Matthew 26:14-30: Judas Plans To Betray Jesus To The Pharisees
/ Jesus Last Supper With His Disciples”
by
Jim Bomkamp
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we began to look at the events that
occurred leading directly up to Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion
1.1.1.
In that study we began to look at the timetable of the
events that occurred during this last week of Jesus’ life, and we noticed the
following things:
1.1.1.1.There were
back to back Sabbaths due to the week of the Feast of Unleavened bread, and
thus contrary to tradition Jesus was probably crucified on Thursday rather than
Friday
1.1.2.
We saw how that six days before the Passover during
which Jesus was crucified, that at the house of Simon the Leper, with her
sister Martha and brother Lazarus present, that Mary had anointed Jesus’ head
with a very expensive spikenard perfume, and we observed the following things:
1.1.2.1.Being one
who constantly sat at Jesus’ feet seeking to know Him and His teachings, she
may have been the only one who truly understood what He was saying about being
crucified and raised from the dead, and thus we saw that Matthew wrote that she
did what she did to prepare Him for burial
1.1.2.2.We saw that
since this perfume was very costly (approx. one year’s wages) that this was the
last straw for Judas, and that it was
not too many days after this event that he went and met with the Sanhedrin and
plotted about how that he might betray Jesus into their hands to be crucified
1.1.2.2.1.Judas had
become completely disillusioned with Jesus since Jesus had not come into
Jerusalem and begun to arouse the nation to rally behind Him as the Messiah and
take up arms in order to overthrow Rome
1.1.2.2.1.1.Jesus had
made a triumphal entry and was hailed as king and Messiah, and yet He had done
nothing but throw some money changers out of the temple
1.1.2.2.1.2.Instead of
being optimistic and rallying support together, during Jesus’ Olivette Discourse
He had spoken of the temple being destroyed and
1.1.2.3.We studied
closely that Mary’s act was a powerful example of what true worship should
consist of
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to continue to look
at the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion
1.2.1.
We will analyze further the betrayal of Jesus by Judas
1.2.2.
We will begin to study the events of that Last
Passover Feast with Jesus’ Disciples which has been called, ‘The Last Supper’
2.
VS 26:14-15 -
“14 Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests,
15 and said, “What are you willing to give me to deliver Him up to you?” And
they weighed out to him thirty pieces of silver.” - Judas goes to the chief priests and cuts a
deal with a price for betraying Jesus to them
2.1.
With Judas being paid up front for betraying Jesus into their hands,
Judas was now committed to betraying Jesus to the Sanhedrin
2.2.
We see from Exodus 21:32 that the price of thirty pieces of silver was
the price that a person would have to pay someone if his ox got out and gored
their slave to death.
2.3.
In Zech. 11:12, we read that this price was prophesied, for this was the price to be
paid for the services of the rejected shepherd, “12 And I said to them, “If it is good
in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out
thirty shekels of silver as my wages.”
2.4.
I want to bring out here something that Gayle Erwin teaches in his ‘The
Jesus Style’ book, namely that there are some myths that are spoiled by this
story of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus:
2.4.1.
Some people think that Jesus glowed in the dark, that He had this halo
over His head, etc., however if that were the case then the Sanhedrin would
just have sent men out to find the one who glowed in the dark.
2.4.2.
Some pictures of Jesus show Him to be the best looking guy with the
purest and shiniest face, and if that were the case then the Sanhedrin would
have just sent men out to find the pretty one.
2.4.2.1.It is interesting that the
New Testament writers never give a description of what Jesus looked like, and
from the Old Testament prophesy in Isaiah 53:2 concerning Him we find that He was not particularly
good looking, “He has no stately
form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should
be attracted to Him.”
2.4.3.
Some people think that Jesus was 6 feet tall and had shoulder length
blonde hair and blue eyes, however if that where the case the Sanhedrin would
have just sent men out to find the tall blonde with big blues.
3.
VS 26:16 - “16 And
from then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Him.” - Judas now began looking for an opportunity to
betray Jesus to the chief priests and Sanhedrin
3.1.
The chief priests desperately wanted to have Jesus crucified, however
they wanted to do so before the Passover and the Sabbath when the crowds of
people would see what they were doing and possibly cause a major riot in Jesus’
behalf, for He was considered a prophet of God by all of the common
people. Judas was just whom they needed
to fulfill their plans.
