Attempts to Arrest Jesus before Holy Week
James Tissot (French, 1836-1902). The Pharisees and the Sadducees Come to Tempt Jesus, 1886-1894. Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper. Brooklyn Museum.
During the three years of his ministry, Jesus had many open confrontations with the Jewish authorities. He questioned their interpretation of the law, their motives, and their behavior.
The authorities, feeling their power over the people threatened, tried to trick Jesus with questions, expecting him to falter. But Jesus always bested them.
If that weren't enough, some months before Holy Week, the news circulated that Jesus had brought his friend Lazarus back from the dead. The news had spread to Jerusalem and, by the time Jesus arrived for the Passover Feast, the people were feverish with excitement and anxious to see him.
Now the authorities had had enough. After years of trying, they were going to take serious action and arrest Jesus.
The gospels report on this ongoing struggle. There are several instances, before the final arrest, when the authorities plotted against Jesus, tried to arrest him, and even attempted his assassination:
“Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they [the Pharisees] asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.”
“All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.”
“After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. ”
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