Moment of Meditation: Not During the Feast (Matthew 26:3-5)

''Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people" (Matthew 26:3-5).''

While Jesus "calls His shot" about being crucified at the Passover, the chief priests and elders didn't want to do it. They didn't want to risk the Romans' wrath by starting a riot among the common people. Jerusalem's population during the Passover swelled to many times its normal population. They saw that the uproar would be disastrous for them personally but also very deadly for the people of Judea.

What do they do? They find themselves forced to have Jesus crucified at the Passover. The chief priests and the elders thought they were in charge of what would happen to Jesus. But Jesus was in charge of what happened to Himself. He says, "I lay down My life that I may take it up again" (John 10:17). Jesus is in charge of His death and resurrection. Not the elders. Not the chief priests. Not even Pontius Pilate.

Jesus is crucified on the day of the Passover so that He might be the one, eternal Passover lamb whose blood shields all who flee to Him for refuge and hide under His blood. The blood that saves you from eternal death. Amen.