4.
VS 26:17-19 -
“17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus,
saying, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 And
He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says,
“My time is at hand; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My
disciples.”’” 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they
prepared the Passover.” - Jesus
directs His disciples as to where to prepare for their Passover Feast
4.1.
As I mentioned in the last study, these verses show that the last meal
that Jesus had with His disciples was a ‘Passover Feast’ meal carried out
according to the Law of Moses. The
Passover was designed to cause the people to remember their deliverance from
4.2.
In Luke 22:10-12, we read more about the events of this story, “10 And
He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you
carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house that he enters. 11 “And
you shall say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is
the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ 12 “And he
will show you a large, furnished, upper room; prepare it there.””
4.3.
The events described in these verses show us yet again that Jesus was in
control of the events that occurred leading up to His crucifixion and
resurrection from the dead. Jesus told
these disciples to go into the city and that they were to say to a certain man
who would be carrying a pitcher of water whom they would meet that the Teacher
has told them that His time is now at hand and that He wants to keep the
Passover at the man’s house with His disciples.
4.3.1.
It is important for us to know that nothing ever took Jesus by surprise
during His life on this earth, for He had divine foreknowledge of the events
that were to unfold, as that knowledge was needed in each situation. Plus, He was actually orchestrating those
events and doing so according to prophesy.
4.3.2.
Jesus had possibly talked with this man earlier about using this upper
room, and thus this man was perhaps expecting the request by these disciples.
4.4.
As I mentioned in our last study, if Jesus was crucified on Thursday, as
I believe that He was, then His disciples had bought a lamb on the previous day
for this Passover feast which they were to have, and so it was probably during
this very conversation recorded in these verses when Jesus sent some of His
disciples into the city to buy a lamb for their Passover feast.
4.5.
According to Jon MacArthur, there were over 250,000 lambs that were
sacrificed during a typical Passover in Jesus’s day, and the Law taught that no
fewer than ten and no more than 20 were to eat one lamb. Therefore, on this Passover there were
perhaps as many as 2 million people in
4.5.1.
Likewise, the law taught that the lambs had to be sacrificed within a 2
hour period, and the blood of the lambs ran down from the temple into the
4.5.2.
Because the Passover lambs were a type of the Lamb of God who was slain
from the foundation of the world for the sins of the world (Rev. 13:8), as
scripture says about Jesus, and according to the Law the lambs all had to be
slain that day before the feast, therefore Jesus must also have been crucified
during this same period.
4.5.3.
As we saw last week, the beginning of a new day occurred at sundown. Jesus observed the Passover Meal with His
disciples on the same day as the rest of the nation, however on the evening before when the rest of the
people would observe the Passover.
4.6.
The preparations for the Passover were many, for a room had to be
secured, and then it had to be meticulously cleaned, making sure that every
trace of leaven was removed from it.
Thus, when Jesus told them to ‘go and prepare’ the disciples had much
work to do to prepare for this Passover Feast.
4.7.
Jesus was a man who was always obedient to God’s commands (Matt. 5:17),
and therefore He was determined to and
knew if was very important to eat the Passover meal with His disciples, as we
read from Luke 22:15, “15 And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this
Passover with you before I suffer.”
4.8.
In Exodus 12:3-6, we read of how the Passover feast was to be carried out on that first
Passover while the people were in bondage in Egypt, and we observe that the
lamb had to be without spot or blemish, which was a type of the One who was the
Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, “3 “Speak to all the congregation of
Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb
for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each
household. 4 ‘Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his
neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of
persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the
lamb. 5 ‘Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it
from the sheep or from the goats. 6 ‘And you shall keep it until the fourteenth
day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of
4.8.1.
Because Jesus was without sin, and therefore just like this Passover lamb
sacrificed each year, without spot and blemish, He could thus be qualified to
have His death upon the cross be the full payment for the sins of the world.
4.8.2.
