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| Chapter 26 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said unto His disciples, 2 "Ye know that after two days is the Feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified." 3 Then the chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people assembled together unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 and consulted that they might take Jesus by stealth and kill Him. 5 But they said, "Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people." 6 ¶ Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 there came unto Him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on His head as He sat at meat. 8 But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "To what purpose is this waste? 9 For this ointment might have been sold for much and given to the poor." 10 When Jesus perceived this, He said unto them, "Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon Me. 11 For ye have the poor always with you, but Me ye have not always. 12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on My body, she did it for My burial. 13 Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, what this woman hath done, be told as a memorial of her." 14 ¶ Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests 15 and said unto them, "What will ye give me if I will deliver Him unto you?" And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him. 17 ¶ Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto Him, "Where wilt Thou that we prepare for Thee to eat the Passover?" 18 And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and say unto him, ‘The Master saith, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at thy house with My disciples."’ 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them, and they made ready the Passover. 20 Now when the evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. 21 And as they ate, He said, "Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me." 22 And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto Him, "Lord, is it I?" 23 And He answered and said, "He that dippeth his hand with Me in the dish, the same shall betray Me. 24 The Son of Man goeth as it is written of Him, but woe unto that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born." 25 Then Judas, who betrayed Him, answered and said, "Master, is it I?" He said unto him, "Thou hast said." 26 ¶ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." 27 And He took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink ye all of it; 28 for this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that Day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s Kingdom." 30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives. 31 ¶ Then Jesus said unto them, "All ye shall be offended because of Me this night; for it is written: ‘I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.’ 32 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee." 33 Peter answered and said unto Him, "Though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet I will never be offended." 34 Jesus said unto him, "Verily I say unto thee, that this night before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice." 35 Peter said unto Him, "Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee." Likewise also said all the disciples. 36 ¶ Then Jesus came with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and said unto the disciples, "Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder." 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38 Then He said unto them, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; tarry ye here and watch with Me." 39 And He went a little farther, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt." 40 And He came unto the disciples and found them asleep, and said unto Peter, "What, could ye not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 42 He went away again the second time and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, unless I drink it, Thy will be done." 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. 44 And He left them and went away again, and prayed a third time, saying the same words. 45 Then came He to His disciples and said unto them, "Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going. Behold, he is at hand that doth betray Me." 47 ¶ And while He yet spoke, lo, Judas, one of the twelve came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48 Now he that betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying, "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; hold him fast." 49 And forthwith he came to Jesus and said, "Hail, Master!" and kissed Him. 50 And Jesus said unto him, "Friend, why art thou come?" Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him. 51 And behold, one of those who was with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest and smote off his ear. 52 Then said Jesus unto him, "Put up again thy sword into his place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. 53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall at once give Me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" 55 In that same hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Are ye come out as against a thief, with swords and staves to take Me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on Me. 56 But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled. 57 ¶ And those who had laid hold on Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58 But Peter followed Him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in and sat with the servants to see the end. 59 Now the chief priests and elders and all the council sought false witness against Jesus to put Him to death, 60 but found none. Yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, 61 and said, "This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’" 62 And the high priest arose and said unto Him, "Answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witnesses say against thee?" 63 But Jesus held His peace. And the high priest answered and said unto Him, "I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God." 64 Jesus said unto him, "Thou hast said; nevertheless I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." 