Matthew 26: The Last Night

Introduction

The last time we were together we looked at Matthew’s “preparation” passages as Jesus heads to the cross. The passage ended with learning of Judas’ plot to betray Jesus. Today we will be looking at the final night of the Lord’s life before his Passion. This night is traditionally called Maundy Thursday. Maundy is Latin for “commandment” and comes from John’s version of these events where Jesus gives the disciples a “new commandment”.

26:17-25: The Final Passover

The night’s events actually begin during the day. The Passover would have started at sundown on Thursday, which means preparations for this meal (and the larger “feast of Unleavened Bread”) to had to be made. The disciples know this and offer to help get it prepared. But where should they go?

Here we have an interesting moment where Matthew, Mark, and Luke give us their own details that come together nicely.

Matthew keeps the account fairly vague, not giving the exact number of disciples, and recounting that Jesus merely told them to go find a “certain man” in the city.

Mark tells us that Jesus specifically sent two disciples on this mission, and Jesus also told them to first find a man carrying a water jar and to follow him to the house of the “certain man”. This house had a large upper room.

Finally, Luke tells us that the two disciples were in fact Peter and John.

Did Jesus have this event prepared ahead of time? Was it supernatural? It’s not clear, but whatever the case, things happened just as He said they would, and Peter and John were able to get the upper room prepared for the meal.

With the preparations complete, evening came, and it was time to eat. And while this happens, Jesus makes an uncomfortable declaration: one of them would betray him.

The way this conversation is structured in all the Gospels, I think it can come across as a little confusing. But when we look at the details I think it becomes clearer.

First, they were all reclining at the table - not sitting in the way we might. Think of it how you lay on a couch. With thirteen grown men, this means everyone is spaced out pretty well.

In response to the Lord’s declaration, all of the disciples became sorrowful and naturally started asking, “Is it I, Lord?” (Which I think is a little funny. You either know you are going to betray Jesus or not!)

Jesus gives them a very vague response: it’s “the one who has dipped his hand in the dish with me”. All of them had done that!

Judas’ question is slightly different - he doesn’t call Jesus, “Lord” like the others do, but merely “Rabbi” or teacher. Hence the Lord Jesus’ response of “You have said so.” means that Judas has just indicted himself.

John 13:26 adds that John (the disciple whom Jesus loved) was reclining next to Jesus, and Peter was apparently on the opposite of the room and he signaled for John to find out who the betrayer was. Jesus indicates it by giving Judas some of the dipped bread. I imagine that Peter and John were the only two who now realized what was happening.

My last note here is what Jesus says about his betrayer: woe to him, and it is better for him if he had not been born.

This is an demonstration of the interplay between God’s sovereignty and human freewill.

Jesus had to be betrayed (according the Scriptures). Yet, whoever chose to do it was cursed. Is this unfair to Judas (or whoever would betray Jesus if Judas had not?)

Scripture demonstrates time and again that the Lord will use someone’s own inclinations to His own end if need be (think of God hardening Pharaoh's heart). That doesn’t make those inclinations good or right.

In the end, Judas should be compared to Peter. As we’ll see later, Peter also betrayed Jesus through his denials. And yet, when Peter repented, the Lord forgave him and reinstated him. Do we really think he wouldn’t have done the same for Judas? Instead, Judas took his life into his own hands, sealing his fate.

26-29: The Lord’s Supper

After that conversation I would imagine it was difficult to just “move on” with the night. But Jesus does. As if declaring his impending betrayal wasn’t shocking enough, He now reinterprets and re-purposes the Passover meal to Himself.

The Passover meal was a remembrance of the first “Passover” when the Israelites escaped from Egypt after the angel of death killed all the firstborn but passed over those who has lamb’s blood on their doors.

First Jesus takes the bread and breaks it, declaring “This is my body.” and with the cup he says, “This is my blood of the covenant.”

There are two many details to be mapped out between the Passover and what Jesus is doing here. But what is clear is that Jesus is using the bread to demonstrate that his own body will be broken (killed) for them. And his blood shed for the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus is the true Passover lamb. If the blood of ordinary lambs saved the people from Egypt, how much greater is the blood of God that can save us from our sins?

He declares that his blood is being poured out to inaugurate the New Covenant. Covenants always had to be brought into effect with blood. It’s how the first covenant was started in Exodus 24:8 “And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.””

This is incredibly important. The author of Hebrews dedicated much of his letter to discussing the implications and importance of this New Covenant.

