The Suffering Passion story of Jesus involves great betrayal but also great adoration and blessing. The first verses of Matthew 26 set the stage for the final days of Jesus’ ministry and life. Jesus himself declared what would happen. Evil men would plot and deliver him over to death. Their actions were seemingly the way to control Jesus and HIS Message because the doctrines that Jesus taught were thought to be dangerous and subversive. ● The Jewish leaders were enraged by what they saw as disrespect toward the Mosaic Law. ● The Roman authorities were threatened by Jesus’ claim to be the King of the Jews. Jesus appeared to be a revolutionary, a dangerous teacher who spread ideas that threatened their power. They were determined to get rid of Jesus just as they did with many other

self-proclaimed ‘messiahs.’ The Apostle Paul’s mentor and teacher of the Law, Gamaliel, stood up in the council at a trial against Peter and the other Apostles and declared that several ‘messiahs’ had gathered followers before but were often shown to be charlatans [Acts 5:33-42]. His conclusion was to permit the preaching of Jesus and the gospel because if it was truly from God, it would prosper. If it was not of God, the truth would reveal the Apostles as charlatans. The Evangelical Theologian John Scott wrote this about why Christ suffered and died: “Ostensibly he died as a law-breaker, but in reality as the victim of small minds and as a martyr to his own greatness.” [The Cross of Christ, 1986, 2006; p. 51] His own twelve Apostles, the Pharisees, the Roman governor, and Judas Iscariot all played a role in denying and betraying Jesus. Their small mindedness missed the larger truth of Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion.