26:3 Caiaphas was the ruling high priest during Jesus’ ministry. He was the son-in-law of Annas, the previous high priest. The Roman government had taken over the process of appointing all political and religious leaders. Caiaphas served for 18 years, longer than most high priests, suggesting that he was gifted at cooperating with the Romans. He was the first to recommend Jesus’ death in order to “save” the nation (John 11:49, 50).
26:3-5 This was a deliberate plot to kill Jesus. Without this plot, there would have been no groundswell of popular opinion against him. In fact, because of Jesus’ popularity, the religious leaders were afraid to arrest him during the Passover. They did not want their actions to incite a riot.
26:6-13 Matthew and Mark put this event just before the Last Supper, while John has it just before the Triumphal Entry. Of the three, John places this event in the most likely chronological order. We must remember that the main purpose of the Gospel writers was to give an accurate record of Jesus’ message, not to present an exact chronological account of his life. Matthew and Mark may have chosen to place this event here to contrast the complete devotion of Mary with the betrayal of Judas, the next event they record in their Gospels.
26:7 This woman was Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who lived in Bethany (John 12:1-3). Alabaster boxes were carved from a translucent gypsum. These boxes were used to hold perfumed oil.
26:11 Here Jesus brought back to mind Deuteronomy 15:11, which says, “The poor shall never cease out of the land.” This statement does not justify ignoring the needs of the poor. Scripture continually exhorts us to care for the needy. The passage in Deuteronomy continues: “Therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.” Rather, by saying this, Jesus highlighted the special sacrifice Mary made for him.
26:14, 15 Why would Judas want to betray Jesus? Judas, like the other disciples, expected Jesus to start a political rebellion and overthrow Rome. As treasurer, Judas certainly assumed (as did the other disciples—see Mark 10:35-37) that he would be given an important position in Jesus’ new government. But when Jesus praised Mary for pouring out perfume worth a year’s salary, Judas may have realized that Jesus’ Kingdom was not physical or political but spiritual. Judas’s greedy desire for money and status could not be realized if he followed Jesus, so he betrayed Jesus in exchange for money and favor from the religious leaders.
26:15 Matthew alone records the exact amount of money Judas accepted to betray Jesus—30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave (Exodus 21:32). The religious leaders had planned to wait until after the Passover to take Jesus, but with Judas’s unexpected offer, they accelerated their plans.
26:17 The Passover took place on one night and at one meal, but the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was celebrated with it, continued for a week. The people removed all yeast from their homes in commemoration of their ancestors’ exodus from Egypt, when they did not have time to let the bread dough rise. Thousands of people poured into Jerusalem from all over the Roman Empire for this feast. For more information on how the Passover was celebrated, see the notes on Mark 14:1 and in Exodus 12.
26:23 In Jesus’ time, some food was eaten from a common bowl into which everyone dipped their hand.
26:26 Each name we use for this sacrament brings out a different dimension to it. It is the Lord’s Supper because it commemorates the Passover meal Jesus ate with his disciples; it is the Eucharist (thanksgiving) because in it we thank God for Christ’s work for us; it is Communion because through it we commune with God and with other believers. As we eat the bread and drink the wine, we should be quietly reflective as we recall Jesus’ death and his promise to come again, grateful for God’s wonderful gift to us, and joyful as we meet with Christ and the body of believers.
26:28 How does Jesus’ blood relate to the new covenant (testament)? People under the old covenant (those who lived before Jesus) could approach God only through a priest and an animal sacrifice. Now all people can come directly to God through faith because Jesus’ death has made us acceptable in God’s eyes (Romans 3:21-24).
The old covenant was a shadow of the new (Jeremiah 31:31; Hebrews 8:1ff), pointing forward to the day when Jesus himself would be the final and ultimate sacrifice for sin. Rather than a lamb without blemish slain on the altar, the perfect Lamb of God was slain on the cross, a sinless sacrifice, so that our sins could be forgiven once and for all. All those who believe in Christ receive that forgiveness.
26:29 Again Jesus assured his disciples of victory over death and of their future with him. The next few hours would bring apparent defeat, but soon they would experience the power of the Holy Ghost and witness the great spread of the gospel message. And one day they would all be together again in God’s new Kingdom.
26:30 It is possible that the hymn the disciples sang was from Psalms 115–118, the traditional psalms sung as part of the Passover meal.
26:35 All the disciples declared that they would die before denying Jesus. A few hours later, however, they all scattered. Talk is cheap. It is easy to say we are devoted to Christ, but our claims are meaningful only when they are tested in the crucible of persecution. How strong is your faith? Is it strong enough to stand up under intense trial?
