The high point of the Jewish calendar was the Passover. It was, for the Jews, one of the holiest times of the year. However, while Jesus encouraged and prepared his disciples for the things that are to happen, the religious leaders were engaged in a very different kind of activity. This passage presents us with a very strange contradiction. On the one hand, it is almost the holiest time of the Jewish year, in which the festival of the Passover is observed, which represents salvation and life. On the other hand, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, who are responsible for being the spiritual leaders of the people in this observance, plotted to kill the Son of God.