Matthew 26
Matthew 26:1. As the great prophet, foretold by Moses (Deut. 18:15-19), the Lord has now finished His discourses. We enter now on the last circumstances of His life, and that led on to His death. He knows what is before Him, and said to His disciples: Verse 2. “Ye know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified.” No excitement appears, but the calm, quiet spirit of one doing the Father’s will.
Matthew 26:3-5. It was decided by Israel’s leaders to put Him to death, and the high priest’s palace is their meeting place. They mean to murder the Son of God. It is their intention to do it with subtlety, and not on the feast day, for they feared the people. But that was the very day decreed of God. The Lord has announced it to His disciples. Man’s wickedness is seen, but God overrules; it was the will of God that Jesus should suffer at that very time.
Matthew 26:6-13. What a comfort to the Lord’s spirit the act of this woman must have been. It is at Bethany – the house of dates – in the house of Simon the leper. There she pours the precious ointment on His head; there she anoints His body for its burial. Did she not discern the storm clouds gathering over His head? Did she not see the looks, and hear the words of spite and hatred uttered against Him? And did she not hear His own words, “The Son of Man is delivered to be crucified”? One soul at least is feeling sympathy with Him.
But the disciples, seeing it, had indignation; first Judas Iscariot (John 12:4), then the disciples join in saying, “To what purpose is this waste? for this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.” The world and worldly-minded Christians count waste what is expended on Jesus only; and good men fall under the influence of one altogether bad. Man’s good is man’s highest object. Christ is the Father’s object of delight; the world has self in some form as its object. Judas Iscariot posed as a philanthropist, but he was actually a thief, a covetous man, yet the disciples fell in with his thoughts; they were earthly-minded.
King David appreciated the devoted love of those three men (2 Sam. 23:13-17) who risked their lives to fetch him the drink of water he longed for, but he would not drink it; it was so precious in his sight, he poured it out before the Lord. How much more precious is this woman’s act to the Lord! He is her anointed King, although rejected by men. He defends her and rebukes them, “Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon Me. For ye have the poor always with you, but Me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on My body, she did it for My burial. 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.” What a cheer to her this was. The Lord knew her love for Him, and appreciated it; gave her His “well done,” and rebuked the faultfinders. He declared it a good work, let others say what they please. The sense of His approval, “I know thy works” (Rev. 3:8), may be ours, should be ours, also.
She was thinking of His sufferings and of His death. She was in communion with Him, and this was a special time that they did not notice. It is good to help the poor, but to confess the Lord, to be with Him in the time of His rejection, is a privilege we will not have in heaven. She was ahead of all the rest. Joseph of Arimathea, Cornelius, and the other women, all showed their love and did their part, but this woman anticipated His death, and her Lord understood her. What matters then the frown of the world or of men, since He is pleased and refreshed?
And what honorable mention is given this deed? “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.” How well worth repeating this story is! It is not doing good to man, nor is it quantity of work. It is what is done for and in communion with Christ that gains His “well done.” It needs no gift; it is not too high for a child to reach. We can refresh His heart, but it commences with sitting at His feet; it is the outcome of being in His company and of hearing His words. May our souls know more of this.
Matthew 26:14-16. Judas Iscariot’s covetousness now leads him to offer his services in the work of Satan, and these so-called leaders of Israel accept his services, and the Lord of glory is sold for thirty pieces of silver, the price of a common slave. From that time Judas watches his opportunity to deliver Him up. The love of money is a root from which every evil springs. No teaching of Jesus entered his heart to hinder his downward course. It had been good for that man if he had not been born. How great his privileges! How terrible his judgment!
Matthew 26:17-25. The first day of the feast of unleavened bread, the disciples ask Him, “Where wilt Thou that we prepare for Thee to eat the passover? 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.” Here was another He counted on to own His claim. In Mark and Luke it is a man bearing a pitcher of water (the figure of the word for his path) that guides them to the place. There they made ready the passover. “When the evening was come, He sat down with the twelve, and as they did eat, He said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me. And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and began everyone of them to say unto Him, Lord, is it I? And He answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with Me in the dish, the same shall betray Me. 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. Then Judas, which betrayed Him, answered and said, Master is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.”
What an appeal and warning to Judas this is! The Lord knows his hypocrisy, but he is given up to Satan (John 13:2,27). And after the sop Satan enters into him to carry out his foul purpose.
Matthew 26:26. “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is My body. And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is My blood of the new testament (covenant), which was shed for many for the remission of sins.”
This is the memorial supper of the true passover, for Christ, our passover, is sacrificed for us (1 Cor. 5:7). It is a Savior who died for us that is to be remembered. It is not the remembrance of Israel brought out of Egyptian bondage, but of the Lord, the true Lamb of God, whose blood was shed for many for the remission of sins – the blood on which the new covenant with Israel will be founded. “Shed for many” tells of others besides Israel, and takes us in, though by nature Gentile dogs. It was not like the blood of Exodus 24, to ratify their promise of obedience. It was because they were sinners, and was for the remission of sins. In Luke it is added, “Was shed for you” (Luke 22:20).
In the supper, we remember the Lord in His death; the bread and wine, His body and His blood are separate, bringing Him before us in death. He is now glorified at the Father’s right hand. They are to expect to be with Him there, for He says, “I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new (in a new way) with you in My Father’s Kingdom.” And having sung an hymn, they went out, into the Mount of Olives. Does this not bear witness that the joys of redemption rise over all the sorrows and trials of this present life?
(To be Continued).