(Joe Stehle)
Matthew 26:1-16 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
3Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”
6Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” 10But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
14Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15and said, “what will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
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Matthew 26 starts with a jarring change from the stories in chapter 25. Jesus spoke plainly about his death one last time. Verse 2 sets the time and says the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. To us, this seems jarringly clear – but there is no mention of the disciples responding with either understanding or questions.
Verse 3 shifts to the chief priests and the elders meeting to plot to kill Jesus but recognizing that arresting Jesus during the feast could cause an uproar. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary suggests that the population of Jerusalem could swell to five times normal during the feast. With such a dense crowd, coupled with the popularity of Jesus among the crowd who had seen healings and other miracles, the plotters were aware of the potential danger to themselves and their power.
Verses 6 to 13 describe an act of devotion that also prefigured Jesus’ death. While staying at the house of Simon the leper in Bethany, a woman poured a flask of very expensive oil on Jesus. The act of anointing a guest with oil seems very unusual for us today, but it would have been fairly common then, especially to honor a special guest. What was unusual was the value of the ointment. The Expositor’s commentary suggests that the value would have been approximately a year’s wages. That high value provides some reason for the indignation voiced in verse 9, but their response also shows that they did not understand the certainty of the Son of Man being delivered up to be crucified.
The last section simply identifies Judas and the ease with which the betrayal arrangements were made. From that moment, he was looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus. It is easy to read a few simple verses like this and think to ourselves – boy, I would not have done that. But the truth is, apart from the saving grace freely given to us, any of us could have betrayed him. Let’s remember that and humbly thank God for calling us, adopting us, and giving us the righteousness of Christ.
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An audio version of each devotion will be posted on our church podcast “Life Together at CRPC,” which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.