leaders accused Jesus (Mt. 12:10), challenged His authority (21:23-27), and threatened to put Him to death many times, Jesus continued to proclaim the truth of the kingdom of God and accomplish His will. Jesus also never refrained from the reality of His coming death, foretelling it many times (Mt. 9:14-15; 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:17-19; 26:1-2). While Jesus was preparing His disciples for His death, the religious leaders continued to plot against Him. Matthew writes, “3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, named Caiaphas; 4 and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him. 5 But they were saying, ‘Not during the festival, otherwise a riot might occur among the people.’” The religious leaders have plotted Jesus’ death since the beginning of His ministry (Mt. 12:14). In Matthew 12, they plot to kill Him because He healed a lame man on the sabbath. However, they have had zero justification to condemn Him then, as the Jewish courts of the period could not enforce the death penalty for sabbath violations. Thus, they sought help outside of Mosaic Law. In the Pharisees’ minds, gaining support from somebody with a higher authority or political influence would help them destroy Jesus (i.e., Caesar, the Herodians). In this passage, the religious leaders seek help from the high priest, Caiaphas. Notably, John 11:47-53 provides extensive details about Caiaphas and the council of religious leaders who gather for this plot. John 11:47-48 says, “Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, ‘What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. 48 If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.’” With this added context, we find the religious leaders call together a council to voice concerns about Jesus’ growing influence. This council or ‘Sanhedrin’ was literally the Supreme Court of Israel and its other high-ranking or influential representatives.[1] In the meeting, they admit that Jesus’ miracles were changing the hearts of many and converting them away from Judaism. But their general fear was not about Jesus gaining power and influence—it was a fear of Rome. The Roman Empire occupied most territory at the time and forced all non-Romans to essentially ‘fall in line.’ Since Rome was focused on broader reach, it allowed the religious leaders to keep crumbs of influence as long as the Jewish people were controlled.[2] However, any riots of other forms of revolution from the people would incite the Empire to enforce their wrath upon the Jews and take away the religious leaders power and influence. Thus, Caiaphas’ inclusion in this meeting is highly significant because he was the longest-standing high priest of the first century (18-36 A.D.) and carried influence with Rome that maintained peace.[3] John 11:49-50 adds Caiaphas’ comments about the situation. It says, “49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.’” This comment reveals Caiaphas’ discernment of the situation. He understood the reach of Jesus’ influence and the challenges of managing the people because of it. The religious leaders needed to expedite Jesus’ death before it was too late—and they needed to do it quietly to avoid inciting a revolt for two reasons. First, since Caiaphas had influence with Rome, he knew that waiting to kill Jesus would lead to mass bloodshed as His influence grew. In theory, Jesus’ fame could have outgrown Rome, leading to a war for power. But obviously, this was not why Jesus came. Second, killing Jesus publicly would lead to the people revolting against the religious leaders (Mt. 21:26). This would likely have forced Rome to intervene and likely cause mass bloodshed. Ironically, this happened anyway in 66-70 A.D. when the Jews revolted against Rome over taxes. Thus, Caiaphas’ idea of eliminating one man for the sake of many made logical sense (i.e., ‘for the greater good’). If they could kill Jesus quietly, then it would save millions of Jewish lives.[4] Conversely, failing in this plot would lead to Rome’s wrath. Furthermore, the timing of Passover week made things more complicated as tens of thousands of pilgrims from across the world were in Jerusalem. If a riot happened during this specific week, then the bloodshed could be countless. In the end, no matter how sound their plan was, the risks were high. However, one person close to Jesus will soon approach these religious leaders with the plan of plans. We will read about this in the coming days. Tomorrow we will read about the precious ointment. Application There are a couple applicable thoughts from this passage. While it is a straightforward descriptive text, it is telling to see the religious leader’s reaction to a change in culture. They feared the people and allowed that fear to dissuade them from surrendering their power and influence. How relevant is that for today? This man-made fear of losing their worldly power and influence transcends time. Even today, many church leaders are falling into sin and being exposed as wolves—and many through their submission to political ideologies. They refuse to call out sin and reject worldly ideas to maintain their platform. However, the idea of seeking influence contrasts the teachings of Jesus—even if it is done in Christ’s name. In reality, following Jesus will produce hate and disdain from the world because the world hates Christ. Thus, we cannot allow ourselves to fall into the trap of seeking worldly influence because it can open a door to all sorts of ungodliness and sin (e.g. pride, lust, greed, etc.). While the LORD will bless some with influence it does not mean they can use that power and authority for their own gain. With influence comes the inevitable decision to maintain Christlikeness or submission to the world in fear of persecution. We must remain focused on Christ regardless of the amount of influence God gives us. In the end, He is the One giving it, not us. We must remain obedient to Him and the truth of His word and not fall to the pushback of the world. May we stand strong against persecution and the prideful desire for power and influence. If this influence does come, may we remain Christ-centered and teach the truth without sugarcoating it. May we praise, worship, honor, and glorify Jesus every day in all that we do while continually pursuing righteousness, holiness, and forgiveness as He forgave us. Looking Ahead Thank you for joining today’s daily Bible reading! Next, we read Matthew 26:6-7. I hope you join me! I have made commenting available, so please feel free to discuss the reading and ask questions. If you do not want to discuss publicly, you can reach out to me privately. We are on this journey together. References [1] Craig Keener, “IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition.” [2] Ibid. [3] Ibid. [4] R. T. France, “Tyndale Commentaries.”
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