Jesus had determined to die!! It was no accident, the Sanhedrin did not have their will and way with the Lord of Glory, it was the Lord Jesus’ will that decided the time of His capture and death!! Caiaphas, the high priest, and the rest of the hierarchy believed they were making the plans which would rid them of this deceiver once and for all, but it was all a part of the divine plan etched in the reality of that eternity which preceded time, that determined this date, time, and place.
“Then” in verse 3 of Matthew 26 indicates a temporal sequence here, as it does in verse 14. Jesus’ words were followed by the discussion in the Sanhedrin, This was no impromptu meeting of the Sanhedrin, this meeting was in their normal meeting place and so translated as “court,” “inner hall,” but the word used describes the “palace.” Also, three groups of men were assembled together this day; chief priests, scribes, and elders. Men who composed the 71 member High Council (Matthew 16:21; Matthew 27:41). This was an official meeting!!
The capture and killing of Christ had been discussed in the Sanhedrin previously (Matthew 21:46; John 11:47 to 12:10). In this meeting it was decided not to have Him arrested and killed, openly. It is possible there had been contact between Judas and the Sanhedrin before this! It was not the Passover Feast as such that gave them the problem, but the mass of pilgrims and its composition. Had the crowd have been made up of Galileans, it would have caused a mis-carriage of the Sanhedrin’s idea. They would have been afraid the celebrating crowd would take Jesus’ side! Remember, Jesus had said in verse 2 His death would take place during Passover! And indeed, it happened as God wanted!!
The disciples became indignant when Mary, the sister of Lazarus came in with an alabaster box full of very expensive ointment. Judas saw his time to foment confusion among the other eleven and spoke up; “this is a waste of money, it could have been sold and the monies given to the poor.” Immediately, Christ spoke up and defended His friend, Mary. “She has done a good work, for the poor you have with you always. For in that she has poured this ointment on My body, she did it for My burial!! Matthew 26:10-12 The Greek tells us this was because of jealousy. Mark gives us the value of the ointment to be 500 danari (about a years wages). The disciples kept talking about this incident amongst themselves. Jesus saw that something or someone had caused the discontent to continue and like the Captain He was and is, He interceded on her behalf; “this is a good work, it portends My death, burial, and resurrection!” She had poured out the whole jar of ointment, an expression of her gratitude for His teachings and healings. It was not a stingy, begrudging pittance that some would attempt to give!! The disciples had no way to understand that into which they had entered, that is, the departure of their Lord. This was a prophecy and Christ quoted them the verse of scripture from Deuteronomy 15:11 to reveal the significance of this event. He was leaving them!! Jesus wanted the woman’s act that was called a “good work.” His body would not have the time to receive the anointing demanded when they would take it down from the tree because of the Passover feast! After His death, as the odor ‘filled the house,’ the gospel of salvation would “fill the entire world”!! Think He was not planning this??
Judas kicked into high gear, did Christ know of his treachery? He mentioned His death!! Was his preparedness to cooperate in the murder of Christ being exposed?, what IF the other disciples picked up on what Jesus had said? Imagine being Judas. Knowing the Christ had knowledge of his treachery made Judas go immediately to his accomplishes to secure the deal. YOU MEAN HE HAD ONLY A PROMISE!! Like his father, Satan always does, Judas only got the promise of the monies, not the money itself!! Satan never delivers on terms of respect or honor to the individual, it seems he just has to get in his last two cents, as they say, to mock those who do his bidding!! When Judas brought to the Sanhedrin the message that Jesus was talking about His dieing, they might have taken this to mean that Jesus would not fight them and arouse the sentiment of the crowd that followed Him.
As usual, the Lord always intended to keep the commandments of His covenant even though the circumstances did not seemingly require their keeping. Many think death, birth, emergencies allow them to absent themselves from the commands of His covenant. The example of our Lord shows the way of God. The Passover feast was at hand and Jesus meant to keep this festival, as commanded!!
