The Betrayal by Judas
On the fourth day after His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, Jesus Christ said to His disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
On this day, which in our reckoning was Wednesday, the chief priests, scribes, and elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and took counsel together in order to arrest Jesus Christ by stealth and kill Him; but not during the feast, as there were many people gathered. They did not want a tumult among the people.
One of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, was very greedy for money and the teachings of Christ had not corrected his spirit. He went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver Him to you?” They were glad and promised him thirty pieces of silver.
From that moment, Judas sought an opportunity to betray Jesus Christ in the absence of the people.
Note: See the Gospels of Matt. 26:1-5 and 14-16; Mark 14:1-2 and 10-11; Luke 22:1-6.
by Fr. Seraphim Slobodskoy)