Mark 11:18
The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching — the response of the religious establishment to the temple cleansing is the same as their response to the first healing in the synagogue (Mark 3:6) — a plot to kill. They feared him because of the crowd: the establishment's fear is not theological but political. The crowd's amazement at the teaching is the protection that prevents immediate action.