Jesus endured physical and emotional pain to set an example for us. Likewise if we endure all kinds of pains we will be victorious.

Jesus was in control of and drives all the events that led up to His crucifixion. He rides into Jerusalem triumphantly on the day Daniel (Daniel 9) prophesized the Messiah would come. With the exception of a war horse, preferring a colt He emulates Solomon’s entry into Jerusalem.  When the Pharisees see that His actions may result in a Roman crackdown He answers:  "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (Luke 19). The next day He goes to the Temple and wrecks it, driving out all the traders and money changers (Luke 19) – attacking the very core of the religious leaders power – their money. He then publically humiliates them when they ask: “By what authority are you doing these things?” Not only doesn’t He provide an answer He poses a question which they couldn’t answer to them. (Luke 20).  And if we take into account Israel of the day was a theocracy allowed to operate under Roman rule, it would be like publically humiliating the Taliban in Afghanistan prior to the US led invasion.  Then He turns his back on the assembled Religious leaders and tells the parable of the murderous tenants and wedding banquet clearly casting the religious leaders in the role of the bad guys. The religious leaders try to trap Him with questions on taxes and resurrection and again He turns the tables on them and humiliates them in front of the crowd. This is followed by a sharp exchange between the religious leaders and Jesus on the theological point of the relationship between Messiah and David -  again the religious leaders, supposedly the authorities on theology -  come up short in front of the assembled crowd. Jesus then goes into the tirade of Matthew 23 calling the religious leaders a “brood of vipers” among other things as He condemns virtually all their actions, and we can just imagine the cheers from the crowd who had to live under the oppressive religious order imposed by these religious leaders. The constant attack on and humiliation of the religious leaders by Jesus leads them to conclude:  "What are we accomplishing?" they asked. "Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."(John 11)