This is the covenant that God promised in Jeremiah 31:31-34.

Everything in the Old Covenant had just been shadows of the true reality. Jesus is the True Reality.

Unfortunately much blood has also been shed over the exact meaning of the Lord’s words here. Whether one believes in transubstantiation (the bread and wine are/become the literal body and blood of Christ), consubstantiation (Christ is “present” in the bread and wine), or that the elements are merely symbolic, what is clear is that it is an incredibly holy thing (a Sacrament) that the Lord has called us to partake in it regularly, not take lightly, and commune with him, the Bread of Life.

1 Corinthians 10:16 “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?”

1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

His final comment that He will not drink the wine with them until he drinks it with them new in the his Father’s kingdom I think refers to his resurrection. The resurrection of Christ ushered in the kingdom - and one of the proofs that he was alive was that he ate and drank with them.

30-35: First Judas, now Peter

After the meal, the sung a hymn and headed back to the Mount of Olives. Even in a time of sorrow and confusion, I think Jesus wants to remind them to worship - that’s why he leads them in a hymn.

Once they arrive, Jesus declares that they will all abandon him. But this is not random, it is to fulfil prophecy. Specifically Zechariah 13:7 ““Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me,” declares the Lord of hosts. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.”

He also, once again, tells them that he won’t stay dead! And he tells them that after the resurrection He would meet them in Galilee. Remember, Galilee was their home base in the north that he had spent the vast majority of their ministry together. In a way I almost see it as comforting words: “The next couple of days will be hard. But when it’s all said and done, I’ll meet you back home.”

Peter, once again, gets in the way. This time he makes it a point to tell Jesus, and everyone else, that he would never fall away. Keep in mind, John tells us that just prior to this, when Jesus washed their feet, Peter again was the one who tried to act “better” than everyone else.

In both cases, Jesus humbles Peter and puts him in his place. Here he does so by predicting that Peter would deny him three times!

The disciples decided to follow Peter’s lead here when he emphasized again that he’d never deny Jesus. I suppose in a way Jesus may really have referred to all of them when he said, “He who dips the bread with me will betray me.”

Peter’s denials/betrayals may have been more impulsive than Judas, but in the end they were still a denial, and remember what Jesus said in Matthew 10:33 “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

36-46: Saying Prayers

The Lord leads them to an olive grove on the Mount of Olives called Gethsemane (which means oil press). It might have been dense, and away from the crowds (the Mount of Olives would have been a popular camping spot during Passover).

He takes his “inner 3” disciples, Peter, James, and John with him to pray, leaving the others behind.

These were the three disciples that Jesus regularly took to “special occasions” like the raising of the little girl to life and the transfiguration.

Jesus is “sorrowful and troubled”. He knows what is coming, and demonstrating his humanity, He is overwhelmed. He wants his disciples to pray with him, and for him. There is much power in corporate prayer.

Luke tells us that Jesus was in such agony over this he began sweating blood.

The Lord himself prays “Let this cup pass from me...”

He knows what must be done, but just like us, he asks if there can be another option. Nonetheless, he fully submits to the Father’s will, setting aside His human desires. This is an example for us to follow as well.

It’s also worth remembering that this is the same cup that he told James and John they would also drink even if they didn’t understand it.

When he returns he finds them sleeping. Matthew, like he does, keeps this vague. John was probably still awake since he is the only Gospel writer to record the much lengthier prayer that Jesus prayed during this time (John 17).

Jesus singles Peter out. He was so confident about not denying Jesus and yet he’s not bother to try and pray the temptation away.

Peter’s spirit was willing, but his flesh was weak. Prayer could have helped him overcome the temptations that he is going to momentarily fall into.

Jesus went and prayed two more times after this. Both times the disciples slept through it. Notice the number: 3 times. How many times would Peter deny Jesus? 3 times. No wonder Jesus thought this moment would be valuable for Peter. But he missed it.

In our battles against sin and the flesh, we absolutely cannot abandon prayer. In fact, I think praying to the Father might have been what kept Jesus from fleeing his impending Passion - something he was clearly tempted to do.

The time for sleeping is now over. And not just for the disciples. Up until that moment the entire world had been asleep, but over the next three days, it would be woken up from its spiritual slumber through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

The true Passover Lamb has now been prepared, and he willingly goes to have his body and blood shed for us. The next few parts of the story are nothing short of painful and we will see the great pain, agony, and suffering that our Lord suffered on our behalf. But thankfully we know that it will not be the end. Friday is here, but Sunday is coming. Amen.