Mark 14:1-2--The Plot to Kill Jesus

Mark 14:1-2
English Standard Version
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The Plot to Kill Jesus
14 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 2 for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”

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The teaching on the Mount of Olives has ended and we are told that it was two days before Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  The exact day of the week here would be confusing, but I'll try to unravel this is bit with days of the month.  The 14th day of the month of Abib is the day typically referred to as "Passover" in the New Testament and is thought of as the day that the Passover lambs were sacrificed in the Temple (in the afternoon).  While the Gentiles thought of days of the week starting at midnight (like we do today) or maybe at sunup as we say "daytime" and "nighttime" today, Jewish days started at twilight the evening before what we would normally think.  This explains why Jesus ate the Passover Meal with His disciples on Thursday night (the actual Passover commanded by the Bible in Exodus 12) and why the authors here are calling Passover the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (because to the Gentiles the Temple sacrifices and the Feast which stated that evening was the same day to them, though it was two different days to the Jews).

With all that said, the common understanding of this text is that we are now on the Gentile version of Wednesday morning, just two days (according to the Gentile understanding of days) before the Passover lambs are slain at the Temple and The Feast of Unleavened Bread began at sundown.  Since the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread were both holy days, then it makes sense that the Jews were concerned about Jesus and the other criminals hanging on the cross during that special Sabbath (it just so happened to also be a regular Sabbath day, but it was a high holy day too and was a special Sabbath because it was the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread).

At this point, it would seem the chief priests intended to use the holidays as an excuse to arrest Jesus and they would worry about killing Him later, but it was the Father's will for them to arrest, try, convict and kill Jesus to fulfill the Feasts and the Scriptures.  Things have always been moving according to His timetable and not that of the Pharisees, even though they imagined they were in control of setting these events in motion.  They were afraid if they killed Him during Passover that the people would riot, but instead they are going to try to use the riotous nature of the crowd at this time to stir up the crowd to have Jesus killed.

The next couple of passages take place on Wednesday--Jesus will be anointed in Bethany at the house of Simon the Leper, and Judas will get upset by these events and make contact with the Pharisees about agreeing to betray Jesus.  They knew they only had a limited window to arrest Jesus while He was in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.  After that, they thought He would return to Galilee and maybe even to teaching in the region across the Jordan River and in the areas of Tyre and Sidon (modern day Syria) outside of their area of control and influence--it would be hard, if not impossible to arrest Him until the next pilgrimage feast if they did not seize this opportunity.  Again, they thought it was their plan, but this was all happening according to God's plan--a plan that He's had since before the foundations of the world and that the Law (like the Feasts) and the Prophets all have pointed to.  Jesus would fulfill the Law--not just the commandments, but the Feasts, Sabbaths, and sacrifices as well.