I think that there is a good possibility that Jesus intentionally
modified the traditional Passover Feast when it concerned the eating of the
Passover lamb, seeing as how He was to reveal to them that He in fact was ‘our
Passover lamb’, the One of whom the Passover lamb was a type. Thus, it is likely that the lamb was eaten
only in the first part of the feast not in the latter part as He was then in
the process of changing the meaning of this feast to be ‘The Lord’s Supper’
which is intended to be a remembrance of Jesus.
4.8.3.
I believe that Jesus must not Himself have partaken of the elements of
the bread and the wine since to do so would have caused confusion over what the
elements symbolize.
5.
VS 26:20-22 -
“20 Now when evening had come, He was reclining at the table with the twelve
disciples. 21 And as they were eating, He said, “Truly I say to you that one of
you will betray Me.” 22 And being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to
Him, “Surely not I, Lord?”” - As Jesus
and His disciples were reclining and eating the Passover Feast, which we now
call ‘the Last Supper’, Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray
Him
5.1.
According to Edersheim, the traditional horseshoe shaped table was not
the type used in Jesus day, but rather the table would be oblong in shape and
couches would be arranged around three of the sides of the table. Likewise, Jesus did not sit in the middle of
the table as all the paintings depict, but rather on the side. From what the gospels tell us, we surmise
that John sat at Jesus’ right hand, and Judas sat at His left side.
5.2.
In Luke 22:24-27, we read that during this feast that the disciples had again been
arguing among themselves as to whom would be the greatest when Jesus came into
His kingdom, “24 And there arose also a dispute among them as to
which one of them was regarded to be greatest. 25 And He said to them, “The
kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them
are called ‘Benefactors.’ 26 “But not so with you, but let him who is the
greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the servant. 27
“For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table, or the one who serves?
Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who
serves.”
5.2.1.
It is very like that this stinging rebuke by Jesus to His disciples
concerning their arguing about whom would be the greatest in His kingdom
actually caused each of them to now (as it says in our text) began to be
grieved in heart that in fact they might be the one who was going to betray
Him.
5.2.1.1.Up to this point they had
always placed much confidence in their flesh to do the right things.
5.2.2.
In John chapter 13, it is recorded that before Jesus had given them the
elements of the bread and wine that He first put a towel around Him and went
around the table and washed His disciples feet.
This foot washing probably occurred after the disciples had been
discussing who would be the greatest in the kingdom, and thus Jesus then began
His discourse in Luke 22:24-27 after He had acting as their example washed
their feet.
6.
VS 26:23-25 -
“23 And He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is
the one who will betray Me. 24 “The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written
of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have
been good for that man if he had not been born.” 25 And Judas, who was
betraying Him, answered and said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He *said to him,
“You have said it yourself.”” - Jesus
tells His disciple that the one who would betray Him was the one who had
‘dipped his hand with’ Him ‘in the bowl’
6.1.
This statement of Jesus’ seems to indicate that Judas was sitting directly
at Jesus left, since He would have dipped his hand in the bowl with Him if he
were seated close.
6.2.
To eat a meal together with someone in the middle east in Jesus’ day was
a real symbol of friendship, and therefore Judas’, one Jesus’ twelve disciples,
leaving to betray Him during the feast made this treachery all the worse.
6.2.1.
We Christians need to realize that Jesus knows what it is like to be
betrayed, for He was betrayed to the death by one of His closest
associates. He can relate to the hurt
that we have when we have been betrayed by a friend or family member.
6.3.
Jesus pronounces a very solemn ‘woe’ upon Judas, and says that, ‘it would
have been better if he had not been born’.
6.3.1.
Jesus knew all along that Judas would betray Him, and yet He still called
Judas to follow Him, for He knew that this would all be according to God’s
plan.
6.3.2.
In saying these words about Judas, we know that Judas will not spend
eternity with God in heaven, but rather he will spend eternity in hell, the
6.3.3.
In John 17:12, Jesus refers to Judas as the only one of His disciples
whom He had lost, and then He calls him the ‘Son of Perdition’, which means the
‘son of hell’, indicating where Judas will spend eternity.
6.4.
There is often a couple of discussions that come up whenever people begin
to consider Judas and his betrayal of Christ,
6.4.1.
How could someone be so close to Jesus all of that period of time, and
yet have so little faith as to betray Jesus to death and then turn completely
away from following Him?
