Matthew 26:1-16

Mark 14:1-11

John 12:1-11

Two days before the feast of the passover was to begin, Jesus again told his 12 disciples that he was going to be taken and crucified.  

This was not the first time Jesus had told them of his coming death.  He reminded them again as he sat in the home of Simon the leper.  Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, had come and put very precious ointment on his head.  The disciples thought it a great waste for something so valuable; they thought it should be sold and the money given to the poor.  Jesus told the disciples “ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.”

As Jesus was preparing the disciples, the enemies of Jesus were preparing to kill Jesus.  A group of the elders of the people, including the chief priests and scribes, met in the palace of Caiaphas, the high priest.  They discussed how they might take Jesus and kill him without causing an uproar by the people.

It was at this time that Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus.  Judas asked the chief priests what they would give him if he took them to Jesus when he would be in a place they could privately take him.  They agreed to give him 30 pieces of silver to help them take Jesus to be killed.

What do you think?

• When the woman put precious oil on Jesus, why did the disciples complain?  Why did Jesus not agree with them?
• It is hard to understand why Judas Iscariot would have agreed to help the chief priests take Jesus to be killed and probably only he knows himself, but what are your thoughts?

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