Matthew 26:1-16

138. The plot to capture Jesus (Matthew 26:1-16; Mark 14:1-11; Luke 22:1-6)

The Passover was only two days away, and Jesus knew its significance in relation to his coming death. Israelites kept the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread as an annual week-long festival in commemoration of ancient Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. God ‘passed over’ those houses where a lamb had been sacrificed in the place of those under judgment (Exodus 12:1-13). The people then escaped from bondage. For the next week they ate bread made without leaven, because they had to cook it in haste as they travelled (Exodus 12:14-20,Exodus 12:39). The time for a greater deliverance had now arrived. Jesus would die as the true Passover lamb, to bear the penalty of sin and release sinners from its bondage (Matthew 26:1-2; cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7).

People in Jerusalem were excited as the festival approached. The chief priests therefore planned to wait until it was finished before arresting Jesus, as they did not want to be responsible for a riot (Matthew 26:3-5). But when Judas came to them and offered to betray Jesus to them, their task was made easier. Judas could advise them of Jesus’ movements, so that they could arrest him quietly without the people knowing (Matthew 26:14-16).

Between the account of the Jews’ plotting and Judas’ treachery, Matthew and Mark have inserted the account of an anointing of Jesus at Bethany. This may have been the anointing recorded earlier by John, and could have been put into the story at this point to contrast the loving devotion of a true believer with the violence and treachery of others. If the three accounts refer to the same occasion, Simon the leper must have been the owner of the house where Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived. Possibly he was their father (Matthew 26:6-13; see notes on John 12:1-8).