23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
The Plot Against Jesus: Matthew 26:1-5
1 When Jesus had finished saying all these things (He had just finished speaking of the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats), he said to his disciples, 2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” 3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”
Jesus matter-of-factly informed His disciples that in two days He was going to be crucified. He was telling them this to prepare them, not to warn them in order for plans to be hurriedly made to protect Him or hide Him. If you or I knew that our imminent death was just two days away, I'm sure that would have been our plans! But, Jesus was aware this was going to happen to Him even during His triumphant entry into Jerusalem two days before. His telling the disciples was basically informing them of His willingness to go through with God's plan for our salvation.
The other important point that needs to be made with this set of verses is the fear that the chief priests and elders were showing with their actions... they were carefully making plans to take Jesus into custody - “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.” They knew they had to watch their step or there was gonna be big trouble! That should have been a clue to them that what they were doing was so wrong.
Sadly, just one day later, one of Jesus' own betrays Him...
photo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/bible_cartoons/3533063429/
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