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Matthew 26:1-35
00:30:06
This week Dr. Tim Gray and Dr. Michael Barber, professor of Sacred Scripture at the Augustine Institute Graduate School, continue their study of the Gospel of Matthew by diving into 26:1-35.
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- [00:00]
A
Welcome to our form now, Bible study on the Gospel of Matthew. I'm Tim Gray, president of the Augustine Institute, and Joining me is Dr. Michael Barber, who's a professor of Scripture here at the August Institute. And we're going to continue our ongoing Bible study. So open your Bibles and join us at Matthew, chapter 26. So Matthew, chapter 26. And of course, Michael, this sets up. We just heard Jesus last major discourse of the Gospel. There's five major discourses as we've spoken about before, throughout Matthew's Gospel. We, we just finished the last one, the Sermon on the Mount of Olives.
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B
And it's significant that the way the chapter begins is when Jesus had finished all these sayings. In other words, now we have the completion of those five discourses that really form. It's one way to read the Gospel, but I think it's very helpful. So you have a discourse in chapters 3 and 4, 8 and 9, 11 and 12, 14, 17, 19, 23. Well, actually, no, I'm sorry, I'm doing that backwards. I'm doing the narrative parts. It's the discourses are in 5 and 7, in 10 and 13, 18 and 23 to 25. And so, yeah, when he says he finished all these sayings, it seems like, okay, now we've completed those major discourses.
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A
Yeah. And now that Jesus has completed his teaching, Matthew's going to show. Now he's ready to embark on the last stage of his mission. So he's been Jesus the teacher, the rabbi, giving incredible teaching. And now it's time for the last actions of our Lord and the last things he's going to give his disciples. And so that sets us up because it's the time for the Passover. And so chapter 26 begins when Jesus had finished these sayings, as you mentioned. He says, you know, that after two days, the Passover is coming and the Son of Man will be delivered to be crucified. So we turn right to the Passion narrative.
- [01:44]
B
Right. And gee, it's interesting the way Matthew narrates it. Jesus makes the statement and then it sets in motion the narrative. So Jesus is not a victim. He's not sort of just. He is in control. Right. I love that Matthew frames it that way.
- [01:59]
A
No, it's fantastic. And then we find Jesus in Bethany, which is, you know, very close, just a stone's throw from Jerusalem and just over the Mount of Olives on the other side. And as he's in Bethany, he's at the house of Simon the Leper. And then a woman comes with an Alabaster flask, very expensive ointment. And she pours it on his head and as he reclined the table. And so then when the disciples see this, they're indignant and they say, why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum of money and given to the poor. Now, In John chapter 12, he narrates at the beginning of John 12:1, this story of Jesus being at the house of Simon the leper. And we find out that it's Mary, the sister of Martha, who's, you know, poured out this ointment. Perhaps this was safe for Lazarus's burial. You know, we don't know, but that's interesting. And they're celebrating Lazarus's resurrection and that Jesus has healed him. So that's a. That's a great occasion for. And a bit of a paradox too, because we're celebrating Lazarus being raised from the dead. But Jesus is going to see that this is going to forecast his own burial. And of course, the disciples are saying, complaining that this could have been given to the poor. No. Now John tells us that it was Judas Iscariot who betrays Jesus, who kept the money purse, who was a thief, and he wanted this money to go to the poor so that it could go into his coffers and he could skim from that money.
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B
That's right. And so there's going to be a very interesting setup here between the story of the woman who spends all this money on Jesus, right? And then right after this scene which Jesus says that this woman has anointed him for burial and that the memory of will be proclaimed throughout the whole world wherever the gospel is preached. So it's very important in Matthew's Gospel that we recognize the idea of charitable giving. And so this woman's act of generosity, of charity, something Jesus highlights because it's consistent with what he's been saying throughout the whole Gospel. We've already talked about alms giving as an important idea in the gospel. But then right after this story, we read then one of the 12 who was called Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and said, what will you give me if I deliver him to you? And they paid him 30 pieces of silver. Now that's about. If these are the tyrannian shekels that you used in the temple, this is a lot of money. This is about four months of minimum wage work. So that's a tidy sum. And so on the one side, we see the woman who is willing to spend on Jesus, and then Judas, who's motivated by greed. And so in the Gospel of Matthew, the contrast couldn't be starker between these two characters.
