We hit a major section change in the Gospel at this point. Jesus stops teaching on the end times and the Passion story begins. When I originally wrote this study, Mel Gibson had just released his movie The Passion of the Christ. He did an excellent job on the movie. The movie was done from the perspective of a Roman Catholic and had several Catholic legends built into it. Gibson did an excellent job by depicting the abuse and carnage that took place. Yet, this was under done or it would not have been viewable on the big screen. We will not be looking at Mel’s version of the Passion. Instead, we will be looking at the scriptures and deciphering what took place to the best of our ability. This chapter is a rather long one, so we will be taking it bit by bit. I hope you enjoy the journey and embrace a different view of the passion story.
As in previous studies, I encourage you to have an open Bible nearby. I will quote a few verses; but expect you to look up and read the verses that are noted for a full understanding of my train of thought. Always, always look at context. Context rules! I am guilty of rose-colored glasses, just like the next teacher. When I get a thought into my head, often I cannot see other ideas. So, check my work and e-mail me or reply to this study if you disagree.
Matthew 26:1-5
Jesus told the disciples that it was time for the clock to start clicking on the passion story. At the same time, the chief priests and elders gathered together to start planning the death of Jesus by stealth. They planned to murder Jesus in secret (Matt 26:4).
Jesus prepared the disciples just as Moses and Aaron announced to the people that the Passover was soon to take place (Ex 12:1-13). They prepared the people for the preparation that was to take place for the original Passover. Israel would soon see the salvation of the Lord. This Passover represented salvation. Yeshua prepared His disciples by warning them of the upcoming Passover and crucifixion. The chief priests and elders were plotting to kill Jesus. They were developing their plan. Their plan was soon to go haywire because it became the main focus of the festival (Matt 26:5).
Let’s take a quick overview of the original Passover for a moment. God required the first born of the Egyptians to be killed by the angel of death throughout all the land of Egypt, because of their rebellion toward the will of the true God. The Jews took blood and spread it over the doorpost of their house in order to guard against the angel of death, when he saw the blood, he passed over it to the next house (Ex 12:13). The sacrificial lamb was an unblemished lamb, which was killed for each family. The blood of the lamb was used on the doorposts, which symbolized the blood covering the sin of the people. The ones who had their sin covered belonged to the true God.
Jesus is God’s firstborn Son (Lk 2:7). His life is being required due to the sin of man and the decision of man to reject the will of God. Jesus is the Passover lamb that was sacrificed for God’s chosen people. It was not a coincidence that Jesus was plotted against during this season; God was verifying that this was His plan. The original Passover was a Messianic prophecy which looked forward to the time when the Messiah would die for the sin of all mankind. Just as with the original Passover, it is each person’s responsibility to cover the doorpost of his house with the blood of the Passover lamb.
The court of the Jews had decided against having the death of Jesus take place during the Passover because of possible riots from the people. Yet, God had a different plan, the Passover worked into His timeline, and salvation was intricately woven into this prophecy. Caiaphas had already predicted the necessity of the death of Jesus (Jn 11:49-50).
The court was mistaken with the intention to take Jesus by stealth and kill Him silently. It turned into one of the greatest court trials in history. It was necessary for the Jewish people to crucify their Messiah, just as it was necessary for the Jewish family to slaughter the Passover lamb and cover their doorpost with its blood. By taking personal responsibility for the death of the lamb, they had the opportunity to be covered by the blood of the lamb. They claimed their position as the people of God. The Gentiles also took part in the sacrifice of Jesus. Many Gentiles also covered their doorposts in the original Passover thus declaring God as their God. Therefore; all men are guilty of killing the Son of God, all men have the possibility of taking His blood and covering their doorposts with it. All men have the possibility of being saved from imminent death through the blood of Jesus. We will see in the coming verses that Jew, Gentile and the mixed races were able to examine the lamb before slaughter. The study gets pretty deep, so bear with me.
Matthew 26:6-13
Matthew inserts this event into this story; it is somewhat out of chronological sequence according to the other gospels. This incident is in all four gospels (Matt 26:6-13; Mk 14:3-9; Lk 7:37-39; Jn 12:1-8). We find out from John that the mysterious woman is Mary, Lazarus’ sister. Remember context. Contextually we are looking at the beginning of the story of the crucifixion of Yeshua.
For the sake of being simple, let’s return to the basics for a moment. Jesus is the Messiah, which is often transliterated as “Christ”. Messiah literally means “anointed one”. The study of anointing oil goes very deep into the teachings of Torah. God anointed kings such as Saul. This is one of the major repetitions in the book of 1 and 2 Samuel. David refused to fight against the Lord’s anointed, even though God had already anointed David as king (1 Sam 16:13). God promised David that his throne would be established forever (2 Sam 7:16; Jer 23:6; 33:15-17). Part of establishing the king was anointing the king with oil. This draws us to the story of Jehu who was transformed overnight into a mighty king (2 Kings 9:1-13).
