By this time in Jesus' ministry, the chief priests, the scribes and the Jewish leaders were getting worried about him and his influence over the people. They were concerned on many different levels.
In this passage, he was accusing them of being cheats and thieves and taking away one of their more lucrative ways of getting money, especially from the poor. They didn't know how to get to him because he had the support of the people.
After all, the people had listened to Jesus, they had witnessed the healings, and the driving out of demons, and they were beginning to believe.
The Pharisees had a tight hold on the people and didn't like the way Jesus talked about them, calling them hypocrites because of the way they imposed the Law of Moses on them without looking out for the poor, the widowed and the orphans.
The chief priests were afraid that Pilate might get upset if Rome became aware of Jesus' influence as he was in charge of all the sacred vessels and clothing for the celebrations of the Passover and other sacred celebrations.
Herod and other high officials were afraid of the potential challenge for power. But they still didn't know what to do.
Eventually, as we know, they would hire Judas to betray him and then work up the crowd to ask for his death while they were preparing for the Passover celebration.
The leaders of today would love to eliminate the campaigns for justice, the programs to eliminate pollution of the air, the water, and the land. They keep looking for ways to win their battle to bring more money into their coffers, just as the Pharisees did in Jesus' time.
Our job is to work to stop them by continuing our efforts to bring justice to our world and the Good News of salvation to those we meet.
