The plan to kill Jesus Christ
English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 26:1 –5 “The chief priests and the elders…plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, ‘Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar” (vv. 3–4). Matthew 26 opens with Jesus’ fourth prediction of His passion and resurrection. After ending His Olivet Discourse , Matthew tells us that our Lord has finished “all these sayings” (v. 1), which likely refers to all the instruction He has thus far given in this gospel. In other words, Christ ’s teaching ministry is done and it is time for Him to atone for sin and seal His victory. The Savior has already told His disciples three times that He will die and be raised (16:21; 17:22–23; 20:17–19), but in today’s passage He explains for the first time that this will take place during Passover . This provides a theological framework for understanding the significance of the Messiah ’s death. Just as the angel of death passed over all of those w