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It is a sharp contra. You have Judas, who wants to gain by use Jesus for his own profit.
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B
That's right.
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And the other one, who wants to use what they have to give to Jesus.
- [04:58]
B
That's right.
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A
It's quite a contrast of characters. I also think it's interesting that these stories are juxtaposed, and I think John really highlights this for us because you get the sense that when Jesus defends the woman, he says, look, she has done a beautiful thing for me. And Jesus says, why do you trouble her? He defends the woman. And of course, from John's perspective, we get that it's Judas who was really leading and critiquing the woman for this, right. And being indignant that she had given this lavishly to Jesus. And if Jesus defends her, you could see Judas being hurt, his pride being hurt. And I think this becomes the tipping point, it seems, in this juxtaposition, this ordering, for Judas to say, that's it. He, in a sense. And John says he leaves after that, right? He leaves the. The dinner at Simon Leper's house to go betray Jesus. And so we're going to have two meals, the meal at Simon Leper's house that Judas leaves early to betray Jesus, and then the Last Supper, where he will leave early again to betray Jesus. And so.
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B
So are you saying that if you leave the Last Supper early, if you leave the Eucharistic celebration early, you're like Judas?
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A
I'm not saying that. I know some other priests.
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B
Okay. All right.
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A
Be careful leaving a great banquet dinner, especially a eucharistic one, too early, and you're not in good company. But the significance here, though, I think. Think about that. Judas can't take correction. And in anger, he then says, I'm going to show you, and he's going to betray Jesus over to the chief priests and to his enemies. And I just think that, you know, first off, Judas is a thief, but then in defending his thievery, he doesn't take correction from Jesus. And when we don't take correction and humility, we make God our enemy. And it's amazing to think about how would you want. Why would you want to make God your enemy? But Judas does that, right? Because he refuses to be humbled and accept correction from Jesus. And when you don't accept God's will, your will then is in opposition to God's will, and you make God your enemy.
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B
Right?
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And it's a powerful lesson here.
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B
I think that lesson in Matthew is very powerful too. It's attachment to money is a tremendous obstacle to the kingdom of heaven.
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A
And Matthew would be sensitive to that because Matthew was, you know, he was encumbered by money. He was a tax collector. And then he goes to this conversion to follow Jesus.
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B
So it's, it's, it's a remarkable thing to recognize how serious a problem money is and wealth can be and our desire for wealth in particular.
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A
It makes me think of when Jesus teaches back in Matthew, chapter six, that you can't serve God and mammon. You either love one or hate the other, and you either serve one and despise the other. And so when Jesus warns, you can't have God and money, you can't serve them both.
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B
That's right.
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A
He was probably looking at Judas and, and trying to win Judas heart over to that.
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B
I think there's a lot to that, frankly. By the way, we also ought to point out that in the book of Zechariah we have another image that helps us understand what's going on here, and that is in the book of Zechariah we read a passage where the prophet says, and I took my staff grace, and I broke it, annulling the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. So it was annulled on that day. And the traffickers and the sheep who were watching me knew that it was the word of the Lord. Then I said to them, if it seems right to you, give me my wages, but if not, keep them. And they weighed out my wages as 30 shekels of silver. And so they no longer want shepherding from the Lord. And what do they do to sell Zechariah off? They sell them off with 30 pieces of shekels, 30 pieces of silver. Judas is doing essentially the same thing, renouncing Jesus as the shepherd and selling him for 30 pieces of silver. And this is not a kind of obscure quotation, because in Zechariah 9 we read about the scene where the son of David comes into the city on a donkey, much like Jesus does in Zechariah. We go on to read about the blood of the covenant, which is language Jesus uses at the Last Supper. So it seems like this is kind of in the background of the narrative.
- [09:24]
A
No doubt Matthew wants us to hear that in the background. And I think one of one of the things that Matthew wants us to see is that, you know, this betrayal of Jesus by Judas doesn't throw Jesus off. It doesn't throw God Off God has this. He understood this was going to happen. This is all within his plans. And now that doesn't mean that Judas wasn't free. And a lot of people always ask me that, well, did Judas have to betray Jesus? No. The chief priests were out to get Jesus. If Judas didn't do it, they would have found another means to do it. So God gave Judas his freedom. And this is part of the mystery. God respects our freedom. He will not make us love him without us. Right. And he won't save us without us, as Augustine would say.
