Luke 22:6

And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray Him unto them in the absence of the multitude.

Originally, the day of the Passover proper had been distinguished from the Days of Unleavened Bread, but in the course of time the names were used without discrimination, the entire 14 th

of Nisan being reckoned with the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Passover merged into the festival following, and the two were regarded as one. This festival was now at hand; for its celebration the pilgrims had been thronging to Jerusalem for some time past. With every day the hatred of the chief priests and scribes against Jesus had increased. On Tuesday they would gladly have laid murderous hands upon Him, being detained only by their fear of the people. And by Wednesday morning they had determined that He must be put out of the way, that He must die. Yet their fear of the people, who were hanging upon every word that Jesus uttered, restrained them from open acts of violence. They concluded that it would be best not to take the last decisive step before the feast, but to seize the first favorable opportunity afterwards, after the majority or all of the pilgrims would have returned to their homes. See Mark 14:2; Matthew 26:5. In the mean time they received the promise of assistance from an unexpected quarter. For Satan had entered into Judas, who was called Iscariot. Although this man was one of the Twelve, he had opened his heart to the love of money, he had given way to covetousness, he had become a thief, he had rejected all the earnest admonitions which the Lord had addressed to him during the last days. So fully had the devil of avarice taken possession of his heart that he deliberately went away from the rest and had a conference with the chief priests and the leaders, the heads of the Temple watches. He entered into negotiations with them, haggling with them after the fashion of the avaricious. About the manner of the betrayal he was fairly certain, needing only the time and the place. But to Judas the chief incentive and reward was the most important point. Even in their joy over the probable early success of their schemes the chief priests did not overlook the weakness of covetousness. They held out before him, as the price of the betrayal, the silver, the usual price of a slave. And so Judas bound himself to these enemies of his Lord with his promise, and from that hour watched every opportunity for a good chance to deliver Christ to them without the people, at a time and under circumstances when there would be no danger of interference on the part of the pilgrim crowds. Note: Judas is a type of many a Christian that permits the devil to take hold of his heart to fill it with covetousness. It is a sad and miserable price for which many confessors of Jesus have betrayed their Lord, a better-paying position, greater honor before men, -the evanescent and ephemeral favor of the world. Woe unto those that follow Judas!