Jesus Foretells Betrayal and Crucifixion

Matthew 26:1-2. Speaking with seeric foresight the Savior tells his disciples of his coming betrayal and crucifixion. And it is to be during the coming feast! The time is at hand; the hour is known; Jesus is going to his death—knowingly, willingly, obediently—to conform in all things to the will of the Father.

Matthew 26:1; Matthew 26:2; Feast of the passover] See Matthew 26:17-20.

Matthew 26:3-4; 3-4. What awful iniquity is wrought when the wicked rule! It was the spiritual leaders of the people, the very ones who should have been teaching them to follow their God-sent Messiah, who now, with murder in their hearts, plotted and conspired to slay him. And how often it is thus, that those arrayed in priestly robes, lest their iniquities be uncovered and their doctrines debased, plan the persecutions and then incite the mobs which slay the saints.

Matthew 26:3-4; Caiaphas] Rule in God's earthly kingdom is by legal administrators appointed by the Lord. Church officers are chosen by other church officers as the Holy Spirit directs. One of the many sure signs of total apostasy is the appointment of religious leaders by civil authorities, as often has been and now is the case among branches and sects of Christendom. This, also, was the fallen spiritual state into which the once divinely approved Jewish religion had slipped. Accordingly, Joseph Caiaphas, son-in-law of Annas, appointed high priest by the Roman procurator Valerius Gratus (Pilate's predecessor), found himself in the priestly office at this dread time in history when the Creator of men was to be taken by sinful men and hung on the cross. Under the Jewish law the presiding priest in the Aaronic Priesthood was called the high priest; it was, to them, a position of administration and spiritual supremacy.

Matthew 26:5; 5. How often the people stand higher than their leaders in spiritual Might. Among the 2,000,000 people crowded into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, many sympathized with Jesus; some believed his doctrines and espoused his cause; others from Galilee, with provincial pride, would have taken his side should a demonstration or outbreak occur. All this restrained Caiaphas and his conspirators.