26:37, 38 Jesus was in great anguish over his approaching physical pain, separation from the Father, and death for the sins of the world. The divine course was set, but he, in his human nature, still struggled (Hebrews 5:7-9). Because of the anguish Jesus experienced, he can relate to our suffering. Jesus’ strength to obey came from his relationship with God the Father, who is also the source of our strength (John 17:11, 15, 16, 21, 26).
26:39 Jesus was not rebelling against his Father’s will when he asked that the cup of suffering and separation be taken away. In fact, he reaffirmed his desire to do God’s will by saying, “Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” His prayer reveals to us his terrible suffering. His agony was worse than death because he paid for all sin by being separated from God. The sinless Son of God took our sins upon himself to save us from suffering and separation.
26:39 In times of suffering people sometimes wish they knew the future, or they wish they could understand the reason for their anguish. Jesus knew what lay ahead of him, and he knew the reason. Even so, his struggle was intense—more wrenching than any struggle we will ever have to face. What does it take to be able to say, “Thy will be done”? It takes firm trust in God’s plans; it takes prayer and obedience each step of the way.
26:40, 41 Jesus used Peter’s drowsiness to warn him about the kinds of temptation he would soon face. The way to overcome temptation is to keep alert and pray. Keeping alert means being aware of the possibilities of temptation, sensitive to the subtleties, and spiritually equipped to fight it. Because temptation strikes where we are most vulnerable, we can’t resist it alone. Prayer is essential because God’s strength can shore up our defenses and defeat Satan’s power.
26:48 Judas had told the crowd to arrest the man he kissed. This was not an arrest by Roman soldiers under Roman law but an arrest by the religious leaders. Judas pointed Jesus out, not because Jesus was hard to recognize, but because Judas had agreed to be the formal accuser in case a trial was called. Judas was able to lead the group to one of Jesus’ retreats, where no onlookers would interfere with the arrest.
26:51-53 The man who cut off the servant’s ear was Peter (John 18:10). Peter was trying to prevent what he saw as defeat. He didn’t realize that Jesus had to die in order to gain victory. But Jesus demonstrated perfect commitment to his Father’s will. His Kingdom would not be advanced with swords but with faith and obedience. Luke 22:51 records that Jesus then touched the servant’s ear and healed him.
26:56 A few hours earlier, this band of men had said they would rather die than desert their Lord (see the note on 26:35).
26:57 Earlier in the evening, Jesus had been questioned by Annas (the former high priest and the father-in-law of Caiaphas). Annas then sent Jesus to Caiaphas’s home to be questioned (John 18:12-24). Because of their haste to complete the trial and see Jesus die before the Sabbath, less than 24 hours away, the religious leaders met in Caiaphas’s home at night instead of waiting for daylight and meeting in the Temple.
26:59 The council, also called the Sanhedrin, was the most powerful religious and political body of the Jewish people. Although the Romans controlled Israel’s government, they gave the people power to handle religious disputes and some civil disputes, so the Sanhedrin made many of the local decisions affecting daily life. But a death sentence had to be approved by the Romans (John 18:31).
26:60, 61 The council tried to find witnesses who would distort some of Jesus’ teachings. Finally, they found two witnesses who distorted Jesus’ words about the Temple (see John 2:19). They claimed that Jesus had said he could destroy the Temple—a blasphemous boast. Actually Jesus had said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). Jesus, of course, had been talking about his body, not the building. Ironically, the religious leaders were about to destroy Jesus’ body just as he had said, and three days later he would rise from the dead.
26:64 Jesus declared his royalty in no uncertain terms. In calling himself the Son of Man, Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, as his listeners well knew. He knew this declaration would be his undoing, but he did not panic. He was calm, courageous, and determined.
26:65, 66 The high priest accused Jesus of blasphemy—calling himself God. To the Jews, this was a great crime, punishable by death (Leviticus 24:16). The religious leaders refused even to consider that Jesus’ words might be true. They had decided to kill Jesus, and in so doing, they sealed their own fate as well as his. Like the members of the council, you must decide whether Jesus’ words are blasphemy or truth. Your decision has eternal implications.
26:69ff There were three stages to Peter’s denial. First, he acted confused and tried to divert attention from himself by changing the subject. Second, using an oath he denied that he knew Jesus. Third, he swore that he did not know Jesus. Believers who deny Christ often begin doing so subtly by pretending not to know him. When opportunities to discuss religious issues come up, they walk away or pretend they don’t know the answers. With only a little more pressure, they can be induced to deny flatly their relationship with Christ. If you find yourself subtly diverting conversation so you don’t have to talk about Christ, watch out. You may be on the road to denying him.
26:72-74 That Peter denied that he knew Jesus, using an oath and swearing, does not mean he used foul language. This was the kind of swearing that a person does in a court of law. Peter was swearing that he did not know Jesus and was invoking a curse on himself if his words were untrue. In effect he was saying, “May God strike me dead if I am lying.”