The Sanhedrin

After Jesus brought Lazarus back to life the Sanhedrin was in an uproar. The Sanhedrin was a ruling body that consisted of members from the Pharisees, Saducees and other highly ranked members of Jewish society. When they saw the large number of people who followed Jesus (especially after Lazarus was raised from the dead) they became very concerned that they would lose their power but they were also concerned that the Romans would become concerned that so many Jews were following what they (the Sanhedrin) thought to be a rebel. It was about this time, a week before Passover, that the Sanhedrin decided that they would have to kill Jesus.

While the scriptures aren't clear, it was also about this time that Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha came to Jesus to anoint his feet with a very expensive ointment that she carried in an alabaster box. It must have been a very solemn moment as she did this but as she finished Judas became angry and chastised Mary for wasting such an expensive ointment when she could have sold it for a large sum of money and given it to the poor. Jesus came to her defense and told Judas that it was a good thing she had done. He told him that the poor would always be among us but what Mary had done would always be spoken of as a memorial to her. Jesus then alluded once again to his death saying that Mary had come to prepare his body early for it's burial.

It seems clear that those who were close to Jesus had to have known what was coming.