Matthew 26
-The instance of the anointing occurs right before Christ’s
crucifixion and burial in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, where Mary
(simply indentified as a woman in Matthew and Mark), the sister of Martha and
Lazarus (John 11:1-19) pours the alabaster ointment on the Head of Christ in
preparation for His burial, as Jesus puts it. He assures the guests that
observed this act that it was righteous and that it would be remembered
throughout the course of gospel history in the whole world (which has certainly
come to pass). The disciples, with the spokesman being the pilfering betrayer
Judas Iscariot, were indignant and deceitfully remarked about using the money
from this having greater potential with the poor. Jesus rebuked them and let
them know that there would always be opportunity to help the poor, but He was
only with them at this particular time. Had they really realized the
significance of this moment and the fact that they were in the presence of
Almighty God, their reaction would probably have been much different. Their
eyes and ears were still somewhat dull and unperceptive. Jesus corrects them on
this and commends the woman’s act of kindness done unto Him. *Application* The issue for us here is
to consider our love and devotion to the King of kings and Lord of lords. We
must anoint Him as God and Lord every day in our lives by coming into His
presence and worshipping at His feet. For Mary to wipe the feet of Jesus with
her hair, she had to bow before Him (John 12:3) We must also come humbly before
Him every day and all the time for recognition as to who He is. It is only in
this manner that we can rise up and do the service of our great and mighty King
in the world in which we live. “Bless the LORD O my soul and all that is within
me, bless His Holy Name (Psalm 103)!”
-Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, goes to the
chief priests and works out a deal for his own personal benefit to betray the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is awarded 30 pieces of silver for the delivering over of
the Lord to the religious authorities by seeking an opportunity to betray Him
in the absence of a crowd. Some have speculated that Judas may have had decent
motives in this activity. They will give him too much benefit of the doubt and
say that perhaps he was simply trying to usher in the Kingdom by force through
instigating a conflict. This in my opinion is a short-sighted misinterpretation
of the Scriptures. John and Luke are very poignant that Satan had filled his
heart and only had greedy and evil intent with this betrayal (Luke 22:3, John
13:2). Judas Iscariot goes down as one of the greatest villains of all time by
denying the Lord Jesus. *Application*
Anytime greed and selfish motivation become our foray we are in deep trouble
with the Lord. Be careful not to turn away from God and His plans for your life
by seeking your own desires and the world’s pleasures. It could absolutely mean
your demise and lead to your destruction.
-This last supper with the disciples occurs on the Thursday
evening before the Christ’s crucifixion, Nisan 15, which is the first day of
Unleavened Bread. Jesus instructs Peter and John to go and prepare the supper
in an upper room in the city of Jerusalem at an unknown man’s guest room whom
Jesus directed them to, either prearranged or supernaturally. When it was
evening they ate the meal together as to the custom of the Jews reclining at
the table. It is at this time that Jesus reveals that one with them will betray
Him. He dips in the dish bowl with Judas Iscariot, and He pronounces woe upon
him saying it would have been better if he had not been born. Ouch! The Lord
reminds us that all had been written and determined beforehand concerning His
going to the cross.
-The communion is given for the first time here in this
occasion. They eat the bread of the body and drink the cup of the blood of the
New Covenant together for the last time before Christ’s sacrifice for the
salvation of all mankind unto the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28). Jesus
prophecies that they will not drink of the fruit of the vine again until they
drink it new together in the Father’s Kingdom. This refers to the Messianic
wedding banquet in the eschaton (Matthew 8:11, Revelation 19:9). *Application* Communion is a holy,
somber, and righteous act done in remembrance of the Son and His salvific
activities at the cross. It represents how the Lord has reunified us together
with Him and each other as believers in perfect union. It is the consummation
of the New Covenant ratified in His blood shed for us in pain and suffering for
the purpose of justification from all sin in the Father’s sight unto the
believer. Never lose sight of the importance of this offering God in His grace
bestowed upon us, His beloved. Some have wrongly taken communion unto serious
consequences in the spiritual realm (1 Corinthians 11:27-31). Don’t be flippant
when partaking of the Lord’s bread and cup.
-After the disciples had sung a hymn, they were at the Mount
of Olives when Jesus told them that the Shepherd would be struck down and the
sheep would scatter. Peter, speaking for the entire group piped up and said
that he would go to the death with Christ promising to never leave Him or
forsake Him. However, Jesus, knowing the heart of man once again, predicted
that in that very night before the rooster crowed (Mark says twice, Matthew
gives three times) he would deny Him three times. This in fact happens as Jesus
is taken into custody, and Peter realizes the truth of the Lord’s claims to the
point of immense grief (Matthew 26:69-75, Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:54-62).
