He spoke these words while he was teaching in the temple courtyard near the place where the offerings were put. But no one arrested him, because his time hadn’t come yet.
Jesus sat down across from the place where people gave their offerings at the temple. He watched as the crowd put their money into the offering boxes. Many rich people threw in large amounts.
The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It’s against the law to put this money into the temple fund because it’s blood money. It has paid for a man’s death.”
The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest Jesus at once, because they knew he had told that story against them. But they were afraid of the people.
Then Jesus asked the crowd, “Why did you come here with swords and clubs to capture me, as if I’d been leading a rebellion? I was in the temple courtyard every day teaching, but you didn’t try to arrest me.