Matthew 26
1 When Jesus had finished all these words, 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.”
3 Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas.
4 They took counsel together that they might take Jesus by deceit, and kill him.
5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest a riot occur among the people.”
6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
7 a woman came to him having an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table.
8 But when his disciples saw this, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste?
9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.”
10 But Jesus, knowing this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for me.
11 For you always have the poor with you, but you don’t always have me.
12 For in pouring this ointment on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.
13 Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of as a memorial of her.”
14 Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests,
15 and said, “What are you willing to give me, that I should deliver him to you?” They weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver.
16 From that time he sought opportunity to betray him.
17 Now on the first day of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
18 He said, “Go into the city to a certain person, and tell him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.”’”
19 The disciples did as Jesus commanded them, and they prepared the Passover.
20 Now when evening had come, he was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.
21 As they were eating, he said, “Most certainly I tell you that one of you will betray me.”
22 They were exceedingly sorrowful, and each began to ask him, “It isn’t me, is it, Lord?”
23 He answered, “He who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me.
24 The Son of Man goes, even as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.”
25 Judas, who betrayed him, answered, “It isn’t me, is it, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You said it.”
26 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks for it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
27 He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, “All of you drink it,
28 for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.
29 But I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”
30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
31 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
32 But after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee.”
33 But Peter answered him, “Even if all will be made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble.”
34 Jesus said to him, “Most certainly I tell you that tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”
35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.” All of the disciples also said likewise.
36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go there and pray.”
37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and severely troubled.
38 Then he said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here, and watch with me.”
39 He went forward a little, fell on his face, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; nevertheless, not what I desire, but what you desire.”
40 He came to the disciples, and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What, couldn’t you watch with me for one hour?
41 Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 Again, a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup can’t pass away from me unless I drink it, your desire be done.”
43 He came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
44 He left them again, went away, and prayed a third time, saying the same words.
45 Then he came to his disciples, and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
46 Arise, let’s be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.”
47 While he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and elders of the people.
48 Now he who betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, he is the one. Seize him.”
49 Immediately he came to Jesus, and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, why are you here?” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.
51 Behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and struck off his ear.
52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place, for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword.
53 Or do you think that I couldn’t ask my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels?
54 How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so?”
55 In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to seize me? I sat daily in the temple teaching, and you didn’t arrest me.
56 But all this has happened, that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him, and fled.
57 Those who had taken Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together.
58 But Peter followed him from a distance, to the court of the high priest, and entered in and sat with the officers, to see the end.
59 Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death;
60 and they found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But afterward two false witnesses came forward,
61 and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.’”
62 The high priest stood up, and said to him, “Have you no answer? What is this that these testify against you?”
63 But Jesus held his peace. The high priest answered him, “I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it. Nevertheless, I tell you, after this you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of the sky.”
65 Then the high priest tore his clothing, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we still need witnesses? Behold, now you have heard his blasphemy.
66 What do you think?” They answered, “He is worthy of death!”
67 Then they spat in his face and beat him with their fists, and some slapped him,
68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who hit you?”
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the court, and a maid came to him, saying, “You were also with Jesus, the Galilean!”
70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
71 When he had gone out onto the porch, someone else saw him, and said to those who were there, “This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72 Again he denied it with an oath, “I don’t know the man.”
73 After a little while those who stood by came and said to Peter, “Surely you are also one of them, for your speech makes you known.”
74 Then he began to curse and to swear, saying, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately the rooster crowed.
75 Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and wept bitterly.
Matthew 26 Commentary
Overview
Matthew 26 begins the passion narrative by placing Jesus’ clear prediction beside the leaders’ secret plot. Jesus knows that Passover is near and that he will be delivered up for crucifixion. The authorities intend to avoid the feast because they fear public disorder, yet events unfold according to Jesus’ announced “time.” Human schemes are real and blameworthy, but they do not catch him by surprise or overthrow God’s saving purpose.
The chapter repeatedly contrasts costly devotion with self-protective betrayal. An unnamed woman pours expensive ointment on Jesus and is criticized for waste, while Judas asks what the leaders will pay him to hand Jesus over. The woman recognizes, more deeply than the disciples understand, that Jesus is approaching death. Judas remains physically close to Jesus while arranging his arrest. Nearness, knowledge, and religious participation do not by themselves guarantee faithful allegiance.