65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, "He hath spoken blasphemy! What further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy! 66 What think ye?" They answered and said, "He is deserving of death!" 67 Then they spit in His face and buffeted Him, and others smote Him with the palms of their hands, 68 saying, "Prophesy unto us, thou Christ! Who is he that smote thee?" 69 ¶ Now Peter sat outside in the palace, and a damsel came unto him, saying, "Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee." 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, "I know not what thou sayest." 71 And when he had gone out onto the porch, another maid saw him and said unto those who were there, "This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth." 72 And again he denied with an oath, "I do not know the man!" 73 And after a while came unto him those who stood by, and said to Peter, "Surely thou also art one of them, for thy speech betrayeth thee." 74 Then he began to curse and to swear, saying, "I know not the man!" And immediately the cock crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, when He said unto him, "Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice." And he went out and wept bitterly. |
The passion and death of Jesus. Matt 26:1 - 27:66. The following passages contain information which is very important to the Believer, unfortunately there are slight problems of order of events and time between each of the Gospels. v1-16 The plot against Jesus. Mark 14:1,2; Luke 22:1,2. v1,2 The final prediction of the coming death of Jesus. The Feast of the Passover is eaten on the evening of the day, each day starts at sundown in the Jewish system. This prediction must therefore have been made in the evening. Christ had previously predicted His death in Matt 16:21; Matt 17:22; Matt 20:18; John 10:11,17,18. The Religious leaders were out to destroy Jesus, they knew the danger of doing it around a feast, so were trying to make other arrangements, but the date has been set by God, Jesus was to die at the Passover Feast as the Lamb of God. Caiaphas had been high priest since about 18 A.D., he had been out to destroy Jesus for some time, John 11:47-53. v6-13 Jesus at Bethany. John 12:1 records that these following events appeared to happened six days before the Passover, though neither Matthew or Mark gave an accurate time for this event, they just record "when Jesus was in Bethany." We have to assume that Matthew’s record had gone back a few days to show what may have caused Judas to arrange the betrayal, v14. v6-13 Jesus anointed Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-8. v6 Simon the leper must have been previously healed by Jesus as he would not have been allowed to live with the healthy people. v7 "A woman," John 11:1,2; John 12:3 tells us this is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. "Very precious ointment," the other accounts tell us it was ‘a pound of ointment of spikenard,’ worth over ‘three hundred pence,’ Mark 14:5; John 12:5. The use of this ointment on Jesus upset the disciples, they were angry with this waste as they saw it. Matthew does not highlight any special blame on a single disciple, perhaps he was ashamed at being one of the objectors. John, however, states that Judas was the one who started the objections. John 12:4, but the objection was hypocritical, he was not concerned for the poor just having the money for his own use. John 12:6. v10-13 Jesus explains the reason, "for My burial." It had been revealed to Mary that she would not have the opportunity to do the normal acts of a burial, events would take place too quickly. There may have been a little preparation after the death before they put the body in the tomb, but the women were on the way to the tomb to apply the various burial procedures when the tomb was already empty. The events at Bethany with Mary were the only time that Jesus was anointed for burial. v14-16 Judas arranges the betrayal. Mark 14:10,11; Luke 22:3-6. "Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests." We are not told how long after the Bethany events this happened, but could explain his change of attitude in those days. v15 The original text suggest that Judas was paid at the time of making the offer. Thirty pieces of silver, a small sum, basically the value of a slave. Exodus 21:32. v17-30 The Final Meal. Mark 14:17-21; Luke 22:14-20, 24-30. The Last Supper was not the Passover Meal, Jesus was being sacrificed on the cross at the time that the lambs were being killed in the Temple as part of the Passover. See 1 Cor 5:7. Jesus gives the direction for preparation of the feast, He obviously did not want to reveal the exact time of His death at that time. He also wanted the disciples to eat a meal together and at the same time introduce the Feast of Remembrance, now kept by Believers today. v17-19 Preparation for the Passover. The house was prepared for the Passover Feast by making sure there was no leaven(yeast) in the house. This day begins at sundown so the disciple would have been working during the earlier hours of this day. As a response to the disciples question Jesus gives them instruction