Mary anointed Jesus with a very costly perfume. This oil was made from the nard plant (Mark 14:3). John tells us that the measurement of oil was about 12 ounces (John 12:3). The value of the oil was 300 denarii, which came to about eleven months wages. That is if a man worked every single day. With the Sabbath off, the cost of the oil exceeded a year’s income. Imagine that. This small amount of oil was certainly oil fit for a king. Mary anointed both Jesus’ head and feet (Luke 7:36-39). She is identified as one who is a great sinner. Yeshua also gives a parable to the two debtors to relate to her sin debt (Lk 7:40-50).
Jesus taught Torah. He often taught that pure Torah was taking care of the widows and the orphans. The disciples picked up on this and condemned Mary since the poor needed to be supported above all else. Judas had selfish reasons for his objection (Jn 12:6). He had intended to dip into the money himself, pilfering the riches for his own desires. In today’s text, it is clear that all the disciples were indignant about the waste.
The difference was the situation. Mary anointed Jesus and prepared the King of Kings for burial. This was not an extravagant expense wasted on Jesus; it was one time on earth where He was recognized as the King, worthy of praise, worthy of worship. There are two sides to this coin. First, Yeshua was being prepared for a kingly death (Matt 26:12). The second reason for the anointing was anointing of the King. Jesus would not occupy the throne until he paid the penalty for sin. Therefore, the anointing carried two functions. It carried the function of preparation for death and anointing the Messiah, the anointed one, to be king forever.
This is where we get into the bare bones of reason. Why did Jesus have to die to pay the sin penalty? All of us are aware of the necessity for the Passover lamb to be killed to cover sin. The requirement for death went deeper than that and further back. It went all the way back to the Abrahamic covenant. God made a covenant with Abraham that is interesting. Abram was instructed to slaughter a heifer, goat, ram, turtledove and pigeon. These were to be split in half and laid opposite of each other. Then Abram waited. The function of this covenant was that both parties would pass between the parts of the animals in a declaration that if the covenant was broken, they would become like the animals. Abram was not allowed to pass through the halves, he was put in a deep sleep. God passed through the halves as a flaming torch and smoking oven (Gen 15). The Abrahamic covenant was broken by the unfaithfulness of God’s people. The price for the failed covenant was the life blood of God. This type of covenant is a death binding covenant. We have one example where it is fully executed (Jer 34:8-22).
The Abrahamic covenant is where the blood covenant comes to a complete understanding. Prior to this blood sacrifice takes place. However, the impact of the sacrifice is not the same. After the Abrahamic covenant blood sacrifice begins to take the flavor of covering sin. Yeshua’s blood sacrifice in the following story satisfies the requirements of the Abrahamic Covenant. He fulfills this covenant so that He can pay the penalty for the broken covenant. He also superseded the covenant by rising from the dead and establishing the New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34).
All the covenants of the Old Testament built upon each other. One covenant was not fully effective without the ramifications of the previous covenant. The point made in the Abrahamic covenant demanded death. This was passed through all the covenants and had to be fulfilled by the Messiah before He could take reign as the righteous King over Israel. His death was necessary.
Returning to the story:
Mary recognized Jesus as the Messiah long before anyone else did. She hung on His words, and listened to Him intently. This had never changed. In the text that we are studying today, Mary was the first to prepare Jesus for burial; her perception went beyond human reason. I believe that she was inspired and moved by the Holy Spirit to offer this service of worship.
God used an unworthy woman to announce the most important event in History. Mary went against all the conventions, taking a risk with her best friends and family to offer worship to Jesus. Think about the risk that she took, humiliating herself to the point of drying Jesus’ feet with her hair. Mary recognized Jesus as the Messiah, she offered Him worship, and He accepted the worship. Mary was likely the only one who had really listened to Jesus as He predicted His own death (John 10:11, 17, 18, Mt 16:21; 17:22; 20:18). Mary understood, she comprehended what was going on, and was able to properly interpret the signs. Please note: this is the only anointing that His body received; the women did not make it to the tomb in time to anoint His body, because He had already risen from the dead. Women were not allowed to teach, or to preach in those times, yet with her actions, she has taught men for ages that Jesus is worthy of worship, He is worthy of praise. Jesus is the anointed one, The Messiah!
Matt 26:14-16
Judas is an interesting man. He was a thief that was pilfering the money box for his own use. Judas was also a schemer. The disciples were under the impression that Yeshua was going to set up an earthly kingdom while he was on earth. There were several arguments which took place that were focused upon position in the kingdom. Judas was no different. He was the treasurer of the group. When the earthly kingdom came into existence, Judas expected to be the treasurer for the kingdom.
Yeshua was not making any military efforts to set up a kingdom. This probably bothered Judas. By delivering Jesus to the chief priests, let’s consider what he had to gain. Judas would gain thirty pieces of silver, nothing more. By not turning Jesus over, he would stay the treasurer and be able to dip into the money box. He would also be one of the twelve chosen who were receiving intimate instruction from the Messiah. But, nothing else would happen.
