Temple Courts

Every ancient city had temples and temple courts. While the temples served as a place for people to worship and store their wealth (banks), the temple courts were a prequel to modern-day malls—people gathered to shop, play games, fellowship, and eat. In the temple courts, people sold everything imaginable, from live animals to exotic spices, oils, and artifacts purchased overseas. One unique feature, however, was that the temple courts served as places where philosophers and itinerant preachers exchanged philosophies, ideas, and religions. It’s a bit like Asian marketplaces having music, dances, and dramas.

The Lord Jesus participated in such a setting as he explained his teachings. Luke writes,

“Daily, he was in the temple teaching. Nightly, he went out to the hill called Olives and lodged” (Luke 21:37).

Kidron Valley separated the hill where the Temple and the mountain where olives grew. We can imagine Jesus and his disciples sleeping in the olive garden, walking and walking to Kidron Valley, climbing to the Temple, Jesus teaching all day, and, in the evening, trekking back to the mountain of olives via Kidron Valley. This was their daily routine.

They were early risers because Luke tells us,

“All the people rose early in the morning and came to him in the temple to hear him” (21:38).

The people loved the Lord’s teachings, full of grace and truth (as John said). They would have heard him forecast the upcoming disasters and God’s deliverance. They were intrigued.

But not all were eager to hear Jesus’s teachings or have his presence in the temple courts.

“The Feast of Unleavened, Passover, was near, and the chief priests and scribes were seeking how they may destroy him” (22:1–2a).

Jerusalem’s population magnified during festival times, especially during Passover. Scholars estimate up to 1 million visitors—Hebrews and non-Hebrews—came to Jerusalem during Passover to celebrate the festival and stock up on their yearly supplies. The high priests and scribes didn’t want Jesus to promote his unorthodox teachings during Passover festivals. They preferred the teachings of Pax Romana, the Roman Peace, not Rome's foreseeable destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem. So, they wished to destroy his reputation or life.

There was a catch: the people loved Jesus, and the high priests and scribes “feared the people” (22:2b). They waited for an opportune time, and it came.

“Satan entered Judas called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. Going away from the disciples, he spoke with the high priests and the officers about how he may betray Jesus. They were glad and agreed to give him silver. He agreed and sought a perfect time to betray him to them while the crowd was absent” (22:3–6).

The high priests, scribes, and religious had one problem: How to destroy Jesus while the crowd was around him, and the crowd loved him. Judas (with Satan’s help) provided the solution: He would tell them when the crowd was absent. He knew they left Jerusalem via Kidron Valley daily and rested on the mountain of olives where none of the crowd followed them. Jesus, the Twelve, and perhaps a few lady disciples were in that garden. He would tell them when and where that time of isolation from the crowd happened so they destroy him in the absence of the people. They would pay him, and he would make a profit.

I can’t help but wonder if Jesus had this set routine for a divine purpose. He wanted Judas to know his routine so he could betray him and the Son of Man would die and resurrect.