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B
Right. He does not coerce us.
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No, he doesn't. And so Judas freely betrays Jesus. Yet God, who is omnipotent, can understand how to work within a plan where there's Judas has free agency, and yet God can still achieve his plans. And that's the mystery of who God is. He's a lot bigger than us.
- [10:26]
B
Yes. Amen. And so we move in then with that to the account of the Passover we read now. On the first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus saying, where will you have us prepare for you to eat the pascha, the Passover? And Jesus said, go into the city to a certain man and tell him, the teacher says, my time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house. Now, this is a really interesting detail. We get the sense here. Jesus is aware that he's about to be betrayed. So he's already made arrangements for where the Last Supper, where the Passover meal this year is going to be celebrated. And it's pretty obvious why Jesus does this. He knows that Judas is out to betray him, and he wants to make sure that he celebrates that Last Supper. And of course, it's going to be at that supper that he's going to institute the Eucharist.
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A
Because if Jesus would have given him directions, third and camel, Judas would know where the Last Supper is going to be. And the chief priest could have arrested him before he institutes the Last Supper in the Eucharist and makes the new covenant. And so Jesus has something very important to accomplish. He's not ready to be taken yet. So that's a great point.
- [11:36]
B
And we go on and we read that they prepared the Passover. And it's really important to recognize what's going on here. They're keeping the law, they're keeping the Torah. Here in Mark's Gospel, it's even more clear that they're going to offer the sacrificial lamb that you eat at the Passover meal. The word that's actually used. Passover is actually not just the word that's used for the feast, it's the word that's used for the lamb itself. And so when they say they prepare the pascha, what they're meaning is they're preparing the sacrificial lamb the way that it's supposed to be prepared for during the Passover celebration. This shows us how Jesus is fulfilling the law. Jesus keeps all of the laws, commandments. You know, if there's one person in history, you could say, you know what, guys, we really don't need to go through all the rigmarole of X, Y or Z. It's Jesus. But Jesus is faithful to the Torah all the way through the end of his life, giving us an example of faithfulness. Right? We too are called to be faithful, and we should never think, oh, I'm above this commandment of God. I don't need to keep this particular precept of the law or precept, you know, of the church. We can say in the New Covenant.
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Well, then in verse 20, it's evening, and this is a late meal because it's Passover.
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Yes.
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Very important for the Jews. They celebrated Passover after sunset because that's when they did it in the Exodus story, in Exodus 12. And then Jesus immediately announces, you know, truly, one of you will betray me.
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B
Right. Before we do that, can we just say one other thing? And that is, it's interesting that the disciples are eating together. And this might be strange for some people. Why aren't they eating with their family? Families? Why aren't they eating with other family members? This was typical in the first century. You would go up to Jerusalem to enroll in what's known as a habura, which is a group. It doesn't have to be a family. It would normally be a group about 10 to 20 people. It seems, if the rabbinic sources are correct and most people think they're probably on track here. So what Jesus is doing with the disciples is typical of 1st century Jews gathering together with a group where the families all probably wouldn't be able to travel up Jerusalem. He had to eat a lamb. He had to finish a whole lamb. So he needed a group of people to do that with. And when they go to celebrate the.
- [13:57]
A
Last, it wasn't hard with Peter and Andrew. They were going to make sure that got finished off, no leftovers.
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B
And of course, not everybody would have been able to eat in, in a spacious place. Right. So the fact that Jesus had already made arrangements for the Passover was actually very smart on his part. We know that people would celebrate the. You had to eat the Passover in the city precincts. The Old Testament actually is clear that you have to eat it within the sanctuary, but you couldn't all eat the meal in the temple. So they basically said, well, the whole city participates in the holiness of the temple. And people would cram into that city. Every nook and cranny of people on rooftops, sitting on different corners of the rooftop separated. And they had all these. It looks like they had legislation. Well, if you sit in this corner, then you can't talk to that group over there, that kind of thing. And so what we read in the. In the Gospel narrative shows us that Jesus is prepared. And, you know, that's an important virtue. It's an important, you know, habit to develop. A lot of times we think, well, I'll just fly by the seat of my pants and I'll just, you know, figure it out when I get there. Jesus doesn't do that. Jesus has made arrangements already in advance for his disciples. And I think there's something for me to learn in that, because sometimes I think, well, we'll just figure it out when we get there. And, you know, that's not the way Jesus does things. So anyway, he's organized. That's right.