At the Passover meal, Jesus interprets his coming death through bread, wine, covenant, forgiveness, and hope. He then goes to Gethsemane, where his sorrow reveals the true cost of the cup he is about to drink. Jesus does not move toward the cross with emotional detachment. He honestly desires that the cup pass if possible, yet freely submits himself to the Father’s will.
The final scenes expose the weakness and injustice surrounding Jesus. Judas betrays him with a kiss, the disciples flee, witnesses distort his words, the council condemns and abuses him, and Peter denies knowing him. Against this failure stands Jesus’ steady obedience. He refuses violent rescue, confesses his identity, and accepts the path by which Scripture will be fulfilled and sinners will receive forgiveness.
Key Themes
Matthew connects the crucifixion with Passover, Israel’s memorial of deliverance from slavery in Exodus 12. Jesus is not merely dying during a religious festival; he interprets his death within the story of redemption. The Passover setting prepares readers to see his blood as bringing a deeper deliverance from sin and judgment.
The woman at Bethany pours very expensive ointment on Jesus’ head, an act that can suggest honor, kingship, hospitality, and preparation for burial. The disciples see only a resource that could have been sold. Jesus does not dismiss care for the poor; he defends a unique act performed at a unique moment. His words echo the continuing responsibility toward the poor taught in Deuteronomy 15, while insisting that his approaching burial must not be ignored.
Calling the anointing “waste” reveals how easily devotion is measured only by immediate usefulness. The woman’s action cannot prevent the cross or solve every need, yet Jesus calls it beautiful. Christian stewardship requires wisdom, but efficiency is not the highest value. Worship may be costly precisely because Christ is worthy rather than because the act produces a measurable return.
Jesus promises that the woman’s deed will be remembered wherever the gospel is preached. Her name is not supplied in Matthew, but her faithfulness becomes part of the worldwide proclamation. The statement also assumes that the good news will spread beyond the coming death. Burial will not be the end of Jesus’ mission.
Judas receives thirty pieces of silver, language that recalls the rejected shepherd’s price in Zechariah 11. Matthew does not fully explain Judas’s motive. Greed, disappointment, spiritual hardness, and other factors have been proposed, but the text emphasizes deliberate choice: he approaches the leaders, negotiates payment, and seeks an opportunity to betray Jesus.
At the meal, each disciple asks whether he is the betrayer. The question should produce self-examination rather than confident comparison with Judas. Betrayal grows within a community where all are capable of weakness. Judas’s shared dish and place at the table make his action more grievous, echoing the pain of betrayal by a close companion in Psalm 41.
Jesus says the Son of Man goes “as it is written,” yet pronounces woe on the betrayer. Fulfillment does not remove moral agency. Scripture’s certainty and Judas’s accountability are not competing explanations; Matthew presents both. God can bring salvation through evil without becoming the author or approver of evil.
Jesus takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it as his body. He then identifies the cup as his “blood of the new covenant,” poured out for many for forgiveness. Christians differ over how Christ is present in Communion and how the elements should be described, but the shared center is clear: the meal announces his self-giving death, covenant grace, communal participation, and the remission of sins.
The new-covenant language recalls Jeremiah 31, where God promises forgiveness and an inward knowledge of him. “Poured out for many” resembles the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, who bears the sins of many. The phrase contrasts the one who gives himself with the multitude who benefit; Matthew’s Gospel will send the good news to all nations. Jesus interprets the cross as substitutionary and covenant-making, not merely an example of courage.
Jesus looks beyond death to drinking the fruit of the vine anew in the Father’s kingdom. The meal contains grief and hope together. Communion remembers a completed sacrifice, proclaims present covenant fellowship, and anticipates the future banquet when Christ’s kingdom is fully revealed.
Jesus predicts that all the disciples will stumble and cites the struck shepherd of Zechariah 13. He also promises to go before them into Galilee after being raised. Failure is announced inside a promise of resurrection and restoration. Peter nevertheless compares his loyalty favorably with everyone else’s, treating courage as a fixed possession rather than a grace requiring watchfulness and God’s help.
Gethsemane reveals Jesus’ full humanity. He is sorrowful and deeply troubled, asking three close disciples to remain and watch. His anguish should not be reduced to ordinary fear of physical pain. In Scripture, the “cup” often represents divine judgment. Jesus is approaching betrayal, abandonment, shame, suffering, and the sin-bearing death he has interpreted at the table.
