But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.
But they said, Not on the feast, [day] - rather, 'not during the feast' х en (G1722) tee (G3588) heortee (G1859)]; not until the seven days of unleavened bread should be over.
Lest there be an uproar of the people. In consequence of the vast influx of strangers, embracing all the male population of the land who had reached a certain age, there were within the walls of Jerusalem at this festival some two millions of people; and in their excited state, the danger of tumult and bloodshed among "the people," who for the most part took Jesus for a prophet, was extreme. (See Josephus Ant. 20: 5. 3.) What plan, if any, these ecclesiastics fixed upon for seizing our Lord, does not appear. But the proposal of Judas being at once and eagerly gone into, it is probable they were until then at some loss for a plan sufficiently quiet and yet effectual. So, just at the feast time shall it be done; the unexpected offer of Judas relieving them of their fears. Thus, as Bengel remarks, did the divine counsel take effect.
The time of this part of the narrative, as we shall presently see, is four days before what has just been related. Had it been part of the regular train of events which our Evangelist designed to record, he would probably have inserted it in its proper place, before the conspiracy of the Jewish authorities. But having come to the treason of Judas, he seems to have gone back upon this scene as what probably gave immediate occasion to the awful deed. The best introduction to it we have in the Fourth Gospel.
John 12:1-2. - "Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany" (see the note at Luke 19:29) - that is, on the sixth day before it; probably after sunset on Friday evening, or the commencement of the Jewish Sabbath that preceded the Passover: "where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom He raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper" - in what house is not here stated; but the first two Evangelists expressly tell us it was "in the house of Simon the leper" (Matthew 26:6; Mark 14:3). But for this statement, we should have taken it for granted that the scene occurred in the house of Lazarus. At the same time, as Martha served (John 12:2), he was probably some near relative of her family. Who this "Simon the leper" was, is quite unknown. A leper at that time, while entertaining guests at his own table, he could not have been, as this would have been contrary to the Jewish law.
But he had been one, perhaps long one, and so came to be best known by his old name, "Simon the leper." And just as Matthew, long after he was transformed into "an apostle of Jesus Christ," continued to call himself what none of the other Evangelists do, "Matthew the publican;" so, perhaps, this healed leper, after the Saviour had cleansed him, and won his heart-healing soul and body together-felt it pleasant to be known ever after as "Simon the leper:" and just as Matthew, again, "made Him a great feast in his own house," this Simon, out of the fullness of a grateful heart, made Him this supper. And what if he was that very leper whose case is the first recorded in the Gospel History, who, immediately after the Sermon on the Mount," as Jesus descended from the hill on which it was delivered, came running and kneeling to Him, saying, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean," and whose leprosy immediately departed from him, when the Lord said, "I will; be thou clean"! (See the notes at Matthew 8:1-4.) The time when this supper was made to Jesus was affecting.
As it was His last visit to His quiet and loved retreat at Bethany, so He honoured it by making it His longest. He made it His nightly home during His final week; going thence daily into the city, but never sleeping there. And, says the beloved disciple, "Martha served." Active, busy, but true-hearted, Martha is here at her proper vocation-serving her Lord. A blessed employment. She got a gentle check once when so engaged, though not for so doing. But there is no rebuke here; nay, it seems recorded here as her privilege that she served. Service to Christ there must be; somebody must do it; and Martha on this occasion was the honoured servant; "but Lazarus," says John, "was one of them that sat at the table with him" - a trophy of his Master's resurrection-power and glory. So much for John's introduction to the scene. Let us now return to our own narrative.