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All right, now, so we come to verse 26. And as they gathered together and were eating, Jesus took the bread and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples. So here we have taking, blessing, breaking, giving. And we saw this in the Eucharist, in the miracles of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish.
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B
That's right.
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A
Up in Galilee.
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B
That's right.
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So this sounds familiar to us, right?
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B
And in John's gospel, he'd been mentioning John's. In John's gospel, that takes place against the backdrop of Passover. So it was actually a year earlier that Jesus had taken the loaves and blessed and broke it. And so the last time Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to people, what happened? A miracle. Right. So if you're paying close attention to the narrative, you might expect a miracle to take place. What's going on? Well, there isn't a multiplication of the loaves and fish, but there is a miracle here.
- [16:23]
A
There is. There is a transformation of what's. Of the. Of the meal and of course. And there's so much to this. We'll just kind of go slowly through this. There's a lot that break open.
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Yeah, there's a lot There.
- [16:36]
A
So he'll say to his disciples, take, eat, this is my body. So he's identifying himself with the bread.
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B
Yep.
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A
That's pretty strong language, Right? And we know from John 6 that he's serious about this. He's prepared. Again, going back to John chapter six.
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B
That's right.
- [16:54]
A
He's prepared this idea after he multiplies the loaves and the fish during the Passover the year before in John 6, he then teaches what we call the Eucharistic discourse about how you must eat his flesh and drink his blood to have eternal life, to have the life of the age to come.
- [17:11]
B
That's right. It's important to recognize what Jesus is doing here first. People will. Sometimes Catholics will say, well, the Eucharist isn't a symbol. No, it is a symbol. It's not just a symbol. And so Jesus is teaching by his actions. He's taking the breath bread and he's breaking it and saying, this is my body. And so on one level, what Jesus is doing is he's announcing his coming passion, right? His body is going to be broken. And Jesus says, take it. Right? So in giving his body away and giving the bread, giving his body away, he's showing us what is happening in his passion, he's giving himself away. Moreover, in describing the bread as his body, Jesus is using Passover language because the word that was often used to describe the lamb, the meat of the lamb, was the body of the lamb, right? So the language is inextricably bound up with the Passover background. And I think at this point we should probably say something about that, because Passover for ancient Jews was a monumentally important feast then, and it still is now. Of course, the Passover recalls called how Israel was delivered from slavery in Egypt. And that ultimately happened because of, you know, multiple plagues that God sent. 10 plagues. The 10th plague was the angel of death who would go through the land, and all the firstborn would die at the hand of the angel of death unless you kept the Passover. God said, here are three. Here's what you need to do for Passover. You find it in Exodus 12 and don't have time to read all of it. But Basically in Exodus 12, you have to do three things. You have to kill an unblemished lamb. You have to spill its blood. You have to put its blood on your doorpost with the hyssop branch. And then you have to eat your fill, it says, of the lamb. So I always like to say the Passover is kill, spill and eat your Fill the three things you have to do at Passover. And if you don't do all three elements of this, then you get ill. Yeah, even worse than that, right?
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A
I mean, you don't kill, spill any of your fill, you're going to get ill. Yeah.
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I mean, imagine what would happen if Mama Israelite came to the table at Passover and said, well, you know kids, we don't really like lamb in this family. So instead of eating lamb, we're just going to eat some lamb shaped cookies and it'll symbolize the lamb. You'd have one less dependent to claim on your taxes to Pharaoh the next morning. So you had to keep the Passover. And so Jesus in keeping the Passover is of course looking backwards at the great event of Israel's deliverance. But Passover also became a sign, we know, for ancient Jews of their future deliverance. In fact, in the book of Jeremiah we have the prophecy of a new covenant. And in the Greek version of the book of Jeremiah that takes place against a backdrop of Passover, the new covenant takes place at Passover. And there are many other Jewish sources that describe how the Messiah will come on Passover. And so it's a fitting occasion for Jesus to establish the institution of the Eucharist to identify himself as the sacrifice.
