Notes on Matthew 26:2-28

Matthew 26:2

crucified. Three times on his way to Jerusalem Jesus predicted that he would be arrested, beaten, crucified, and raised (Matt. 16:21; 17:22; 20:18-19). Now he made clear that this was going to happen in two days. This sets the tone for this last section of Matthew and highlights the climactic point of the story. The Roman Empire killed any rebels with crucifixion, a gruesome and shameful way to die by being hung on a wooden pole.

Matthew 26:3

High priest … Caiaphas. The OT law prescribed for a tribe of Israel to provide priests from the tribe of Aaron who would guide the Jewish people in proper practices and worship (Num. 18:7; 2 Chr. 19:11). During the century before Jesus the priesthood had become corrupted by its political relationship with various Gentile rulers, including the Roman Empire.

Matthew 26:4

Plotted together to arrest … and kill him. In this climactic chapter in the Gospel story the Jewish leadership will bring to completion the plan they made back in 12:14 to end Jesus' influence by killing him.

Matthew 26:7

Alabaster jar of very expensive ointment. This woman made a great sacrifice of her most valuable possession in a time of poverty. This shows her great love and trust in Jesus.

Matthew 26:12

She did it for my burial. This woman meant to honor Jesus, but she did not realize she was doing something even deeper and more meaningful. She was preparing Jesus for his impending death. Jesus honored her for this role.

Matthew 26:14

Judas Iscariot. Judas/Judah was a very common Jewish name in the first century. Iscariot distinguishes the Judas that betrayed Jesus from other men of that name, and it probably refers to his origins in the village of Kerioth. Judas was one of the original Twelve Disciples (Matt. 10:2-4). He appears in the next parts of Matthew's story as a contrast to the disciple Peter (Matt. 26:25, 47; 27:3).

Matthew 26:17

Passover meal. Central the Jewish Passover holiday was a family meal that included symbolic words and actions that reminded the Jewish people of God's deliverance through the Exodus.

Matthew 26:26,28

This is my body… this is my blood. Jesus used the bread and wine elements from the Passover meal and transformed their meaning to be a reference to the new covenant and new age he was bringing about through his life, death, and resurrection.

Matthew 26:26

Jesus took bread, blessed it, and broke it ... This is the same sequence of words that described Jesus as the two miraculous wilderness feedings (Matt. 14:19; 15:36) which connect all of these events backwards with the Exodus and the Passover and forward to the Lord's Supper that the church continues to celebrate (1 Cor. 11:23-26).

Matthew 26:26

Jesus took bread, blessed it, and broke it ... This is the same sequence of words that described Jesus as the two miraculous wilderness feedings (Matt. 14:19; 15:36) which connect all of these events backwards with the Exodus and the Passover and forward to the Lord's Supper that the church continues to celebrate (1 Cor. 11:23-26).

Matthew 26:28

This is my blood of the covenant that is poured out for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus' death was more than an example of godly suffering. It enacted a new covenant relationship between God and humanity, based in the forgiveness of people's sins through Jesus death and resurrection (cf. Matt. 1:21). See WLC 170, 171, 172, 174.

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