As you will see, the High Priest, Caiaphas, and his Chief Priests conspired to kill Jesus. They also conspired to kill Lazarus (see ), whom Jesus had raised from the dead, because too many people were coming to believe that Jesus was the Messiah due to this miracle. Jesus was a Jew, and He was the Messiah, whose coming was foretold centuries before, and yet His own people hated and despised Him. But the prophets foretold that even this would happen:

Prophecy - "This is what the LORD says-- the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel-- to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: 'Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.'" (Isaiah 49:7)

Fulfillment - (Speaking of Jesus) "Many of them said, 'He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?' " (John 10:20)

Prophecy - "In one month I got rid of the three shepherds. The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them" (Zechariah 11:8)

Fulfillment - "But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed." (Matthew 27:20)

Prophecy - "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." (Isaiah 53:3)

Fulfillment - "All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff." (Luke 4:28-29)

Prophecy -

• "Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal." (Psalms 69:4)
• "But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people." (Psalms 22:6)

Fulfillment - "Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, 'You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.'

With one voice they cried out, 'Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!' (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, 'Crucify him! Crucify him!'

For the third time he spoke to them: 'Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.'

But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.

Prophecy - "The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One." (Psalms 2:2)

Fulfillment - "Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him." (Matthew 26:3-4)