- [20:28]
A
I think that's right. Everything Jesus says and does here has to be read in the backdrop of the Exodus. It's the fundamental story of Israel's redemption. And Jesus is going to make it the fundamental story of our redemption in the new covenant, just as it was in the old covenant. And so that's all.
- [20:44]
B
So he's identifying himself with the sacrificial lamb by describing the bread as his body. But then we go on and we read, he took a cup, and when he gave thanks in the Greek word, there is where we get the word Eucharist. Eucharist. He gave it to them saying, drink of it all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Now this is another important passage that actually it does draw on Exodus traditions.
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A
Yeah, it sure does. Exodus 20:4, When Moses takes the sacrifices for the covenant, he takes the blood, puts them in basins, and he throws half of the blood on the people and half of the blood on the altar. And when he throws the blood on the people, he says, this is the blood of the covenant.
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B
That's right.
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A
So Jesus is evoking that very mosaic action that inaugurated the original covenant. So he must be thinking that he's inaugurating a new covenant here.
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B
Right. And in fact, he also says that the blood is poured out for many, which is a really significant term. It's language that's typically associated with atoning sacrifices, sacrifices that bring atonement for sins. And so many scholars have pointed out that Jesus is identifying himself not just as the Passover lamb, but as the sacrifice of atonement. Basically, all the sacrifices in Israel's worship are coming together here in the language of the Last Supper. And then Jesus says that it will be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. And that seems to be an allusion to Jeremiah 31, where we read that in the new Covenant, God will forgive the sins of his people. Right. So it's a rich passage. We could say so much more about this. But suffice it to say, Jesus is establishing his death as the new sacrifice through which we are going to be freed from sin as Israel was freed from slavery. He's establishing his death as the atoning sacrifice that pays for our sins and in so doing fulfills what the angel told Gabe, what the angel told Joseph at the beginning of the Gospel. Who is this child? Right. This child is the one who is Jesus. Why do you call him Jesus? Because in popular etymology of the day, it means the Lord saves. That's what Jesus's name means. And he will save his people from their sins. And he does that by pouring out his blood for the forgiveness of our sins.
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A
Yeah. This is the moment that reaches Jesus. Whole life work is reaching its climax.
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B
That's right.
- [23:19]
A
And he's achieving what his destiny was as you say his name. And I just want to back up and say one thing about the idea of Jesus giving thanks. He's giving thanks to God the Father. And there's a lot we could say about some echoes here to the Todah Jewish sacrifice, but I won't get into that. We don't have time. But I just want to, at the simple level, he's giving thanks to God the Father. And so as Jesus is about to endure his passion and death, he is offering himself in thanksgiving to the Father. So you're right, Michael. There's all this sacrificial language that has to do with atonement for sin. But ultimately the reason Jesus is atoning for sin and the manner by which Jesus atones for the sins of Israel is to offer himself to his Father. And so, you know, that's something important for us to realize that every Mass we have the eucharistic prayers, but we have to enter into the Eucharistic prayers, realizing that the spirituality of Jesus and the spirituality of the Mass is orientated to God the Father. And so the prayers are offered to the Father, even the prayers of the Mass. And Jesus wants to direct our hearts to his Father.
- [24:25]
B
That's exactly right. And what ultimately redeems us isn't just. Just the blood and it's not just suffering. Right. It's not like God enjoys. It's not like the Father enjoys seeing suffering. No, what ultimately is redemptive is Jesus's willingness, his obedience, and his ultimately his love for us. We could draw from Paul in Galatians 2, that Jesus gave himself. He loved me and gave himself for me. That is what redeems us, is Jesus's love at the end of the day.
- [24:59]
A
So we saw in the big picture of Matthew's Gospel five major discourses. And that reminds us of the five books of Moses, that Moses, who's the teacher of Israel, gave five great books of the Bible, the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And so Jesus gives a fivefold teaching. And then, just as Moses taught Israel. And Moses also Inaugurated in Exodus 24, the covenant with Yahweh and Israel. And now Jesus is at a meal where he's inaugurating a covenant. So you have the teaching of the covenant and then you have the covenant itself. So all these things kind of come together beautifully in Matthew.
