How remarkable it is and yet how sad that some members of the Sanhedrin did believe in Jesus. They believe but did not openly confess him for fear that they would be thrown out of the synagogue themselves. They cared more for further social and political standing than to honor Jesus. To them, membership in a religion was more important than acting faith in the Christ.
Jesus made a point to be at the temple early Tuesday morning so that he could begin teaching the people. The situation was quite difficult. On the one hand he was a rock star. On the other hand, they stood by when later in the week he would need them. For the moment, the belief that the people had, when they flocked to him, seemed dangerous to the powers that be.
Instead of arresting Jesus on Tuesday, representatives of the Sanhedrin who were Sadducees that did not live the resurrection, scribes who were Pharisees and knowledgeable of the law, and those cold elders who were political representatives decided to call his authority into question. Each from their own position called for a demand on the authority of Jesus. The basis of the challenge was that Jesus was not likely ordained to be a rabbi. Since he openly declared his messianic authority, it already brought his position into serious question.
Jesus was smarter than the whole bunch. Instead of allowing him to be drawn into a debate, he attacked them for their position of authority. He demanded to know their ideas about the authority of John the Baptist. He was not allowing himself to be drawn into submission. They found their challenge turned against them because if they did not confess John the Baptist being a prophet from heaven Jesus would ask them why they did not believe in him. If they said his authority was as a man, they found themselves in a dangerous predicament because the people were very much supportive of John. Since they did not answer Jesus, he refused to answer them.
We are going to assume the traditional belief that Jesus was crucified on Friday. There are others who believe in a different day as a time of his death. There would be no good accomplished by entering into a debate to this blog as to which day he was crucified. More importantly, it would be wise of us to recognize that on Tuesday Jesus overcame the attacks of his enemies verbally. Through a series of parables and a list of woes, he let it be known that the current leadership of the religion were themselves hypocrites and unfit for their positions. They were leading the masses down a slippery slope away from obedience to God just as some heretical televangelists are in our times.
By the days end, Jesus left Jerusalem to return to Bethany exhausted. The crowd of curiosity seekers and the boldness of his enemies were overcome but taxing at the same time. It is likely that during this time in particular Judas began to question the plans of Jesus. He held tightly to the current thinking that Jesus should declare himself an earthly king and fight off the Roman Empire. In a matter of hours, he would devise a plot to manipulate Jesus but to no avail leading into his sad demise from suicide.
Christian Writer 