on going to a man. This man would be obvious as in Mark 14:13 and Luke 22:10 we are told that he would be carrying a jar of water, an unusual task for a Jewish man. v18 The message Jesus sends to the man suggests that they would all be taking part in the Passover feast, it is interesting the additional comment recorded by Luke 22:16 "I shall not eat it, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God," indicating that Jesus would never take part in the Passover Feast, the disciples plan will be interrupted. v20-30 The Last Supper. Luke 22:14-20, 24-30. Read the events recorded in John 13:2-30 at this point. We are now rapidly approaching the last few hours of the life of Jesus. He joins with the disciples for the supper and makes the announcement that one of them will betray Him, give Him away to the people who want His death. See Matt 17:22; Matt 20:18; Matt 26:1,2. The disciples must have realized how weak their faith was as they all asked "Lord, is it I?" But their question obviously did not expect an answer of "yes". v23 Jesus now makes this interesting prediction. "He that dippeth his hand with Me in the dish, the same shall betray Me." The group were probably eating from a common dish, so this statement did not generally reveal who the traitor was, but showed how terrible the betrayal was, even eat with Jesus, a sign of closeness to a Jew. v24 "As it is written." The coming events have been predicted in the Old Testament, it is all part of the plan of God, but men cannot claim they are innocent as it is the heart of Man which is fulfilling the events of God’s plan. v25 Judas must have been silent up to now and now asks the question, "Master, is it I?" It does not appear that the other disciples heard the question or the answer. We are not told when the events of John 13:23-26 happened, it did not seem to mean anything to John and Peter as Judas left soon after, John 13:27-30. v26-29 Jesus introduces the Lord’s Supper. Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:17-20; 1 Cor 11:23-25. v26 "Take, eat; this is My body." As Jesus was present at this point these words must only make the bread as symbols, as a reminder to the believer of what was about to happen and the cost for their redemption. v27 "He took the cup and gave thanks," This was the New Covenant or Testament which was put in place at the death of Jesus on the cross. The Old Covenant put in place by God in the Old Testament involved the death of an animal as payment for sin each year. But the death of Christ was to be a perfect sacrifice, which allowed Man to be put right, justified by God through the death of Christ. See Heb 8:6-13. v28 "My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many," The death of Christ was able to cover all the sins of the world but here we see that it was effective only for those who believe. v29 "I will not drink henceforth....." Jesus points the believer forward to the future Messianic Kingdom, the Father’s Kingdom. Mark 14:25. The events of John 14:1ff must now have occurred. v30 They depart for the Mount of Olives. v31-35 Peter denial and other disciple failures predicted. John 13:36-38; Luke 22:31-34; Mark 14:27-31. The record of John seems to suggest that the predictions happened before they left the room, it may be that Jesus gave two separate warnings to Peter. The material recorded in John 15,16 and 17 fits here. v31 It was only Peter who was to deny Jesus but all the eleven disciples were to run away and leave Jesus on His own. See prediction Zechariah 13:27. v32 Even though Jesus knew of His coming crucifixion He still expected to meet them again in Galilee. v33-35 Peter’s full of pride, he feels so much more superior to the others, "Though all men shall be offended," also puts doubt on the devotion of the other disciples. This boasting, which later resulted in failure, may be why Jesus especially challenged Peter in John 21:15. v36-56 Events in the Garden of Gethsemane. Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46; John 18:1 The name "Gethsemane" means "oil press," it was situated upon the Mount of Olives across the Kedron valley. The area was often used by Jesus and the disciples, John 18:2. Jesus chooses to leave the eight disciples together as a group and takes Peter,James and John farther into the garden. Finally He withdraws Himself a little way from those three to be alone as He prays. As He separated from each group He asked them to wait and watch with Him. During the next few hours Jesus needed all the encouragement and sympathy He could get, "to wait and watch with Him," v38. v39 "If it be possible, " If it was within the Will of God, " let this cup pass from Me." Any normal human would try to get away from the coming crucifixion, but in addition to this the Son of God was about to become sin for all mankind. This "cup" did not come from Satan but from God the Father, John 18:11, the price for sin had to be paid, the divine wrath, anger for sin was to come upon Jesus as the sin-bearer. This event had to mean that God would have to turn away and could not look upon His Son, the reason for the cry on the cross, Matt 27:46. "Not as I will, but as Thou wilt." Knowing of the coming experience the prayers of Jesus are made in perfect submission to the Father. The Father answered the prayer, not by removal of the ‘cup’ but by added strength from an angel, Luke 22:43. v40,41 Returning to the disciples He finds them fast asleep, perhaps because of his boasting Jesus turns to Peter, "could you not watch with Me one hour?" Jesus urges Peter and the others to "Watch and pray," so that the coming events do not surprise them and lead them into temptation. The demands of the physical body was overruling the spiritual