I believe that Judas decided to push the envelope. He may have thought that by turning Jesus over, he would force the hand of the Messiah. Legions of angels would come and deliver the Messiah. Then war would be made against the Roman Empire and the Messiah would set up shop. His greed drove him sacrifice the Messiah so that when the prophesied earthly kingdom of the Messiah was set up he would be treasurer.
The disciples did not understand that the Messiah had to come first and be crucified. They understood the myriad of prophesies that looked forward to the Millennial Reign. They also fully expected that the Messiah would set up shop on earth during their lifetimes. Yeshua prepared the disciples on several occasions by teaching them that He would be crucified (Matt 26:2; 16:21-23; 17:22-23 20:17-19). If you read carefully, each of these revelations are treated with deep grief. Due to the many arguments about position, I do not believe that they fully considered that Yeshua was destined to die on the cross.
Judas made the bargain for thirty pieces of silver. Thirty pieces of silver was the valuation of a slave that had been gored by an ox (Ex 21:32). It is also the price that Zechariah received for his prophecy (Zech 11:1-13, specifically 12). When reading Zechariah’s prophecy, consider Judas as the subject of the prophecy. Judas broke his covenant that he had made. He had no pity for the people. The prophecy gives us a view into the upcoming drama. For example, God said he would not have pity on those delivered into the power of the king (Zech 11:6). Judas was instrumental into dealing the final straw in turning the tide against the Messiah.
Matt 26:17-19
The synoptic gospels give more detail to setting up the Passover meal (Mk 14:12-16; Lk 22:7-13). There are two festivals mentioned. The feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover meal. It is important to understand that Unleavened bread is a seven day festival while the Passover meal takes place in a single evening. The disciples followed the instruction of the Lord and set up the Passover meal.
Matt 26:20-25
It is important to understand how a Passover meal is conducted in order to understand this passage. I encourage you to look up a Passover Haggadah and read through it. This is the form that all Passover meals have followed for ages.
One of the four questions posed by children during the Passover meal is “on other nights we sit or recline to eat. Why on this night do we recline?” This is important because Yeshua and the disciples were “reclining” at the table. The idea behind it is free men recline, slaves sit.
At the middle point in the meal, each plague is recalled with a lot of drama. The bondage of Egypt is recited and expounded upon. The final part of this section of the meal is the bitter herbs. This is where the Matza bread is dipped into the bitter herbs and they are eaten. The symbolism is simple. The bitter herbs symbolize the grief of the slavery. It specifically symbolizes the mortar for the bricks that they were making. In short, the bitter herbs symbolize bondage. The next portion of the Passover meal is the redemption of God. There is a significant shift from bondage to freedom in this point in the meal. With that understanding, let’s return to the study.
Yeshua was speaking to the disciples about being betrayed at the point of the plagues. We know this because this is the part of the meal where bitter herbs are dipped from the bowl. All of the disciples denied betraying Yeshua at this point. Jesus pointed out that Judas was dipping his Matza into the bowl at the same time and he was the one who betrayed Jesus. Judas denied his betrayal again.
John gives us insight into the next portion of this drama. Judas was immediately dismissed from the table to carry out his task of denial (John 13:27-29). This is important to understand because Judas was in bondage to the thirty pieces of silver. He had placed himself under slavery.
Yeshua said the act was so grievous that it would have been better if Judas was never born. Josephus tells about Judas after that as a man who suffered from extreme depression. This soon ended in suicide.
Judas was unable to move forward with the Passover meal because he had placed himself in bondage to the thirty pieces of silver. Redemption was symbolically withheld from him due to this bargain. This is the reason he left the meal at this point.
Matthew 26:26-30
The context of the passage is placed at the Passover Seder (meal). During the Passover Seder there is a large piece of Matza bread (unleavened bread) which is broken in half. This is drawn from a special pouch that holds three pieces of Matza bread. Half of the broken piece is then hidden somewhere in the house, this is the Afikomen. The other half is hidden. Later in the Passover Seder, the small children are sent to search out the missing piece or the designated youngest in the group is sent to search out this hidden piece of Matza bread. The child receives a prize for the find. Later in the meal, this special Afikomen is broken and distributed among the group. It is eaten with special reverence in a reclining position. This is called the Tzafun. No drink is to accompany eating the Afikomen. Immediately following this is the drink of wine from the third cup. It is followed by the blessing following the meal and song.
The broken Matza carries special significance since it symbolizes the body of the Messiah that was broken for the sin of the people. There is a pouch that carries three pieces of Matza bread. This is often thought to be symbolic of the God-head. The middle piece has been broken. Eating the Afikomen is symbolic in taking part in the sacrifice that was made which brought about redemption. As Christians, we understand that the middle piece of Matza bread symbolizes Jesus. While the broken piece demonstrates the death (breaking), burial (hiding) and resurrection (being found again). That takes place in this section of Matthew. We also understand that even though the Matza bread was broken, it was not destroyed. Yeshua, during his physical death, survived as God and made proclamation to those who corrupted the earth (1 Pet 3:18-20; 4:6). These were informed of the good news of His death. Finding the Afikomen symbolizes the resurrection of the Messiah.
