3 Then were gathered together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, to the court of the chief priest who was called Caiaphas; 4 and they consulted together that they might take Jesus by guile, and kill 'him', 5 and they said, 'Not in the feast, that there may not be a tumult among the people.'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Matthew 26:3-5
Commentary on Matthew 26:1-5
(Read Matthew 26:1-5)
Our Lord had often told of his sufferings as at a distance, now he speaks of them as at hand. At the same time the Jewish council consulted how they might put him to death secretly. But it pleased God to defeat their intention. Jesus, the true paschal Lamb, was to be sacrificed for us at that very time, and his death and resurrection rendered public.