day four. Jesus has spent the last two days teaching at the temple and on the mount of olives, and has angered the majority of the chief priests, elders, scribes, pharisees, saducees, and other temple officials. but on day four, nothing is mentioned of Jesus' activities. some say that the annointing at bethany at simon's house occurred on the fourth day, because Scripture is vague on which day that happened, but most scholars postulate that it happened on thursday given the context of the different accounts of that event. only luke says rather generically that he taught in the temple during the day, and on the mount of olives at night, but doesn't mention anything specific He taught on that day, unlike other days, or even explicitly says he taught on wednesday at all. therefore, compared to the other days, it seems that little to no information is given of Jesus' activities. while we may not know what Jesus was doing, we can imagine that He was likely spending time with those He loved, or preparing for the coming days, but at reading, it seems as if He was disconnected. there is no mention of Him teaching, or healing, or even preparing. even though He knew the terrors that were awaiting Him in the coming days, He was choosing to be away from the people, the temple, and jerusalem.
so why the inaction? what we do know, is that on that day, the chief priests and elders were plotting to have Him killed. while earlier during the week, they wanted to wait until after the week was over because of the festival, and feared a riot from the people, their attitude had clearly changed. we know that they likely met with judas that day and made the deal with him, giving him 30 pieces of silver, the cost of a slave, to betray Jesus at a time when He was away from the crowds. Jesus knew this was happening, as He brought it up at the last supper when they celebrated the passover meal. yet we don't read about Him doing anything to circumvent this series of events.
think about what He could have done. many think that He was helpless to stop it, but He had a number of courses of action He could have taken. He could have left and went away from jerusalem. we know He was likely at bethany, which was a few miles west of the city. it would have been very easy for Him to leave and go to any of the surrounding countries like His parents did during the slaughter of the innocents. or, since He had a large following, He could have rallied the crowd to come to His defense before the temple officials were able to fully enact their scheme. there is a reason that they were afraid of the crowds. in that day, uprisings were common, and many such uprisings had occurred in the years prior. during one particular uprising, the romans arrested those responsible and crucified them along the road leading into jerusalem, and then poured pitch onto the bodies and lit them on fire to be used as torches to light the road, and to act as a deterrent to future uprisings. Jesus' entry into the city on palm sunday was an indication of the people's attitude towards Him, and saw Him as the Messiah that they mistakenly misunderstood as a militant warrior that was to lead the rebellion that would overthrow the romans and liberate them. He even had a couple of militants as disciples. we know that peter was willing to fight to defend Jesus, as we see him drawing his sword and striking the high priest's servant when they came to arrest Jesus. He also had simon the zealot as a disciple. the zealots were an activist group that were known for their passion for restoring israel, and were directly involved in many of the uprisings throughout the area. we also see that the disciples came from backgrounds that would have made many of them formidable men to face in a fight. fishermen were strong and rugged men during that day. so He had no short supply of people that could lead an army should He so choose. He also could have gotten the romans involved against the temple officials. there was no love lost between the jews and the romans, and the romans placated the jews by allowing them to worship in the temple, but truth be told, they would have much rather done away with the temple and the jewish faith to establish the roman pantheon as the dominant religion. Jesus had gained favor with some of the centurions through the healing of the centurion's servant, as well as with jarius, who was an official in a local synagogue, after He healed his daughter. so he could have used those connections to alert them of the plot, and had them arrested. pontius pilate, the governor of judaea, was tasked with getting the uprisings under control, and he would have been keen to know of a plot to arrest Jesus that would have led to a possible uprising among the people. he no doubt would have been aware of Jesus' presence, given the large crowds present at both His triumphal entry, as well as following Him at the temple and the mount of olives to hear Him teach, and would have had spies watching Him to make sure He wasn't organizing an uprising. once he saw that Jesus was simply teaching, he would be more concerned with a plot against Him that could have led to an uprising, as we see he was clearly concerned about when he chose to let the people decide to release barabbas instead of Jesus. if the crowd would have been swayed the other way, you can be assured that he would have gladly had the temple officials arrested to placate the crowd and prevent having to report another uprising to his superiors. of course, being God incarnate, Jesus simply could have used His divine power to stop all of it at any moment.
yet even though He had a number of actions He could have taken, He chose to not do anything, when he still had enough time to act. why? it was because He knew the greater plan that was in motion, and that there was no other way for mankind to be redeemed. it was for this reason that He became obedient unto death, even death on the cross.
as flawed humans, it is hard to trust God when we go through difficult times and it seems as if He is not helping. though we may cry out to Him for deliverance, we only receive silence in return. paul even referenced this when he said that he had a "thorn in the flesh" that he cried out to God three times to be delivered from it, but received no such deliverance. it is easy to look from our finite minds at the apparent theodicy around us and say, "If God is truly good and all-powerful, then why does He allow bad stuff to happen?" the answer can be found on wednesday of holy week. despite having the unlimited power to deliver Himself from the crucifixion, He allowed the will of God to continue, even though it meant His suffering and death. because ultimately, the eternal consequences of any other outcome paled in comparison to the salvation of the world. God's will is always perfect, and even when He chooses not to intervene in the unpleasant experiences of our lives, we have to trust that His divine plan is fulfilling the promise of Scripture that assures us of "all things working together for the good of them who love God and are called according to His purpose." so while the journey may be unpleasant and difficult, the final destination is worth the trip.
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