However, just as Jesus also predicted, Peter is restored and his faith turns
again to the Christ (Luke 22:32). His faith ultimately does not fail and he
becomes a tremendous leader in the church as the gospel goes out to the world. *Application* The Lord deals in reality
and truth. Optimism without reality and truth produces no hope. The reality in
Peter’s life was that there were deficiencies, which he was not even aware of.
Jesus pointed out his condition and brought His beloved disciple to the point
of brokenness and the realization that he wasn’t as faithful as he thought.
Allow the Lord to shape your life in the same way. Ask Him to expose the
weaknesses and reveal all to you for the purpose of repentance and restoration
in Him. You will arise a spiritual giant once the Lord has refined you for His
purposes. This is a difficult process, but absolutely rewarding. It is the
death to self and the resurrection in His power that we need.
-Jesus, in the night, takes His disciples to the Garden of
Gethsemane to pray earnestly for the cup of the Lord’s wrath on Him to be
removed. Nevertheless, the Christ wanted the Father’s will over His own will in
this matter and was obedient to the plans of God. He brought Peter, James, and
John into the area about a stone’s throw away from where He was praying. They
were tired, weary, and sorrowful at this point and could not resist sleeping in
their physical bodies even though the Lord said their spirit was willing
(Matthew 26:41, Mark 14:38). This happened three times as Jesus went to pray,
came back, went to pray, came back and went to pray and came back a third time.
He was deeply grieved and sorrowful to the point of death, the Word tells us,
in His final hours before His crucifixion. The stress was enormous as we read
about as the perspiration of blood dripped from His body while He knelt in
prayer. Luke tells us that an angel came to strengthen Him in these moments.
Jesus was in the presence of the Lord, but He was suffering terribly. The
realization that His disciples were sleeping probably caused Him even greater
rejection sorrow because He knew the supreme significance of this hour and the
spiritual warfare that was present. He warned them to pray so that they would
not be overcome with temptation. The truth was, Peter would draw a sword and
cut off the ear of a servant of the High Priest (Malchus, John 18:10), and the
rest of them would scatter in fear. They succumbed to the temptation of the
moment, but God eventually restored them and not one of them was lost other
than Judas Iscariot (John 17:12; 18:9). *Application*
How often does the Lord call on us to do difficult things for His Kingdom and
His purposes here on earth? The answer is all the time if we are sensitive
enough to hear His voice and obey. It is never easy to completely follow the
will and the direction of the Lord, but it will yield the harvest of
righteousness and goodness in the end when you do. There is always sacrifice in
the offering, but the reward is tremendous as we see in the final victory of
Christ Jesus after He had gone through His torture and death but resurrected
with power and glory. Obey the Lord in all that He is asking you to do in His
Name. Answer the call willingly as Jesus did and put aside your own will. The
Lord’s example should inspire our complete devotion (1 Kings 8:61, 2 Chronicles
16:9, Hebrews 12:1-3).
-The crowd of people from the chief priests, scribes, and
elders of the people came at night with Judas Iscariot, swords, clubs, and
torches to possibly do battle with the people of Jesus and bring Him into
custody. Several, if not many, of the disciples probably thought at the time
that the Kingdom of God would have to be won by force such as is common to man
and the natural order of things on this earth. The Lord turns this potentially
violent scene into a virtually harmless event with His words and healing action
after the cutting off of the ear of Malchus by Peter (Luke 22:51, John
18:8-11). Judas Iscariot betrayed His Lord with a kiss as a sign in the dark
night as to who His Rabbi was for all the throng of captors. The Christ asked
him the question, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss (Luke
22:48)?” The Lord, as we see in the book of John, was willing to go with them
without a fight and readily identified Himself to the shock and awe of those
around (John 18:6). The falling to the ground and back may have been proof of
some Divine revelation, which is not uncommon in the Scriptures (Ezekiel 1:28;
44:4, Daniel 2:46; 8:18; 10:9, Acts 9:4; 22:7; 26:14, Revelation 1:17; 19:10;
22:8). Jesus was now in the hands of evil men for the purpose of humanity’s
salvation. *Application* I doubt
many of us have been in a physical situation like this where people are coming
to capture or detain us. The presence Christ had in this tense moment, however,
should give us confidence in stressful situations we sometimes face in life.
I’m sure we can identify with altercations with mean spirited and angry people
who intend to disrupt our peace in stressful environments or situations. Let
the serenity of Christ overwhelm you in those moments and put on the
Spirit-filled fruit of self-control when these temptations arise. Don’t freak
out, stay cool under pressure! It will be a testimony to all.