- [25:38]
B
Definitely, definitely. And then we read at the end, Jesus says, I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Now, what's remarkable about this is the way Jesus is linking the Last Supper with the future banquet. We often call it the eschatological or the messianic banquet that the prophets talk about. So in the Eucharist, what do we have? It's a foretaste of that great banquet that the book of Revelation calls the marriage Supper of the Lamb.
- [26:14]
A
And that's where I love the whole book of Revelation and all of salvation history climaxes with that great meal.
- [26:22]
B
That's right.
- [26:22]
A
So Jesus is anticipating that to the disciples so that they understand that this is a foretaste of what is to come.
- [26:28]
B
That's right. Because what is the Messianic banquet? It's the meal with the Messiah. Well, who are they eating with right now? The Messiah. Right. So this is anticipation of what will come.
- [26:39]
A
Now, in verses 30 through 35, we're going to hear, they're going to Sing a hymn, and then they go down.
- [26:43]
B
To the Mount of Olives, which is standard for Passover. Yep.
- [26:47]
A
The great hallelujah, Psalm 113 and 118. And we saw a lot of Psalm 118 already echoed and reverberating. So they sing that hymn, and then they come down the Mount of Olives and we'll talk about what's going to happen there in the garden in our next episode. But there's a nice bookends that Matthew gives here, because Jesus is going to say, strike the shepherd and the flock will be scattered.
- [27:10]
B
That's right.
- [27:10]
A
Which is important. That goes back to Zechariah. Zechariah, the prophet Zechariah that you've been talking about. So maybe say a quick word about that. But. But he then predicts that Peter will deny him three times. And you begin before the supper. And we get the supper, of course, in verse 26. But before the supper, verses 20 through 25, Jesus predicts Judas betrayal. And now after the supper, you get the prediction that all the rest of the disciples will fall away and that Peter will deny him three times.
- [27:38]
B
That's right.
- [27:38]
A
And so you have. In the center is this meal where Jesus gives thanks to the Father and offers himself for the atonement of sins, for the forgiveness of sins, knowing that his disciples are going to be unfaithful.
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B
It's really remarkable, as Romans says, Paul says that Christ died for us even when we were enemies of him. Right. So Jesus knows that the disciples are going to turn on him, but his love for them never, never fails, even if their love for him fails.
- [28:07]
A
And, you know, we're going to. We're going to see Peter's denial play out here in the narrative. But then the last thing is, you know, just to kind of sum up, because we're so close to time. Here is just to reflect on. Here is our Lord Judas is betraying him out of anger. Jesus then comes to the supper with his most intimate disciples. In this last meal he's going to have and the last time he's going to have before he dies with his apostles. And he begins sorrowful, speaking about this betrayal and how hurt he is. Our sins hurt God, you know, it's the only way you can hurt God. And it's a sad thing, and it's something to reflect on. And of course, we have that bracketed with both Peter and Judas. And then we have the meal. But the meal is the means by which God's going to deal with that sin. And he's going to atone for it. And he's going to give us himself so that we can be healed and journey on a path where we can be a new creation with Him. And that's exciting. So a lot to reflect on here. Next time, we're going to pick up up with verse 36 of chapter 26 of the Gospel of Matthew, and we'll continue our journey. We're glad that you are journeying with us through the Gospel of Matthew, and I want to give special thanks to everybody who joins our Mission Circle. You know, for just $10 or more a month, you can become a Mission Circle member and support our mission, help us get the word out, help us to teach and have the freedom and the resources for this ministry. So many of you joined recently. We had over a thousand people join during the month of March and during Lent. And so we're just so grateful for all of your support and prayers. And we really see the Mission Circle as a group that we pray for. But we ask you to pray for us and everybody who joins the Mission Circle. We give a rosary from the Holy Land made of olive wood to equip you to be able to pray and be a warrior in prayer and to pray for us in your prayers. We'd greatly appreciate that. So we're grateful that you joined us, and may God bless you.