Matthew, Chapter 26  

Matt. 26:1-5

Matt. 26:1 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 assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety, and kill him. 5 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people."

Once again, the Lord told the disciples that he was going to die, yet they still refused to believe it. As we said before, the disciples were looking for the Messiah to come and set up a natural kingdom on earth and to reign in that natural kingdom and that Israel as a nation would once again be great upon the earth. Jesus saying that he would die, just did not fit into their concept, so even though they heard him speak the words, yet they did not believe them in their hearts. We note that the Lord had even fixed the time of his death, on the Passover day, and yet they did not believe and were sorely disappointed when the prophecies of the Lord came to pass.
Even at the time, the Lord spoke those words to the disciples, the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people along with the high priest were counseling together on how they might murder the Lord. While God permitted them to carry forth with their plans, yet they were planning not to kill him on the feast day, which is the same day that the Lord told the disciples he would be crucified. Since the Lord was crucified on the feast day, we see that God was ultimately in control of the events that were taking place.

Matt. 26:6-13

Matt. 26:6 "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 had indignation, 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 understood it, 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, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her."

There are two other accounts of this event in the scriptures. One is found in Mark 14:3-9. The other is found in John 12:1-8. By comparing the three accounts we note that the woman pouring the ointment on Jesus is Mary Magdalene, the sister of Lazarus and Martha. We also note that the ointment was not only poured on the head of Jesus but also on his feet. Also, at this time she washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

In addition, the ringleader of the disciples complaining about the waste of the ointment was Judas Iscariot. We are told that he said in John 12:5 "Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein." Please note that the scripture says that "he was a thief." He was already a thief before this incident and he was covetous as he was the holder of the money bag for the disciples. He was complaining because he wanted the ointment to be sold and the money put in the money bag. He wanted to get his thieving hands on the money. He did not care for the poor. Judas Iscariot was covetous and his covetousness led him to betray the Lord.

In many religious circles money is raised for the purpose of giving to the poor and yet many times this money never gets to the poor, but to the religious leaders who are collecting the money.

The ointment was not wasted as was suggested, but was used to anoint the body of Jesus for the burying. Once again we see the Lord telling the disciples was he was going to soon be buried, but there ears were closed to hear what the Lord told them.

The Lord called attention to the deeds of Mary and informs us that where ever the gospel is preached that this would be told for a memorial to her. Mary, out of whom many unclean spirits had been cast and who the Lord had greatly forgiven of her many sins, showed her great gratitude to the Lord by using perhaps her most costly worldly possession to anoint the head and feet of the Lord. She also showed her great humility and sorrow by washing the feet of Jesus with her tears and wiping them with her hair. Oh that we all might show such love and humility as Mary showed.

In all of this, the Lord did not minimize the need to help the poor, but rather showed that we will always have the poor with us and that we can help them at any time. Yet the Lord was only there in body for a short time and Mary had done what she could for his burial.

Matt. 26:14-16

Matt. 26:14 "Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and 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."

trayal of the Lord was prophesied in the book of Zechariah: 11:12 "And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD."

Thirty pieces of silver seems like a strange price to value the Lord according to the values set forth in Leviticus for a male servant: Lev. 27:3 "And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary." According to this, one may have thought the value would have been fifty shekels of silver, until we note that Christ was not valued for himself, but for his bride: Lev. 27:4 "And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels." The goodly price by which the Lord was betrayed reflected the value of his bride.

Matt. 26:17-25

Matt. 26:17 "Now 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 such a 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 even was come, he sat down with the twelve. 21 And as they did eat, 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, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said."

The Passover was a feast that stemmed from the plagues that God poured out on the land of Egypt, when Pharaoh resisted letting the children of Israel go into the wilderness to worship God and offer sacrifices unto God. The tenth plague was the death of all the firstborn of the land of Egypt.

The Lord made provision for the children of Israel to save them from this plague: Ex. 12:11 "And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever."
The Passover was to be observed on the 14th day of the first month. The Jewish day began at sundown, so the Passover day began in the evening and ran through the next day until sundown.

The above passage of scripture tells us of the preparations and place in which the Lord ate the Passover with the disciples. As we will see in the next segment of scripture, the Lord also instituted the communion service that night. However, the Passover was observed first. Before the next day was over the Lord himself would become the Passover lamb for his elect people.

While the Lord and the disciples were eating the Passover, the Lord informed the disciples that one of them would betray him. They each began to ask, "Lord, is it I?" "And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me." Judas Iscariot was the one who had dipped his hand with the Lord in the dish. Finally Judas asked, "Is it I?" The Lord said, "Thou hast said." The Lord pronounced a curse upon Judas, "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." Whether Judas is of the elect or not, I'll let others debate, but I can say for sure that Judas suffered for his betrayal of Jesus as he later went and hanged himself.