-The band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of
the Jews lead the crowd that arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane near
the base of the Mount of Olives, just to the east across the Kidron Valley from
Jerusalem. It was in the dark of night, and Jesus commented concerning this
power of darkness and the underhanded way that these had come to Him undercover
rather than openly (Matthew 26:55, Mark 14:48-49, Luke 22:53). This was in
fulfillment of the prophets in the Scriptures (Isaiah 53:1-12, Daniel 9:25-26).
The Lamb must go to the slaughter without a fight sacrificially and carrying
the load. No one took Jesus into custody. He could have called down twelve
legions of angels (72,000) to deliver Him if He had appealed to the Father
(Matthew 26:53), but He didn’t. He suffered, the just for the unjust for the
purpose of our salvation if we turn to Him in faith (1 Peter 3:18). Again, He
refrained from violence and denounced it commenting that, “…all who take up the
sword will perish by the sword (Matthew 26:52).” This was not the way of the
Kingdom of God. It would be won through love, faith, and sacrifice, not by
force (Luke 16:15-16, John 3:16, 1 John 5:4-5). The Christ will drink from the
cup that the LORD had given Him (John 18:11) *Application* Christ’s teaching here seems to our natural minds so
antithetical to the normal manner of operation. In other words, He goes against
the flow of this marred, diluted, and depraved world and radically alters our
perception of how things should be. We would never think naturally that to give
up would gain the greatest victory, but in the end it is God’s power that
conquers through sacrificial obedience. This is the revolutionary message of
the cross and it is still transforming lives today! For an excellent example
see the movie To End All Wars.
-Jesus is led by the officers from Gethsemane to Annas and
then to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest, as we can ascertain from the
Scriptures. He is taken in for questioning in an attempt to garner testimony
that would condemn Him before the chief priest, the scribes, and the elders.
This was an illegal gathering according to their laws of the Sanhedrin
(prominent Sadducees and Pharisees). Many were brought forward to give
accusation against the Lord, but they did not concur and were proven false
again and again because of disagreements in their witness. It finally came down
to a direct question from the high priest as to if He was the Messiah, the Son
of the Blessed (Mark 14:61). When Jesus claimed that, “I Am, and you will see
the Son of Man seated at the right Hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of
Heaven (Matthew 26:64, Mark 14:62, Luke 22:69-70),” it was enough to draw the
ire of the council and condemn Him for blasphemy. His fate in the eyes of the
Jewish leaders was sealed at that point, but they could not crucify Him without
permission from the governor, which would be the next step in the passion of
Christ Jesus. *Application* When we
stand against the accusers in our life, how do we react? We learn from Jesus
here that our testimony needs to be true and accurate with no deception or
lies. We don’t need to make up stories or excuses when confronted, and we don’t
have to say all that much. Christ really made no defense. His life backed up
His testimony. He would come with Power from on High, which was not a lie
fabricated in His mind with falsehood. He simply spoke the facts and left the
results to God. So should we when accusation arises. Live with integrity.
-Peter, and one other disciple unknown to the high priest
(probably John), follow the Christ into His custody hearing before the high
priests, the scribes, and the elders at the house of Caiaphas. There are
different accounts of how things happened in the gospels, but we see the Word
of Christ coming to fulfillment in the life of Peter, the man who claimed just
hours earlier he would never leave or forsake the Lord even to death (Matthew
26:35, Mark 14:29, Luke 22:33). Peter is with Him, but denies even knowing the
Man three times before the rooster crowed twice. His response was remorse and
bitter weeping knowing that he was not the man he thought he was in light of
all that had just happened. He had not yet received the Holy Spirit and the
power that would later characterize his life as we read in Acts. Satan had
desired to sift him like wheat (Luke 22:31), but Christ prayed for him and he
would be restored in faith and turn back to the Lord to strengthen his brothers
(Luke 22:32). He had cursed the very association with Christ Jesus and denied
Him flatly and plainly. However, this was not the end and he would receive the
grace and forgiveness every person needs from the Savior. *Application* O how sweet restoration is! We have it in Christ, who
is our great Intercessor before the LORD (Romans 8:34). Please realize how
great a God we have that cares for us in our weakness and restores us, and our
weak constitutions in depravity, through the remission of sins. Even when we
have great intentions, we like Peter, fail and don’t stand for God at times.
Turn back to Him and let Him fill you with His strength and power through the
Holy Spirit’s work in your life.
Verses to Memorize:
Matthew 26:39, 52
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