Mark 14:1-25
Dear RTB’ers,
And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Him by stealth and kill Him, for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” (vv. 1b-2) All three Synoptic gospels report these verses, in almost identical fashion. The more detailed “passover plot” is recorded in John 11:45-57, especially one verse attributed to Caiaphas, the high priest that year in speaking to the Council: You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. (John11:49b-50) With all four gospels reporting this conspiracy, I was wondering how these writers got this information? It seems most likely to me that one or more of the members of the Council became Christians themselves and recounted these conversations. Small point, but it’s what I noticed this morning… Have a great day!
Blessings!
See also: May 27 (2021) / Mark 14:1-25
For those who have never heard the phrase “Passover Plot,” Fred’s use of those words may seem perfectly reasonable to describe the conspiracy of the Jewish leadership to kill Jesus during the season of Passover. But for those of us who have heard the phrase before, it may be confusing. The confusion may arise because the phrase was co-opted in 1965 and used as the title of a book by Hugh J. Schonfield, a book that was subsequently made into a movie in 1976. The book caused a tremendous sensation in the popular culture as it sought to discredit Christianity by asserting that Jesus plotted with a few insiders to stage (fake) His own death and resurrection in a carefully scripted fulfillment of prophecy. That is decidedly not what Fred has in mind! So to avoid any such confusion — and especially to avoid any kind of implied endorsement of that book — I suggest that we henceforth avoid using that phrase altogether.