To fully understand the Passion Narrative from the book of John we need to go back several chapters and pluck out a few verses. Just after Lazarus was raised from the dead we read,
“So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, ‘What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.’” For more, click on the title above.