Mark 14:1
After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.
As the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread approached, the chief priests and scribes, with the elders, sought by craft how to seize Jesus of Nazareth, find occasion to accuse Him, and put Him to death. They plotted to take Him by treachery rather than by open force or public violence, and to kill Him without provoking the people. They chose this secret course because many who had seen His mighty works believed Him to be a prophet from God, and would have resisted, opposed, and been angered by an attempt to take Him by force.
They felt they had to act quickly before the Passover celebration caused a week's delay. Since only the Romans had power to execute Him, His case had to be brought before the Roman authorities. They feared that during a delay the excitement of the crowd would fade, public sympathy for Jesus would grow, and He might be released.
Their crafty seeking was hypocritical and driven by hate and by satanic envy, jealousy, and rage. That same spirit is repeated when professed ministers oppose God's peculiar, chosen people by refusing to let them speak or circulate books. It is seen when they order them off the ground for giving away books, and when they send spies to beg for books and then betray them in order to find occasion against them.