It is rather funny when reading Jewish websites regarding this tradition. Often there is a disclaimer that Christians have misinterpreted the meaning of the Matza bread. Yet, being traditionalist, they do not change the ceremony since it is an ancient one that goes back to Old Testament times.
Let’s return now to the Passover meal that Yeshua and His disciples are involved in and look at the meaning of the passage. Christians have pulled these verses out of context to justify the “communion” or “Lord’s Supper” service that takes place weekly in many churches. There is a great disaster in making the passage stand alone. We have thrown away the passage that Jesus used to declare that the Passover was about Him! He is stating that the Passover Meal is really about Him. He is also stating that the broken piece of bread, the Afikomen, is His body which was broken. The wine is the blood of His covenant or agreement which being poured out brought about the forgiveness of sins.
Our Catholic brothers have developed the doctrine of transubstantiation surrounding this tradition. It states simply that the bread and wine actually become the physical body and physical blood of Jesus. This is what pulling the passage out of context produces. It produces error. In context of the passage, Yeshua is pointing out that the meaning of the Afikomen and the next drink signifies the Messiah. It does not become the Messiah. It is the meaning of that part of the Passover Seder.
In this passage, the Lord states that the communion service is the Passover Seder. If we were to take this to heart, the only time we would have the “elements” or “communion” will be at the Passover Meal. Paul taught the same thing in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 11:23-34). He adds definition to a couple of items. He adds the word “remembrance” which signifies that the elements are symbolic of the action of the Messiah. There is also an unclear indication that Paul gives us, “as often as” (1Cor 11:26). This is where the Christian church justifies weekly “communion” services. Interpretation of this is up to you. When reading through the Corinthian passage, it could be interpreted to justify weekly services.
Paul adds a couple of key terms which indicate the Passover Seder. First there is the requirement of examining yourself to see if you are unworthy (1 Cor 11:27). The Feast of Unleavened Bread takes place at the same time as the Passover Seder. This feast celebrates removing sin and compromise from one’s life. Righteousness, or a worthy manner comes from repenting of sin, casting it out of your life and returning to God’s instruction. This is symbolized by the removal of yeast from the house in the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This reference gives us the indication that Paul is not speaking of a weekly service. He is still teaching about the Passover Seder.
The second indication is regarding patience in eating the meal (1 Cor 11:33-34). The idea of the Passover Seder is not to have a gluttonous feast. It is a holy meal eaten slowly and with meaning. Most Seders take over an hour to complete. Paul advises those who are hungry to eat before they partake in the Passover Seder so that while eating the meal the focus is on the meaning of the meal (1 Cor 11:34).
Returning to Matthew: Yeshua taught that the Passover Seder was symbolic of His deliverance from bondage. He is the Messiah that came to bring salvation to all men. His reference to the covenant of His body and His blood indicated that the Afikomen and wine were symbolic of the actions of the Messiah in the redemption of sin.
If He were initiating a weekly service, it would have started during the forty days that He walked the earth after His resurrection. Yet He stated simply that He would not partake again with them until initiation of the “Father’s kingdom” (Mat 26:29). I believe that this will be at the marriage supper of the lamb (Rev 19:9). But, that is my understanding, I could be wrong on this. The point being that in that short time, another Passover Seder would not take place.
Why would Yeshua pass up the opportunity to initiate the communion service if this was His intention? The reason He passed up the opportunity was because this was the significant meaning of the Passover Seder. The redemption of man by deliverance from Egypt was the original meaning of the Seder. The completion of that meaning or the full meaning of the Passover Seder is the redemption story which begins with God’s deliverance from bondage and ends with the ultimate deliverance through the Messiah from sin. Remember context. The Last Supper was a Passover Seder.
When you closely examine the practice of Communion, it draws the practice into question. There is no scriptural evidence of a weekly communion service. The Catholic Church instituted communion as a practice and identified it as a ritual. They built strong doctrines around it. It is interesting that in pagan society there is also evidence of a communion service that took place. If you do an internet search on “pagan communion” it quickly returns many articles that well establish that the early Catholic Church founded this doctrine and patterned it after Mithra, Ba-al, or Sun worship. Ceremonies were in place from ancient religions where round orbs and wine were consumed consumed to symbolize eating the gods. From this practice, the attributes of the gods were passed on to people. Most Christian churches have picked up this ritual without questioning its origin and have incorporated it into the order of worship. It appears to be a solid doctrine until you closely examine the scriptures. This subject is beyond the scope of this paper but an interesting topic to be considered for a later date.
