WWUTT 2106 Jesus Anointed and Betrayed (Matthew 26:1-16)

We're in the last couple of days leading up to Jesus being crucified and we're seeing how

God is providentially moving all these pieces into place so that his son would die for the sins of the people when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily study in the word of Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky, and greetings, everyone. My voice is a little on the weak side today.

I hope you will excuse me. I don't think I'll be able to do a full 20 -minute lesson, but we will get through a little bit of this here as we get into Matthew chapter 26.

I'm going to read verses 1 through 16 out of the Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the

Lord. Now it happened that when Jesus had finished all these words, he said to his disciples,

You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be delivered over for crucifixion.

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest named

Caiaphas, and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill him.

But they were saying, not during the festival, lest a riot occur among the people. Now when

Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly perfume, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at the table.

But when the disciples saw this, they were indignant, saying, Why this waste?

For this perfume might have been sold for a high price, and the money given to the poor. But Jesus, aware of this, said to them,

Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good work to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.

For when she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.

Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.

Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, What are you willing to give me to deliver him to you?

And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him, and from then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray

Jesus. These are all events that are leading up to the crucifixion, of course.

As Jesus says here at the start of chapter 26, it's just two days away, and this is at the conclusion of the

Olivet Discourse. So what we have here in this section that we're looking at, Jesus telling his disciples,

You have the plot of the chief priests to arrest him and crucify him.

As Jesus has said, Well, they don't say they're going to crucify him. Jesus says that's how he's going to die.

The Son of Man is going to be delivered over for crucifixion, cut to the elders and the chief priests who are plotting to arrest

Jesus, but doing it at an opportune time so not to stir up the crowd. And then we have this story of the woman who is anointing

Jesus with a costly perfume. And then at the conclusion of that, Judas looking to betray

Jesus because Judas was actually the disciple that made the statement. Why this waste? Why are you letting her do this to you when we could have sold the perfume at a high price?

I think that Matthew is suggesting that John says it explicitly in his account of what happens here in John 12.

It was Judas Iscariot that had asked that question or it made that accusation. So what

Matthew is doing here is really kind of putting events together to show what is leading up to Jesus being betrayed, turned over to his enemies, tried and crucified.

That's what Matthew is setting up here. Some of these events occur out of order. And so I'll explain that as we go through this.

So let's come back to verse one. Now, it happened that when Jesus had finished all these words, he said to his disciples, this is right at the end of the last discourse in Matthew's gospel.

Remember that I said at the beginning, the very beginning of our study of the gospel of Matthew, that Matthew breaks up his gospel with five discourses, the first of which is the

Sermon on the Mount. That's the longest of the discourses of the speeches that Jesus gives.

So that's in Matthew chapters five, six and seven. And then the last of the discourses, which is the second longest, is the

Olivet Discourse. Jesus talking with his disciples on the Mount of Olives about what it will be like in the end times, the destruction of the temple, and then what to expect regarding the coming of the son of man.

So we had that in chapters 24 and 25. And every time we get to the end of a discourse, there's always some sort of statement like when

Jesus finished saying these things. That's how we know we've just been through a major discourse and it's come to a close.

And so that's what we have here at the start of chapter 26. Now, it happened that when Jesus had finished all these words, he said to his disciples, you know that after two days, the

Passover is coming and the son of man is to be delivered over for crucifixion.

Now, we understand the Olivet Discourse to have happened on a Tuesday. So that would be two days before the

Passover. You've got Wednesday and then Thursday. Or it might be that he's counting that way.

I guess it would have been pretty close to after sundown. That's the end of the day at this point on Tuesday. So that day is over.

So you have Wednesday and Thursday and Thursday is going to be the Passover. I'm trying to count the days the way that we understand a

Hebrew to have counted days back then. So it was the next day at sundown.

It was already the next day. So Jesus is probably counting that day, Wednesday and Thursday.

There's your two days right there. Now, as far as the chronology of the events that we're reading about here in verses one through 16, that is the only thing that happens on Tuesday here.

As far as we can tell, Jesus says in two days, the Passover is coming.

So that's right after the Olivet Discourse. That's on a Tuesday. Passover is going to be on Thursday. And then what we read about after that, these events are happening at different times.

The story of the woman anointing Jesus with the costly perfume, that happens several days before, according to John's gospel.

So it would have happened like the day before Jesus went into Jerusalem for the triumphal entry.

That was when the woman, Mary, according to John's gospel, had anointed Jesus with the costly perfume.

But here in Matthew, it looks like he puts it on Tuesday, though that's not necessarily the case.

All Matthew is doing here, and Mark does the same thing. We see this kind of writing trait between the two of them in Matthew and in Mark.

They will group things together that are surrounding a particular event or subject.

And so here what Matthew is doing is setting up or setting the stage, really, for when

Jesus is going to be arrested. So these were the events that took place that were leading up to Jesus' arrest.

