Matthew 26:14-16

The agreement to betray Jesus 26:14-16 (cf. Mark 14:10-11; Luke 22:3-6)

Here the word "then" probably identifies a logical connection with what preceded. [Note: Plummer, p. 356; M’Neile, p. 376.] Evidently Judas made these plans the same day that Jesus predicted His crucifixion in two days, namely, on Wednesday (Matthew 26:1-5). None of the evangelists recorded Judas’ motives for betraying Jesus, but Judas may have taken offense at Jesus’ rebuke on the previous Saturday evening (Matthew 26:10-13). Perhaps the fact that Jesus permitted Mary’s extravagant act without rebuke convinced him that Jesus was not the Messiah. [Note: Walvoord, Matthew: . . ., p. 209.] This may have been part of his motivation. The chief priests were the clerical leaders of Israel. They were able to do Jesus in.

The 30 pieces of silver they agreed to pay Judas were a paltry sum and fulfilled Zechariah 11:12. The amount constituted a month’s wages, if the silver pieces were denarii, which seems likely. [Note: France, The Gospel . . ., p. 979.] Matthew did not refer to this as a fulfillment of prophecy here, but he did later in Matthew 27:9-10. Nevertheless he was careful to make the verbal correspondence with the Zechariah passage close here. [Note: Charles C. Torrey, "The Foundry of the Second Temple at Jerusalem," Journal of Biblical Literature 55 (December 1936):249.] This was the price an Israelite had to pay his neighbor if his ox accidentally gored his neighbor’s slave to death (Exodus 21:32). This small amount of money shows the light esteem with which the chief priests and Judas regarded Jesus (cf. Isaiah 53:3).

". . . tragically, Judas, in selling his services to the chief priests to betray Jesus, unwittingly acts in a manner that is the exact opposite of ’servanthood’: Jesus is the servant par excellence, for he delivers himself to death in order that others might gain life; by contrast, Judas delivers Jesus to death in order that he might gain advantage for himself . . ." [Note: Kingsbury, Matthew as . . ., p. 143.]