Matthew 26:31-35
Yeshua quoted one line from a prophecy in Zechariah (Zech 13:7-9). The prophecy is directed at the disciples. They were set to soon be tested with the coming events. It was a prophecy that spoke of refining the disciples and having their faith tested. The end of the prophecy is victory:
Zechariah 13:7–9 (NET)
7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate,” says the Lord who rules over all. Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones. 8 It will happen in all the land, says the Lord, that two-thirds of the people in it will be cut off and die, but one-third will be left in it. 9 Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire; I will refine them like silver is refined and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name and I will answer; I will say, ‘These are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
When Yeshua goes to trial, there is only a few of the disciples who stay close by. Those who stay close, do so in secret. Zechariah’s prophecy is the center point of these verses. Yeshua knew that they would desert him in the time of trouble. This was to be expected. He gives them instructions for after the resurrection. They are to meet him in Galilee.
Peter wasn’t buying it. He was determined that even if everyone deserted Jesus, he would certainly stick by His side. The other disciples jumped on the bandwagon and swore that they would also remain faithful. Yeshua stated simply that before the night was over, their words would be tested and they would fail miserably. Their bravado would soon melt when hundreds of heavily armed Roman soldiers would soon come into the picture. Their bravado was not match for imminent death. Peter will deny Him three times before the night is over. We will look at this more in the coming verses.
Matthew 26:36-46
In the previous verses we looked at Zechariah’s prophecy. It was prophesied that two thirds would depart and one third would be left. Yeshua removed the majority of his disciples from the scene. There were only three men with Yeshua during this prayer: Peter, James and John.
We looked earlier at the third of four cups of the Passover. Understanding this passage hinges upon understanding the Passover cups. There are now four cups in the Passover Seder. At that time there were five cups in the Seder. The final cup was consumed after the meal.
Yeshua was in deep grief as he entered this time of prayer. Place yourself at the scene for a moment. Yeshua was not going through a Passover Seder out of obligation. He was living through a Passover Seder and making it into something entirely new. Yeshua was the fulfillment of the Passover Seder. This Seder was the most important Seder in history. It compares to the original meal when the angel of death was making his rounds.
Yeshua prayed in this prayer that the remaining cup would not have to be consumed. Four cups of wine are consumed at the Passover Seder. The final one is consumed at the very end of the meal. This final cup is a cup of praise and prayer. It is praise for the completion of the Passover. It is a prayer that God will bring in the Messianic era quickly. The Jewish people do not realize that Jesus is the Messiah and are still praying that prayer today. This is where the phrase “Next year in Jerusalem”, that completes the Seder comes from. They are praying that next year in Jerusalem the Messiah will come. When Messianic Christians pray this prayer, they are looking forward to the return of the Messiah. I believe that we will see this at the end of the tribulation at the marriage supper of the lamb (Rev 19:7-10). In my opinion, this is a Passover Seder. Four cups were consumed at the Passover Seder. The garden takes place after the Seder.
There are a tremendous amount of interpretation regarding the four cups. Each of them is interpreted in the eyes of each commentator with meaning attached according to their worldview. I went to a Jewish Haggadah to draw the meaning from the ritual.
There was one additional cup that has been highly debated. This is the fifth cup of the Passover. This is a highly debated cup that has been eliminated from the Passover. Some call this the Cup of Elijah, other call it the cup of Hallel. This cup was consumed after the Passover meal. Some argue that it was added just so they could drink a little more! However, this cup carries incredible meaning with it that is very important to focus on. This cup is the one that Yeshua was praying would be removed from Him. Remember context, Yeshua is experiencing this Passover as He was fulfilling it.
The fifth cup is based upon Psalm 136. At this time, read through Psalm 136 in order to get the full meaning of the Psalm. When you do that, I encourage you to fix one translation error that has been carried out for many years. Replace the word “lovingkindness” in each instance with the word “grace”. It has the exact same meaning. This cup signified living through the Passover. It signified God’s personal involvement to bring about the deliverance of man. This was the cup of God’s undeserved favor on man. God stepped in to do what man could not do.
Now that we have looked at the significance of the fifth cup, let’s return to the passage. Yeshua knew what it would take to redeem man. He knew that the final cup, the fifth cup was an action of God moving through grace. This cup would involve extreme pain and suffering. He prayed three times that the cup would be removed from His Passover story.
The sleeping disciples: We discussed earlier that the requirement of the Abrahamic covenant was the blood of the one who passed through the split corpses of animals (Gen 15). A deep sleep was put on Abraham so that in spite of all of his efforts, he could not stay awake to pass between the pieces with God. Therefore, God carried the responsibility of the covenant. This is the picture that we have with the disciples. They were unable to stay awake because the covenant was God’s move. The redemption of man fell upon God completely. Yeshua would walk this path alone. The terms of the Abrahamic covenant demanded that if the covenant was not in full effect, the one that passed through the split animals would have to die. Yeshua, the YHVH God of the Old Testament, had to die. He had to have His blood shed to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant. This was the purchase price of the covenant. The sleeping disciples are a picture of Abram as he slept soundly during his covenant.