6.4.1.1.The seeing of miracles and
the hearing of unequalled words of truth do not necessarily persuade anyone to
believe in God. For believe comes from a
person’s heart and it is a voluntary choice that a person makes to believe in
Christ.
6.4.1.2.There were many in Jesus’
day who saw His miracles and yet did not go on to believe in Him and commit
their way to Him.
6.4.2.
Why would God would have called Judas to be one of the 12 disciples if He
knew all along that Judas would eventually turn away, kill himself, and spend
eternity in hell.
6.4.2.1.In all honesty, I can only
say that to this question there is only so much of the infinite mind of God
that we can comprehend. We can say that
though Jesus knew that Judas would eventually turn away from Him, that
nonetheless He didn’t want Judas to do this.
In fact, I’m sure that Jesus tried to do all that He could to try to
persuade Judas to believe in Him.
However, all along Jesus knew that Judas would never really ‘get it’ and
become a strong disciple of His.
6.5.
When Judas in hypocrisy repeated what the other disciples were saying,
‘Lord is it I who is betraying You?’, he knew and Jesus knew that Judas did not
mean what he had said, for he had long before determined to betray Jesus to the
death.
6.5.1.
To Judas’ response, Jesus says, ‘You have said it yourself’, and this is
equivalent to Jesus’ having said, ‘Man, you are the one who is condemning
yourself, and it is your own lying lips that will be your condemnation’ for you
know what it is that you are attempting to do.
6.6.
In John 13:25-30, there are some additional details that aren’t found in any other gospel
of what happened directly after Jesus told His disciples that one of them would
betray Him, “25 He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ breast, *said
to Him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus therefore *answered, “That is the one for
whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the
morsel, He *took and *gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 And after
the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Jesus therefore *said to him, “What
you do, do quickly.” 28 Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for
what purpose He had said this to him. 29 For some were supposing, because Judas
had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, “Buy the things we have need
of for the feast”; or else, that he should give something to the poor. 30 And
so after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.”
6.7.
We see from the events of this night that Judas went out and then as was
in a godly sense appropriate, he did not partake of the bread and of the wine
which symbolized Jesus body broken and blood shed for the disciples’ sins.
7.
VS 26:26-30 -
“26 And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing,
He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My
body.” 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them,
saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28
for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for
forgiveness of sins. 29 “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of
the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s
kingdom.” 30 And after singing a hymn,
they went out to the
7.1.
The bread
7.1.1.
The bread was unleavened and baked in large, flat, crisp loaves.
7.1.2.
The Passover bread would now forever symbolize Christ’s own body
sacrificed for the sins of all mankind.
7.1.3.
Jesus did not mean that the bread became His body, as those believe who
hold to the doctrine of ‘Transubstantiation’, rather it was to symbolize His
body and bring a remembrance of that sacrifice which He paid.
7.2.
The wine
7.2.1.
Heb. 9:22 teaches that, ‘without shedding of blood there is not
forgiveness’, and all previous blood sacrifices that the Israelites were
commanded to carry out pointed to and were a type of that one sacrifice which
Jesus made once and for all for the sins of the whole world (Heb. 10:12).
7.2.2.
As Jesus was instituting a ‘new covenant’, it was appropriate that it be
ratified by blood just as the previous covenant of the Jews at Sinai was
ratified when blood was sprinkled on all of the people and instruments of the
tabernacle (see Gen. 8:20; 15:9-10).
7.2.3.
The blood contains ‘the life’ as Lev. 17:14 teaches, therefore for Jesus
to be sacrificed for us His blood also had to be shed.
7.2.4.
The ‘many’ mentioned in these verses does not teach that Christ’s
atonement only covered those who come to believe in Him, as those who teach the
doctrine of the ‘Limited Atonement’ believe.
Rather it refers to the fact that it is only those who believe in Christ
who reap the benefits of His blood.
7.2.4.1.Note that 1 John 2:2 teaches that Jesus is the
propitiation for not only our sins but also for those of the whole world, “2 and He
Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for
those of the whole world.”
7.3.
The song that they sang as they left the upper room was probably Psalm
118, which was in the tradition of the Jewish Passover.
7.4.
In 1 Cor. 11:25 Paul quotes a saying of Jesus that is not included in any gospel, “25 In
the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant
in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.””