Mark 14:1

Mark 14:1-2. The Sanhedrim in Council

1. After two days From St Matthew's account we gather that it was as they entered Bethany that our Lord Himself reminded the Apostles (Matthew 26:1-2) that after two days the Passover would be celebrated, and the Son of Man be delivered up to be crucified. He thus indicated the precise time when "the Hour" so often spoken of before should come, and again speaks of its accompanying circumstances of unutterable degradation and infamy death by Crucifixion.

and of unleavened bread The Passover took place on the 14th of Nisan, and the "Feast of unleavened bread" commenced on the 15th and lasted for seven days, deriving its name from the Mazzoth, or unleavened cakes, which was the only bread allowed during that week (Exodus 12:34; Exodus 12:39; Deuteronomy 16:3). From their close connection they are generally treated as one, both in the Old and in the New Testament, and Josephus, on one occasion, even describes it as "a feast for eight days." Jos. Antiq. II. 15. 1; Edersheim, p. 177.

and the chief priests While our Lord was in quiet retirement at Bethany the rulers of the nation were holding a formal consultation in the court of the palace of Caiaphas (Matthew 26:3) how they could put Him to death. Disappointed as they had been in ensnaring Him into matter for a capital charge, they saw that their influence was lost unless they were willing to take extreme measures, and the events of the Triumphal Entry had convinced them of the hold He had gained over many of the nation, especially the bold and hardy mountaineers of Galilee. The only place where He appeared in public after the nights had been spent at Bethany was the Temple, but to seize Him there would in the present excited state of popular feeling certainly lead to a tumult, and a tumult to the interposition of Pilate, who during the Passover kept a double garrison in the tower of Antonia, and himself had come up to Jerusalem.

by craft It was formally resolved therefore to take Him by craft, and for this purpose to wait and take advantage of the course of events and of any favourable opportunity which might present itself.