I encourage you to keep this picture in mind as you consider this passage. In the end, Yeshua woke up the disciples. It was time for the great betrayal (Matt 26:46).
Matthew 26:47-50
The Romans approached Jesus as if they would be fighting an army. They also believed that Jesus had a military following so they were armed to the limit. There was a complete Roman cohort on this raid, which consisted of about 600 soldiers (John 18:3). Judas may have wanted to usher in the kingdom quicker, thinking that Jesus was here to set up a literal kingdom. It is possible that the Romans thought this as well since they brought six hundred men to capture one who was surrounded by twelve disciples. Another factor that we must take into account is that when Jesus traveled, multitudes traveled with Him. The Romans probably noticed this as well and expected a strong resistance.
Peter was obviously armed, it could be that the other disciples were also armed. They were fishermen, used to doing hard labor with nets and working with the boats, these men were a force to be reckoned with. It could also be that the chief priests felt that these men stood as a threat to them if they were to try to arrest Jesus. Judas was recognized as one of the twelve. He led more than just the Roman Cohort. He also led a large contingent from the temple guard.
The “kiss” is probably one of the most wicked choices that Judas could have chosen to betray Yeshua. It was a special fervent kiss according the the Greek language that was a display of brotherly love. At this point Judas was leading a company of over six hundred people. The ruse of being one of the disciples melted with the gravity of the situation. Yet, he pretended to be one of the twelve. He put on a front that he was just like the other guys, greeting the Rabbi (teacher) in a customary way.
Jesus called Judas’ bluff. He recognized that Judas had determined to betray him… The faked affection was for theatrical purposes only, it makes you wonder why Judas even attempted it. Word usage is very revealing. Yeshua uses a word that is only used three times in the Bible for friend. In the Greek language it referred to an associate, or companion, but not necessarily one you share intimacy with. Here is a note on the word you might find interesting:
hetaíros [friend]
This term is used for a. “companion,” b. “fellow-soldier,” c. “member of the same party,” d. “religious society,” e. “pupil,” f. “friend,” and g. “colleague.” It is not common in the LXX but is used in later Judaism for a qualified but not yet ordained member of the scribal body, and more widely for one who seeks to live strictly by the law, especially its ritual requirements.
The only NT use is in Matthew, where the owner of the vineyard (20:3) and the king (22:12) employ it when addressing the grumblers and the man without a wedding garment, and Jesus has it in greeting Judas (26:50). The meaning is “friend” but in each case with the implication of a distinct relationship in which there is generosity on the one part and abuse of it on the other.
The absence of the word elsewhere in the NT shows that it is not thought to be appropriate to Christians, for in relation to Christ doúlos is the proper term for believers, and in relation to one another adelphoí. The use of adelphoí shows that God has invaded the sphere of human egoism and that Christians have a new relationship with one another in virtue of their common relatedness to the one Lord. [K. H. Rengstorf, II, 699–701][1]
The word “friend” in this passage is one that is calling Judas anything but a brother or true friend. It is one that is associated with an outsider with whom you are familiar with. Judas had his own agenda and had removed himself from the inner circle.
Can you imagine going up to the Messiah and openly defying Him after you had watched Him heal the sick, raise the dead, still the seas, calm the winds, and many other miracles? The other Gospels indicated that Judas was filled with Satan. He had allowed himself to be possessed by the devil himself in carrying out this betrayal. Satan thought that he had won by delivering up God to be crucified. Yeshua’s word usage also reflects personal responsibility on the part of Judas. He was responsible for allowing Satan in. Therefore, he was accountable for his sin.
Matthew 26:51-56
Cutting off the ear is an interesting twist to the story. Peter was the one who did the deed, and Jesus put his ear back on and healed him on the spot (John 18:10; Lk 22:51). Can you imagine how this must have worked on the soldiers as they were arresting a great healer? Yet it did not affect them.
The statement that Jesus made concerning twelve legions of angels is interesting. A Roman legion consisted of about 6,100 troops, and 726 horsemen. At any given point in time Jesus could have called for 73,200 angels who would have come instantly (2 Kings 6:17). The power of this group of angels is revealed when 185,000 Assyrians were killed in one night by them(2 Ki 19:35). They were a force to be reckoned with.
Judas was correct. Jesus could have ushered in His kingdom at that point. However, this would have been an act of the will of man, not of the purpose of God. The prophecies in the scriptures spoke of a suffering Messiah who had to die to pay the price for sin. Yeshua was not going to take a short cut. He refused to call the angels and allowed himself to be arrested.
Jesus addressed the crowds asking them why they bothered to arrest Him with swords and clubs. The idea he was portraying to them was that He was a peaceful man who would do them no harm. The disciples took off running at this point. John tells us that Jesus interceded for the disciples asking for their release (John 18:8-9). It would be nearly impossible for them to escape without being allowed to leave. There was an unspoken deal with the Romans that took place at this point. Yeshua asked that the disciples be released and promised that He would come peacefully. He had already displayed his power by knocking the entire force to the ground with His simple statement “I AM” (John 18:6). By the way, the word “he” is inserted for English readers. It is not in the Greek. Jesus is the great “I AM”. The Romans agreed to His terms and the disciples escaped.
