Today is the first day of Lent. Usually during Lent I share a bit about what I am reading. This year, I've decided to blog my way through Matthew's account in chapters 26-28, beginning with the days leading up to Christ's passion through the end of the book . I'll be taking a section at a time, using the divisions in the ESV to make the sections manageable. I may continue on with Luke's account if I have time.
First, a little background about Matthew 26. It is the longest chapter in Matthew's Gospel and it includes so many different events that it really does communicate the scope and rapidity of events swirling around Christ at that time. It would be easy to read through the chapter and get the mistaken sense that events were rapidly spinning out of control. However, all the way back in Matthew 16:21, Jesus had begun not only to prepare His disciples for His approaching death in Jerusalem, He let them know that it was necessary for Him to die, that He would die at the hands of the religious leaders and that He would ultimately be resurrected on the third day. Surely, there was nothing about His passion that was out of control!
The Plot to Kill Jesus
Matthew 26:1When Jesus had finished all these sayings, 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.”3Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.
Verse 1: When Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said to His disciples,
What sayings? In the two previous chapters , often referred to as the Olivet Discourse, Jesus had been speaking about the destruction of Jerusalem, the characteristics of the age and the signs of the coming tribulation and His return and the Judgment of the Nations. Pretty heavy stuff for the disciples to digest.
Verse 2: You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
He has just finished answering their questions re: the end of the age, and he turns the conversation, again, to His approaching death. This is the sixth time his disciples have heard him speak of this, and each time he reveals a little bit more about what was to come:
Matthew 16:21
21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
- He knew it would happen at Jerusalem
- He knew at whose hands he would suffer
- He knew he would be killed
- He knew he would be raised on the third day
Matthew 17:12
12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” (like John the Baptist)
- Like John the Baptist, He would suffer and die at the hands of those who did not recognize Him
Matthew 17:22-23
22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.
- He lets them know that it will be happening soon
- He repeats that He will rise on the third day
Matthew 20:17-19
17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
- He will be condemned to death by the Jews
- He will be mocked, flogged and crucified by the Gentiles
- He repeats that He will rise on the third day.
Matthew 20:28
28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
- He reveals the purpose and intention of His death
Matthew 26:2
2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
- He reveals the exact timing of His death
In all these things, Jesus proves that He knows every step He will have to take in order to "give His life a ransom for many.
Verses 3-5
3Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”
The religious leaders thought that they were in control. They thought that their plots and stealthy schemes were known only to themselves. They thought they could control the people's response. These priest and elders who thought they knew the Law so well, did not understand that it was they, and not Christ, who were lawless men.
Acts 2:22-24 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
It is good to remember at the beginning of this Lenten season that the events of His death were not only under His control but Jesus was 'delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.'
For futher reading: Christ's Predetermined Death by Robert C. Harbach
Friday, February 27, 2009 at 08:15PM 
