With the aid of Judas from Iscariot, one of the Twelve, they could arrest Jesus secretly without provoking a riot, so they paid him “thirty pieces of silver,” nearly four months’ wages for a skilled worker, providing he would lead them to Jesus.
The contrast between the piety of the Pharisees and the attitude of the Jesus movement could hardly be greater. One was based on the observance of the hundreds of religious laws of the Jews; the other rested upon a rejection of self-righteousness and a trust in the mercy of God.
One group, the Pharisees, emphasized those Jewish traditions and practices that set them apart from pagan culture. Their name means “separated ones,” and they prided themselves on their strict observance of every detail of the Jewish law and their extreme intolerance of people they considered ritually unclean.
Life’s but a walking shadow , a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.