Matthew 26:57-58
Peter was too stubborn to leave Jesus, he may have ran at first, but now he is shadowing Jesus, watching to see what will happen. This is the first of six trials that Jesus went through before being crucified.
Matthew 26:59-61
They were determined to put Jesus on trial for something, it is not clear as to what the false witnesses had said, what is clear is that even though they had a fixed trial set up, they had to follow a protocol which was eliminating the witnesses as quickly as they came forth. False testimony was not working since it was false.
This trial appeared to be an illegal meeting that was held at night. Many have pointed this out in the commentaries. Normal trials were held during the day before the Sanhedrin. This is where we land when we do not understand the Jewish festivals.
Let’s step out of the box for a moment. Ignore what other commentators are saying and let’s look at context again. Yeshua’s role in this Passover was to become the Passover Lamb that would be slain to cover the sin of the world. This is a given fact. Second fact. The Passover Lamb had to be examined by the priests to see if it was completely spotless. It was critical that the Passover Lamb be perfect in every detectible way. With a lamb, the task was an inspection of the animal. With Jesus, the task was much more involved. It included a moral investigation.
Context again: In the Jewish community, there were two Passover observances. The first one was an intimate one that took place at the eve of Passover at dusk. The family would gather to have a Passover Seder. This took place when Yeshua gathered His disciples for the Passover Seder (Last Supper) in the upper room. The second Passover observance came during the day following. The Priests would call in all the help possible and offer sacrificial lambs from dawn till about three in the afternoon. Prior to this task, the Priests were given the huge task of inspecting each lamb for defects. It is very possible that they were inspecting lambs on the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at any possible time during the days prior to prepare for the great sacrifice.
Context: Jesus was the Passover Lamb. He had to be inspected. He was not delivered for inspection until late in the evening prior to the public Passover Observance. The following trials that we will observe are trials that all took place from the time after the Passover Seder until the sacrifice on the following day. We will see that Yeshua was not just examined by the Priests, He is also examined by many others. He had to be examined to declare the certainty of being a perfect, spotless sacrifice. Now, let’s return to the passage:
The High Priest and religious leaders had gathered late at night. This was probably close to midnight to hold this meeting. They had two purposes for the meeting. First, they were focused upon examining Yeshua to find fault in Him. They wanted to put Him to death. Second, it was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. That meant that they had to remove sin from their lives. False witnesses sounded great at the beginning; but conflicted with this festival. If they allowed the testimony of false witnesses, they would be condoning sin on the Feast of Unleavened Bread. That would be very bad. They probably felt that holding the night meeting was expeditious to remove the false prophet from their community.
The meeting was not a secret meeting since they were trying to bring in witnesses against Yeshua. Let’s talk about false witnesses for a moment. A false witness was extremely dangerous with Levitical instruction. If a false witness was used in the conviction of a man it would backfire on the witness and on the priests. Torah required that if a false witness was used the result of the trial had to also be used for the false witness. If the person on trial was executed, the false witness would also have to be executed. The priests had to be first of all unaware of a false witness and secondly had to find out that the witness was false after the fact (Deuteronomy 19:16-21). They were aware of the false witnesses prior to the conviction. Therefore they disregarded their testimony entirely.
The credible witnesses: Two men came forward and declared that Yeshua had spoken of destroying the temple and rebuilding it in three days. This took place when Jesus was cleaning out the temple. He was questioned on the authority that He was exercising in driving out the money changers. He declared that if the people destroyed the temple, He would raise it up in three days. The declaration appeared to be directed at the Temple when it was directed toward his body (John 2:13-25). This took place at an earlier Passover. Yeshua left an impact on the ones celebrating the Passover from years earlier and brought this statement to light. Remember, it was the Passover. Merchants from the prior year were probably still irritated with Jesus for shutting down their businesses. Their accusation was from their perspective. From their observation they were making a true statement.
Matthew pointed out that two men came forward that witnessed this same statement. One witness was not enough. Torah demanded that there had to be two or more witnesses before a conviction could be established (Deut 19:15).
First actual charge concerned being a menace to society. Jesus had promised to destroy the temple, and to rebuild it in three days. They had understood this to mean the literal temple. The word for “temple” could also be translated as “sanctuary”, which was not pointing toward a literal building, but toward the dwelling place of God.
Yeshua did not offer any words of defense against these accusations. This could have been for a couple of reasons. First of all, arguing over the intentions of words with a mob was probably not going to work. Secondly, the men gave testimony of a statement that Yeshua had made. These men gave credibility to the trial. Their testimony was pointless in the long run. If a person makes a threat but is unable to carry through with the treat, it is not considered to be credible. In other words, they probably knew that it was impossible for Jesus, as a man to destroy the temple in three days… They needed more to go for a death conviction.