Jesus’ prayer, “not what I desire, but what you desire,” is not reluctant obedience forced on an unwilling victim. The repeated prayer displays genuine struggle and genuine submission. The Father and Son are not morally opposed; Jesus freely embraces the saving mission, even as his human will recoils from the horror of the cup.
The disciples sleep while Jesus prays. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” recognizes sincere intention without excusing failure. Human resolve needs prayer because temptation exploits weakness, fatigue, fear, and self-confidence. Watchfulness is not anxious alertness alone; it is dependence on God before the test arrives.
Judas’s kiss uses a sign of friendship as a weapon. Jesus addresses him as “friend,” a term that can carry solemn confrontation in Matthew. The arrest party comes heavily armed even though Jesus taught openly in the temple. Secrecy and force reveal the injustice of those who avoided answering him publicly.
When a disciple uses a sword, Jesus commands him to put it away. He is not powerless: more than twelve legions of angels could be summoned. His refusal is voluntary restraint, not inability. The immediate issue is armed defense of Jesus against the cross he has chosen; his kingdom will not be established by disciples killing his enemies. Redemption comes through the Shepherd’s self-offering and the fulfillment of Scripture.
The hearing before Caiaphas is marked by a predetermined desire for death and a failed search for consistent testimony. Jesus’ saying about the temple is distorted into a threat. The irony is that his death and resurrection will indeed mark a decisive change in access to God, but the witnesses use partial truth to support a false charge.
Jesus remains silent until solemnly questioned about his identity. His answer combines Psalm 110 and Daniel 7: the rejected Son of Man will sit at God’s right hand and come with heavenly authority. The council calls this blasphemy, condemns him, and mocks his prophetic identity, unaware that his predictions are being fulfilled around them. The court believes it is judging Jesus, but he announces the coming reversal.
Peter follows “from a distance,” close enough to observe but unwilling to be identified. His three denials intensify from evasion to an oath and then curses. The rooster does not create his guilt; it awakens his memory of Jesus’ word. Bitter weeping is not yet the whole of repentance, but it shows that Peter’s failure breaks his self-confidence rather than hardening him like Judas.
Important Verses
Verse 13 honors the woman’s costly devotion: what she did will be told wherever the gospel is preached. Jesus receives worship that others misjudge, and he gives enduring significance to an act performed in love before his burial.
Verse 28 explains the cup: “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.” The cross establishes covenant fellowship through sacrificial blood and forgiveness. This sentence stands near the center of Matthew’s explanation of why Jesus dies.
Verse 39 records Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; nevertheless, not what I desire, but what you desire.” Obedience does not require denying sorrow. Jesus brings his desire honestly to the Father and submits without reservation.
Verse 41 commands, “Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation.” Good intentions are not enough when human weakness meets spiritual testing. Prayer prepares disciples to depend on God before fear and pressure expose what self-confidence cannot sustain.
Verse 52 rejects the sword as the means of preserving Jesus’ mission. Christ could call heavenly armies, but he chooses the path of Scripture and sacrifice. His disciples cannot protect the gospel by contradicting the character of the crucified King.
Verse 64 presents the condemned Jesus as the coming Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power. His humiliation is temporary, and the court’s verdict will not be final. The one standing before human judges possesses divine authority and will be publicly vindicated.
Practical Applications
Give Christ devotion that is costly rather than merely convenient. Money, time, attention, reputation, and opportunity can be spent in ways others misunderstand. Test your actions by Scripture and love, but do not let the demand for visible efficiency eliminate worship, gratitude, or courageous faithfulness.
Approach the Lord’s Table with remembrance, repentance, gratitude, and hope. The meal points away from personal merit to Christ’s body and covenant blood. It also joins believers to one another and directs them toward the promised kingdom banquet.
Pray honestly in seasons of anguish. Jesus does not disguise sorrow or pretend that obedience is painless. Bring your real desire to the Father, repeat your prayer when necessary, and let “your will be done” express trusting surrender rather than passive fatalism.
Replace confidence in your character with watchful dependence. Peter loved Jesus and still denied him. Listen when Scripture warns you, avoid comparing your loyalty with someone else’s, and pray before temptation rather than assuming that strong feelings will carry you through it.
Follow the noncoercive way of the crucified Messiah. Do not manipulate, deceive, or use spiritual language to justify retaliation. Jesus advances his kingdom through truth, sacrificial love, faithful witness, and resurrection power. When failure occurs, remember his words, grieve honestly, and return to the mercy that later restored Peter.