Now the feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people. Luke 22:1-2
The next day, the eve of the Passover, the Master and his followers go into the city and make their way toward the temple complex as usual. Cheerful cries and greetings accost them, but that’s not all. Very noticeable today were the hard looks from the elites: Pharisees passed with their noses in the air and scribes delicately moved their prayer shawls aside to keep them from contamination with the Nazarene and his little coterie. Near the temple, two priests observe them with angry glances, muttering to themselves as they pass by.
Judas sees their dilemma—how plain everything appears to him now! The priestly class wants to arrest the troublemaker but don’t dare, out here in public. The crowds would run riot and their Roman overlords come down hard on the whole city. Judas glances back, notices the priests have turned aside and are walking along the wall toward the southeast corner of the complex.
Suddenly it comes to him, what he can do. Must do.
Murmuring an excuse to the nearest disciple—Little James, he thinks—Judas peels away from the group and follows the two priests, fighting traffic until he breaks free of the throng pouring through the eastern gate.
He has an offer in mind: I’ll show you how to arrest him quietly, in exchange for . . . But shouldn’t he do this for nothing, as his patriotic and spiritual duty? No—that would be ideal, of course, but there are considerations. 
He’ll need a nest egg to get back home, start a new life. As for the others, well, they’ll have to look out for themselves. They’ll survive. What he’s doing is best for them, too. Really, best for everyone, even the whole nation. Even, perhaps, the Master himself.
Perhaps—probably?—they won’t kill him, seeing how deranged he is. And even if they do . . . sometimes the one has to die for the sake of the many. It’s for the best. All for the best.
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