The Chief Priests and Scribes

 

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” (Matthew 20:17–19 ESV).

 

Today we shift from one character to a group of people who surrounded Jesus in those last days before the crucifixion and resurrection. The Chief priests and scribes were the primary Jewish religious and legal authorities in the Gospels, often acting together to oppose Jesus. As part of the Sanhedrin, they managed temple worship, interpreted Mosaic Law, and sought to kill Jesus because they perceived his ministry as a threat to their authority and feared the people. The Chief Priests were mostly Sadducees, these leading priests (including the High Priest) oversaw the Temple and held significant political power. The Scribes, on the other hand were the experts in the Law of Moses and often associated with the Pharisees, they served as teachers, theologians, and legal experts. While they were knowledgeable about scripture, they used their authority to challenge, trap, and ultimately try Jesus, leading to his crucifixion.

 

Jesus had set out for Jerusalem, even though he knew what would happen there. He knew there would be confrontations with the chief priests and teachers of the law, who were looking for a reason to arrest and kill him. If he stayed away from Jerusalem, he might have avoided that outcome, at least for a while. But he had come to follow his Father’s plan, and that involved going to Jerusalem, facing the religious leaders, and submitting to his eventual sentencing, torture, and death.

 

It may surprise us that the religious leaders opposed Jesus. In many ways, sadly, they were responsible for his death. They thought they were in the right, but they were not. The lesson for us here is to make sure we do what is right. At times when we think we are following God’s will, we are not. We might think we are close to Jesus, but we can be far off.

 

Discernment is a difficult task, but it is one that we are called to every day. Let’s pray for help in discerning what is right and who we are called to be.