Matthew's not really concerned with going one event to the other. And we know

Mark definitely wasn't, because sometimes Mark will jump all over the place. He'll go back. He'll come forward. He'll do that a lot in his gospel.

It's just clearer when Mark does it. We know that that's what's happening. With Matthew, he's not really all that interested in telling you.

He doesn't feel like he has to tell you, well, let's go back a few days and see something that happens here.

He will group things together that kind of deal with the same issue. And so here you have

Jesus saying that the Passover is coming in two days. So that statement in verses 1 and 2 might be the only thing that happens on Tuesday.

Everything else, Matthew is like, let's step back for a moment and see some of these other events that were taking place that's leading up to what

Jesus just told his disciples about. He just said that I'm going to be arrested and delivered over for crucifixion.

Well, let's kind of look behind the scenes a little bit and see what other pieces have been moved around that are going to set up that this will happen exactly as Jesus said to his disciples that it would take place.

Other occasions that we've had in Matthew's gospel where Jesus is talking about being arrested and crucified.

All of that was always at a distance. He never really put a time on it. The day is going to come when the son of man is going to be arrested and I'll be put to death, but have no fear.

I'm coming back again. You know, he'll say something like that to his disciples, but he never put a time on it. But here we have it's in two days.

In two days, we're going to Passover and then I'm going to be arrested. And even crucified.

And so after verse two, let's look at some of the events, some of the other things that are going on with these key players that are setting up Jesus being arrested and put to death.

So in verse three, the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathering together in the court of the high priest named

Caiaphas, and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill him.

But they were saying not during the festival, lest a riot occur among the people.

Now, that's an interesting behind the scenes. Look. Because we generally have the idea that the whole crowd was behind crucifying

Jesus, and that's not really the case. Often it said, and you'll probably hear this coming up in a few weeks because Easter is just around the corner now.

But often it is said that the crowd that was shouting Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the

Lord, you know, which happened at the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday. That crowd is suddenly a few days later, turning around and shouting, crucify him.

Well, that's not really the case. That crowd loved Jesus, and we're still probably convinced that he is our king.

He is going to be the one that's going to assume the throne. He is the promised Messiah. These people are still convinced of that.

But then there are other people that don't like him. There are people that side with the Pharisees.

There are people that don't believe that Jesus is who he says he is. They love the miracles. We see that happen with Herod during Jesus arrest as well.

It's kind of like dance monkey. You know, I just want to see you do something, but they don't really believe he is who he says he is.

And so those people will be convinced that Jesus was blaspheming and so therefore needs to be put to death.

Yeah, we love his miracles, but we don't believe that he's the son of God. And it's those people that the

Pharisees are able to round up on their side when they deliver

Jesus over to Pilate. But they really are concerned that the vast majority of people would be on Jesus' side.

And if we were to arrest him in their presence, then it would stir up a riot. So he's arrested in secret.

Remember, he's arrested at night. We'll get to that here pretty soon. And then the trial happens at night, which was against the law of God.

That's not when a trial was supposed to take place. Even tried to bring witnesses against Jesus, but the two or three witnesses couldn't even agree with one another.

But it's then when Jesus makes a declaration of himself being the son of God, who is the Christ, that makes the high priest

Caiaphas tear his garments and really stirs the people up into shouting, crucify him, taking him before Pilate and wishing that he would be put to death.

So there is a faction that hates Jesus and wants this to happen to him. But then there's another group of people that absolutely love

Jesus, and that's who the Pharisees are concerned about. I think they're able to drum up a little more support for their cause once Jesus says that he is the son of God.

When he makes that declaration, then they're like, OK, well, now we can convince the people that he's guilty of blasphemy.

So they were able to get some more people on their side after Jesus made that declaration.

So then we have this occasion that happens in Bethany.

Now, when Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, when Jesus was in Jerusalem in that week leading up to his crucifixion, he was staying in Bethany.

So he would travel from Bethany over the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem, teach during the day, travel back over to Bethany, and he was likely staying with Mary and Martha and Lazarus.

Now, those names don't come up until John's gospel. Even here, it doesn't mention that the woman who anoints him is

Mary. She's just called woman. She's not given a name here, but that's who it is we're talking about or reading about, because that's what

John says. That's John's account in John chapter 12 of this occasion that we're reading about here. So Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper.

John doesn't say what home they're in. If you read this account in John 12, he doesn't mention

Simon the leper. He actually makes it sound like they're at the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus.

And maybe they are. And maybe that home was also the home of Simon the leper. I'm not sure. I don't know how all of that pieces together exactly.

We just know that according to Matthew, he's at the home of Simon the leper. And according to John 12,

Mary and Martha and Lazarus are there. So there's probably a feast that's being given to Jesus at this time or a feast that they're enjoying.

And Jesus is just part of the house party. And this was likely a feast that the

Jews would enjoy at sundown at the conclusion of Passover, because this would have been taking place according to John's gospel before the triumphal entry.

So this would have been on Saturday night. This was after Jesus had even raised Lazarus from the dead. So this is on Saturday evening after the sun has gone down.

