The Enemies Plan To Kill Jesus
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Enemies Plan To Kill Jesus
The history of religion tells us that whenever God
sent His Messengers to this world, the majority of the people opposed them and
tried to put an end to their message. Jesus was therefore no exception. His
message was entirely based on peace and love, yet the Jewish clergy of his time
were threatened by the spiritual revolution brought by Jesus. They realised
that his teachings were direct challenge to their own leadership. They were
desperate to do something to save their leadership as they feared that it was
going to be replaced by the leader appointed by God. They were thus greatly
annoyed and wanted to get rid of Jesus.
They accused him of changing the accepted religious
practices and said that his teachings were leading people astray.
Moreover they were enraged as he often rebuked them
for their hypocrisy and the absurd practices and ceremonies to which they had
become accustomed.
Jesus told people, "Be on your guard against
the teachers of the Law, who like to walk about in their long robes and love to
be greeted with respect in the market place; who choose the reserved seats in
the synagogues and the best places at feasts; who take advantage of widows and
rob them of their homes, and then make a show off saying long prayers! Their
punishment will be all the worse".
The Jewish clergy therefore turned against Jesus.
They were determined to put an end to his message and bring about his ruin.
JESUS IN JERUSALEM
We now, take up the story of the arrest of Jesus,
his subsequent trial and orders of crucifixion by Pontius Pilate, his survival
from the cross and meeting his disciples, as mentioned in the Bible.
As the Passover festival was drawing near, large
numbers of people began preparations to visit Jerusalem to commemorate the
delivery of the Jews from slavery in Egypt many hundreds of years earlier. This
is an important Jewish festival. The Orthodox Jews abstain from eating leavened
bread during the festival. Instead they use unleavened bread usually in the
form of matzoth.
By eating matzoth they recall the unleavened bread
eaten by the Israelites during their flight because they had no time to prepare
raised bread. During Passover, meals are also prepared and served using sets of
utensils and dishes reserved strictly for the festival.
It is said that Jesus went to Jerusalem on this
occasion. He rode a donkey provided by his disciples and entered Jerusalem. The
crowd greeted him, listened to him and was very impressed by what he had to
say.
The Bible tells us, "When Jesus entered
Jerusalem, the whole city was thrown into an uproar. 'Who is he'?, the people
asked. 'This is the Prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee', the crowds
answered."
The chief priests and the teachers of the Law heard
the reports of his growing influence and became very worried. It is possible
that they had persuaded the authorities to arrest Jesus while he was in
Jerusalem.
"The chief priests and the elders met together
in the palace of Caiaphas, the High Priest and made plans to arrest Jesus
secretly and put him to death. 'We must not do it during the festival', they
said, 'or the people will riot'."
Jesus was aware of their plans. He took necessary
precautions but remained in Jerusalem and continued delivering the message of
God to the people. One day he and his disciples had their meals together
secretly at one of his disciple's house. When the feast was over they moved
hurriedly through the narrow streets towards the city gate. They wanted to be
away from the city in order to avoid being arrested. As they came out of the
city, they headed towards Gethsemane, a garden on the slope of the Mount of Olives,
a hill on the east side of Jerusalem, opposite the Temple.
JESUS PRAYS IN GETHSEMANE
When they arrived at Gethsemane, "Jesus went
off from them about the distance of a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed,
'Father', he said, 'if you will take this cup of suffering away from me. Not my
will, however, but Your Will be done.' An angel from heaven appeared to him and
strengthened him. In great anguish he prayed even more fervently; his sweat was
like drops of blood falling to the ground. Rising from his prayer, he went back
to the disciples and found them asleep, worn out by their grief. He said to
them, 'Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you will not fall into
temptation'."
"Once more Jesus went away and prayed, 'My
Father, if this cup of suffering cannot be taken away unless I drink it, Your
Will be done'. He returned once more and found the disciples asleep; they could
not keep their eyes open. Again Jesus left them, went away and prayed the third
time, saying the same words. Then he returned to the disciples and said, 'Are
you still sleeping and resting?
Look!
The hour has come for the 'son of man' to be handed over to the power of sinful
men'."
It is said that Judas, a companion of Jesus betrayed
him and led the soldiers to Gethsemane. "Judas, the traitor knew where it
was, because many times Jesus had met there with his disciples. So Judas went
to the garden, taking with him a group of Roman soldiers, and some temple
guards sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees; they were armed and carried
lanterns and torches".
JESUS IS ARRESTED
"The Roman soldiers with their commanding
officer and the Jewish guards arrested Jesus, bound him and took him first to
Annas. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that
year."
He questioned him in his own way. “Then Annas sent
him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest."
“Annas had no official position but he was a former
high priest and a leading Sadducee. He was obviously a man of great influence.
Perhaps this trial was an informal investigation held to formulate proper
charges."
"The chief priests and the whole council tried
to find some false evidence against Jesus to put him to death; but they could
not find any, even though many people came forward and told lies about
him".
Finally the council condemned Jesus to death on
religious grounds of blasphemy. Under Roman rule, however, it was necessary to
obtain confirmation of this sentence and its execution from Pilate.
"A death sentence passed on Jesus under Jewish
law by a religious court would certainly have influenced the ordinary people
against him and it might even have been expected to exert a certain moral
pressure on the Roman judge who was to have the final word".
"The men who were guarding Jesus mocked him and
beat him. They blindfolded him and asked him, 'Who hit you'? Guess! And they
said many other insulting things to him."
QUESTIONS
- Why did the Jews plan
to kill Jesus?
- Where was Jesus
arrested?
- Which disciple,
according to the Bible betrayed Jesus?
- What was the prayer of Jesus at that critical moment?