<p>14:1 <i>Now it was two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread; and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might arrest him using trickery and kill him</i>- This could imply that they tried to arrest Him before the feast, but decided to delay their plans until after the feast (:2). But the Lord was master of the situation. His life was not taken from Him but He gave it, and psychologically arranged the situation so that He would die as the Passover lambs were slain. He therefore arranged the situation in Bethany to provoke Judas to go and offer to betray Him to the Jews, knowing they would immediately jump at this opportunity.</p><p>The same word for &quot;arrest&quot; is used four times in Mt. about the &lsquo;taking hold&rsquo; of the Lord Jesus in Gethsemane (Mt. 26:48,50,55,57). This &lsquo;laying on of hands&rsquo; against the Lord is likewise strongly noted by Mark (s.w. Mk. 14:44,46,49,51). The sight of it was burnt into their memories. There are likewise parts and aspects of the Lord&rsquo;s sufferings, and words associated with them, which are likewise burnt in the consciousness of all those who truly love Him.</p><p>&quot;Trickery&quot; is as AV &quot;<i>By subtilty&quot;</i>- an allusion to the Lord&rsquo;s Jewish opposition as the seed of the serpent at whose hands the seed of the woman was wounded (Gen. 3:15). But the word literally refers to a bait, implying some plan to deceive Him into a position in which they could arrest Him. But what were these plans? The Lord fell for no bait. Perhaps the idea was that Judas would come and kiss Him, and lead Him into some isolated ambush or compromising situation. When the Lord made it clear to Judas that He knew what Judas was up to, the plan fell apart and the soldiers simply grabbed the Lord. And they ended killing Him &ldquo;on the feast day&rdquo;, which was exactly what they had planned to avoid (:2).</p><p>The plan made ahead of time to kill Him was clearly typified by the brothers&rsquo; plans to kill Joseph.</p>