And so once the Passover concludes, then the Jews would have a feast. Some of them would invite the friends over, come over to the house.

We'll celebrate the conclusion of the Passover as we head into a new week.

So that's what is that's what's going on here. And I glean those details once again from John 12.

So this event, if it is before the triumphal entry, we're actually jumping back a little bit.

But again, Matthew is putting all this together because he's setting the stage for Jesus arrest and crucifixion.

God has so providentially ordained that these were the events that were going to happen leading to Christ's death so that he would die at Passover.

He would be the lamb that would be sacrificed for the sins of the world.

As John the Baptist said, behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That's Jesus. He is our

Passover lamb. Paul calls him that as well when writing to the Corinthians. So Christ, our

Passover lamb has been sacrificed. It was God's sovereign plan to arrange these events to happen in just this way at exactly this time to fulfill all that had been spoken in the law and the prophets.

So Jesus is in Bethany is at the home of Simon the leper. A woman came to him with an alabaster jar, a very costly perfume, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at the table.

Now, an alabaster jar would have been, you know, it was it was one whole jar. It didn't have a lid on it.

You couldn't take a lid off and then pour the perfume on and then, you know, replace the lid. You actually broke the jar.

So this very costly perfume that she has, she breaks the jar. She anoints

Jesus with the perfume, probably wasn't a huge jar, but it was significant, a significant amount of this perfume ointment that it fills the house with the aroma.

A woman came to him with an alabaster jar, very costly perfume. She poured it on his head as he reclined at the table.

But when the disciples saw this, they were indignant, saying, why this waste? It's interesting that Matthew says the disciples, whereas John clarifies he specifies that it was

Judas Iscariot is the one who makes the comment about why this waste for this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.

Maybe the reason Matthew includes it as all the disciples is because it's the way they all felt.

They really were confused by this gesture. Why is she doing this? Anointing Jesus with this costly perfume?

What's why this display? What is this supposed to represent? That's an incredibly expensive perfume.

And maybe Jesus is not all that flattered with this. You know, that's what the disciples are thinking. Jesus doesn't care for this kind of this kind of show.

We could have sold that perfume and made the money and given it to the poor. Now, Judas is the one that's credited with saying that.

But maybe all the disciples felt that way. And that's why Matthew said that the disciples said, why this waste?

Verse 10. But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, why do you bother the woman?

For she has done a good work to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.

You want to help the poor? You can do that anytime you want. There will always be poor. For when she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.

That may not have been her intention. It could have been. Maybe she did know about him going to die.

And so that's why she poured this perfume out on him the way that she did. Or maybe she did not know exactly what it was that was about to happen.

But Jesus gives it context. Because once again, all this happening under the providential hand of God, even this gesture that Jesus would be anointed right before the very week where he's going to go and be crucified.

Because this was a preparation for his death and his burial.

And God was using Mary or this woman to accomplish that, to fulfill that with this gesture of anointing.

And then verse 13, Jesus says, truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.

And indeed, we have it written down right here in the gospel of Matthew. It's also in Mark and in John, but not in Luke.

I don't know why exactly, except maybe Luke already knew that it was written down and circulated, so he didn't find a reason to have to include it himself.

But this account of Jesus being anointed at Bethany is in three of the four gospels.

And then since Judas is the one who is indignant, he's really the one that is credited with indignation, according to John 12, after Mary anoints

Jesus. So we have this statement in verses 14 to 16. And though Matthew doesn't explicitly credit

Judas with being the one to say why this waste, it does seem to be implied, given that after we have this account,

Judas then goes to look for an opportunity to turn Jesus over to the chief priests and the scribes.

Then one of the 12 named Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and said, what are you willing to give me to deliver him to you?

And they weighed out 30 pieces of silver to him. And from then on, he began looking for a good opportunity to betray

Jesus. And that brings us into the final events that happen on Thursday and Friday in Matthew's gospel, at least up until the resurrection, which will be on Sunday.

That's in chapter 28. So for the rest of chapters 26 and 27, we're on Thursday and Friday with Jesus partaking in the

Passover with his disciples in which he institutes the Lord's supper. And then after that, of course, his arrest at the garden of Gethsemane and his crucifixion on Friday.

So we continue our study with the gospel of Matthew tomorrow. That's all my voice has.

So let me pray and we'll bring this to a close. Heavenly father, we thank you for these things that we're reading about here.

Jesus prophesying his own death, God providentially moving these pieces in place that Jesus would die at Passover, fulfilling the law and the prophets that we would see he is our spotless lamb who has been sacrificed on our behalf.

Whoever believes in Jesus, our sins are forgiven. And we are given the promise of everlasting life.

Let us behold all of these things with wonder. As we continue studying these final chapters of the gospel of Matthew, it is in the name of Jesus that we pray.

Amen. Thank you for listening to when we understand the text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website, www .wutt

.com and click on the gift tab in the top right corner of the page. Join us again tomorrow as we continue our