The Plot

The Plot

Matthew 26:3-5, NKJV

Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. 5But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

Mark 14:1-2, NKJV

After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death. 2But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people.”

Setting the Scene

God had his plans, and men made theirs. God knew what would happen, and a certain group did everything in its power to make it happen, though they did not foresee or comprehend what was actually at stake behind their plot to arrange Jesus’ death.

The principal leaders of the plot gathered at Caiaphas’s house. This was the Who’s Who of Jewish leadership, at the time assembled in an official capacity to break the law they were pledged to uphold. Apparently they assumed that “Thou shalt not kill” and “Thou shalt not bear false witness” were parts of God’s commandments they were exempt from in the pursuit of their duties. Among those gathered in this behind-closed-doors meeting of the Sanhedrin were the “elders of the people,” a group Matthew identifies several times in the events surrounding Christ’s death (see Matthew 21:23; 26:3, 47; 27:1). This subgroup appears to have been made up of civic rather than religious leaders. Those whom the people had entrusted with leadership were busily betraying that trust as they agreed to find a way to kill Jesus.

The plot specifies that Jesus should be killed after the Passover festival—“not during the feast.” But God’s plan stipulated an eternal connection between the Passover and the death of the Lamb of God. At this point, the assorted plotters did not have a specific means in mind, but they planned to use “trickery” to create circumstances under which they might arrest Jesus. Once he was out of sight, they would kill him after the Feast. As always, God’s plan prevailed.

Getting Personal

Why did the religious leaders hate Jesus so intensely?

What leads people in every era to harden their hearts against God?

The “heart that devises wicked plans” is among the “things the LORD hates” (Proverbs 6:16-19, NKJV). More precisely, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9, NKJV). We are challenged to make plans for the right and good, and trust God to make them better in the doing.

Talking to God

Confess your relief at knowing you cannot mess up the Lord’s plans. Lay your plans before him, knowing he is aware of any internal scheming that has gone on. Ask for his will to be done in every circumstance.