desires. v42-45 The time of prayer to the Father is repeated two more times, each time Jesus returns to find the disciples asleep. v45 "Rest now, the plan of God moves on to the next step." v46 "Let us be going." Not to run away but to go to meet the soldiers with Judas showing them the way, John 18:4. This is an organized group as Judas is accompanied by armed Jewish Temple guards and Roman soldiers, John 18:12; Luke 22:52. The soldiers, especially the Roman soldiers would not have known Jesus so Judas had arranged a sign of love and greeting to identify Jesus, the Greek words in the original text suggests Judas held Jesus closely with his arms round Him as a sign of affection. Jesus questions this action, Luke 22:48. Jesus goes on to identify Himself to the group, John 18:4-8. v50 "Friend," comrade, companion, a term which showed a previous long term friendship. v51 Peter, identified in John 18:10, attacks one of the high priest servants with a sword, the disciples had two short swords with them, Luke 22:38. John, who had connections with the high priest family, identifies the servant as Malchus, John 18:10,15. v51 "smote(cut) off his ear." This thoughtless act by Peter put Jesus position in danger, this required a miraculous action to stop any damage to the coming trial, armed action was not part of the accusation against Jesus. v52 The message of salvation was not to be advanced or spread by the action of violence. v53 "twelve legions of angels." A Roman legion would contain 6,000 soldiers, Christ could call upon a far superior force, but He was here to die on that cross as planned by His Father. v55 The Soldiers had obviously been well armed "come out as against a thief, with swords." They had expected a violent reaction to the arrest, yet all previous meetings with Jesus had only shown a non violent attitude. The statement by Jesus that all these events are so "that Scriptures ... might be fulfilled" is very important, all was just as God had planned. Go to Crucifixion for full list of events. Jesus was first taken to Annas, a previous high priest who still had considerable power, John 18:13. This meeting must have been arranged for the various members of the Sanhedrin to assemble for the very irregular night meeting. A second meeting took place at dawn to formally condemn Jesus as the earlier meeting during the night was illegal, Matt 27:1. v57-68 First Trial. The Sanhedrin was assembled and ready to start the illegal trial. John was known by the high priest family and was therefore allowed in to the courtyard, John then obtained permission for Peter to also enter. v59 The Jews had to find some reason to condemn Jesus, they knew there was no real case against Him so were creating witnesses, some were obviously false. Under the Jewish Law at least two witnesses were required, Deuteronomy 17:6 The only ones they could find were two who claimed that He would destroy the "temple of God" and rebuild it in three days. This was a misquote from three years previous, John 2:19-23. v62 Caiaphas challenges Jesus to speak in His defence, hoping that Jesus might make a statement that could be used to condemn, Jesus remains silent, Isaiah 53:7. v63-66 "I adjure thee by the living God," Jesus is told to answer as under an oath, He must answer. Caiaphas wanted Jesus to admit who He was, His deity. The response by Jesus was all they wanted, ‘Blasphemy.’ This was the real cause for His condemnation, John 19:7 and why the religious leaders wanted Jesus removed, John 5:18. It was Jesus Himself who provided the evidence for His coming death by confirming the challenge of Caiaphas, "I am the divine Messiah." v64 "The Son of Man sitting......." Compare Daniel 7:13,14. A prediction that the role of those present will one day be reversed. v65 "rent his clothes," Caiaphas the high priest shows righteous horror, a man ‘claiming to be God.’ This is blasphemy. To a Jew this is the worst religious outrage, "guilty of death" can be the only announcement, v66. v67,68 Jesus is now exposed to severe physical violence, probably by the soldiers, temple guards present, Luke 22:63-65, mocking Him, false worship, strike with their fists, all attacking this title "the Christ, the Son of God." v69-75 The denials of Peter. Mark 14:66-72; Luke 22:55-62; John 18:15-18, 25-27. While Jesus is on trial Peter is also on trial in the courtyard outside. He is challenged as being a follower of Jesus on three occasions by various people. v69 Peter is first challenged by a maid, identified by John as the person controlling entry to the inner courtyard. This maid identifies Peter as being with Jesus, he denies it and enters the courtyard. Matthew and Mark appear to refer to a second "maid" while Luke indicates that it was a man, probably Peter was challenged by a group of people lead by the maid. v72 Ignoring the command of Jesus not to use an oath to prove your statement as the truth, Matt 5:33-37, Peter again denies knowing Jesus. v73 "After a while," about an hour, Luke 22:59, a relative of the man, Malchus, the man who had his ear cut off by Peter, John 18:26, now challenges Peter, in addition he points out that Peter is speaking with an accent and uses words which comes from the Galilee area. v74 Peter now swearing and cursing, using oaths, for the third time denies any knowledge of Jesus. As he finished speaking the cock crows for the second time, Mark 14:72. "Peter remembered the word of Jesus," Matt 26:34. Peter realized the terrible thing he had done and breaks down, left the court crying in shame. Even though Jesus had warned him he still failed Jesus, the simple sound of the cock crowing brings it all back to his memory. |
Easy English Translation
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