The problem with their statement: Wording is critical in the Bible. The word for “temple” is the Greek word “hierou”. In the John passage this is the word used when Jesus found the changers in the temple and drove them out (John 2:14-15, 2 places). This word indicated structures or complexes. He used a different word when He referred to tearing down the temple, this word was “naon”. It indicated a sanctuary or dwelling place of God. This is the exact same word that the accusers brought forward. The statement that the men made declared that God’s sanctuary would be destroyed and then be completely rebuilt after three days. Wording was a problem since the Greek language word did not mean “temple”.
Matthew 26:62-68
The high priest was digging a little deeper, almost ignoring the actual questions at hand as concerning the temple. Then the high priest directed the question more specifically toward the idea of the “sanctuary”. He picked up on what had been said, and seemingly wanted to verify his understanding. He asked Jesus a question placing Him under oath, as to whether He was the Messiah, the Son of God. The High priest went to Torah to require Jesus to respond. When a person was placed under oath according to Torah, he was required to answer truthfully to his fullest knowledge, telling the entire truth (Lev 5:1; 1 Kings 22:16). Yeshua responded with two definite scriptural references applying them to Himself. He referred to Himself as “sitting at the right hand of power”, this was a direct reference to Psalm 110. The second portion was “Son of Man” and “Coming on the clouds” this referred directly to Daniel 7:13-14:
Daniel 7:13–14 (NET)
13 I was watching in the night visions, “And with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man was approaching. He went up to the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. 14 To him was given ruling authority, honor, and sovereignty. All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving him. His authority is eternal and will not pass away. His kingdom will not be destroyed.
Yeshua answered truthfully. The high priest understood Yeshua’s statement and recognized that He certainly claimed not only to be the Messiah but also the be God. He declared the sin of blasphemy which deserved death (Lev 24:16). The death was a death by stoning.
This is where the first beating took place. They were not allowed to stone people legally at this time. The priests improvised. They spat in His face and struck him both with the fist and slapping Him. This was done in lieu of stoning. Instead of casting stones, they were delivering individual attacks which each witness declared Jesus to be guilty of Blasphemy.
Where was the proof? We do not see any evidence that proper protocol was followed. His claims were not investigated to see if they were true. Yeshua was convicted of telling the truth. With the statement of the sanctuary being destroyed and the Messianic declaration, no proof of wrongdoing was given. Yeshua was convicted by a mob mentality. If you examine His Messianic statement, it does not say “you will see me” but rather “you will see”. With a mob mentality, they missed the finer points of Torah and convicted an innocent man to death. No fault was established in their trial.
The first phase of examining Jesus, the Passover Lamb was complete. He was found without sin. He was convicted to death out of a mob mentality. The people chose Him and placed their accusations on Him.
Matthew 26:67-75
Peter was determined. He was bold enough to seek entrance into the courtyard of the High Priest’s house. It is often thought that John was the one got him into the courtyard, although his name is not mentioned (John 18:15-16). Peter was not going to stay away. When reading the story, Peter is seen as one who stepped out in boldness. He even stepped up to the fire and joined the others in warming themselves.
Peter recognized that he was in extreme danger in the courtyard. However, we saw previously that Yeshua had made a deal with the Romans that protected the disciples. Peter’s denial was based on his fear. If he had admitted knowing Yeshua, it is quite possible that he would have been perfectly safe. Although he would have most likely been escorted off the property.
Peter was recognized by three girls. Peter had been intimately discipled by Jesus for three years. This most likely changed the way that he carried himself and related to other people. Peter unwittingly denied Yeshua three times. The first time was a simple denial. The second time it was accompanied with an oath. The final time, he cursed and swore, increasing his anger level each time. Then the rooster crowed.
This is an object lesson for all of us. If chapter divisions were not present, we would see Peter’s response contrasted sharply with Judas’ response. Both situations were denial’s of Yeshua. Peter’s motivation was to save his own skin. Judas’ had various reasons. In the end, both men turned away from Jesus.
Peter responded with remorse. He wept bitterly. We also know that this instance did not stop Peter. He repented, returned later to the rest of the disciples and assumed leadership of the group. Judas is a different story. We will look at his in the next chapter.
The lesson is this: Crossroads in life face each of us. We are constantly faced with decisions to change our path or redirect our path back to following our Messiah. Some feel when they have fallen away for a myriad of reasons, that they cannot return. We have two examples of the absolute worst denials of Jesus in history. One man repented, the other did not. It’s worth considering…
I am going to close here. I hope that as you read through my thoughts and comments that you have seen a different set of circumstances leading up to the crucifixion than we have been sold by media. This intimate move from teacher to the Lamb of God should draw each of us to seek further understanding of the reasons for His death. It should also draw each of us to appreciate the incredible sacrifice that was made for us. But, this chapter is just the beginning of the drama. Join me in the study of the next for more information. All comments are welcomed.
Thanks,
Joe Turner.
LXX Septuagint
[1] Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, and Geoffrey William Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1985), 265.
