"Jesus Is Anointed" Matthew 26a April 13 2025

Intro & Scripture

Good morning

Today, marks the beginning of Holy Week

Today is Palm Sunday

Next week, Easter

We are now in the last three chapters of Matthew

Today - the first part of Matt 26

At a whopping 75 verses, Matthew 26 has the most verses of any chapter in Matthew

But what’s weird is that Chapter 23 is considered the longest chapter in Matthew

It only has 39 verses - but it contains more Greek words!

Matt 26 has many short episodes, or scenes in it (pericopes)

I wanted to cover five of those scenes and end with the Lord’s Supper

As I got into this, I realized I only had time to talk about the first two scenes

My sermon: “Jesus Is Anointed” because we will end on that

Outline:

Matthew 26 Outline:

The Plot to Kill Jesus

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

Judas to Betray Jesus

The Passover with the Disciples

Institution of the Lord’s Supper

Let’s start with Matt 26, beginning in verse 1

This is the first scene, The Plot to Kill Jesus -

Matthew 26:1–5 ESV

When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

(Pray...)

The Plot to Kill Jesus

So, Jesus has just finished his Olivet Discourse

He’s talking specifically to his disciples and he predicts that he will be crucified

We’ve already seen Jesus say this

In fact, go back ten chapters earlier - Matt 16

Verse 21 says, “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.”

When I preached from that chapter, I pointed out that the mood of Matthew became more solemn right from that verse

Notice it says “From that time...”

We have no idea the number of times he mentioned his death (“began to show”) - because the times he said this might have been more than is recorded in the Bible

In Matthew, we have his actual words in Mt 17:22-23 and Mt 20:17-19

Jesus told his disciples over and over:

That he will be delivered into the hands of men,

That they will kill him

And that he will be raised the third day

These are also recorded in Mark and Luke

The disciples seemed to be blind by the fact that Jesus told them over and over that he would rise on the third day

It didn’t hit them after he rose from the grave

I believe end-times prophesy is like that

Christians argue and bicker over how the end-times will pan out - but it will all make sense in the end

All those verses we argue about - will be made clear

Here’s my point in why Jesus told his disciples over and over about dying on a cross -

Every time Jesus predicted his death in the Gospels, he always mentioned his Resurrection - we should too

An exception is in Luke 9:43-45 but he never mentioned his death - in this passage, Jesus only says, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men”

Let me read the first two verses of Matt 26 again - read with me what the Lord Jesus says:

When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

Jesus doesn’t mention his resurrection here - probably because his resurrection will occur very soon

Remember, Jesus said over and over:

delivered up - delivered into the hands of men - delivered over to the chief priests & scribes

And right here, the next couple of verses - we see that prophesy coming true

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

Here’s the point in all of this

Jesus knew his ultimate purpose

Let’s quickly go all the way back to the first chapter of Matthew, which clearly outlines his purpose:

Starting in verse 21...

Matthew 1:21–23 ESV

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Btw, this is why this entire series is called God With Us - Discovering the Gospel of Matthew

The Son of God himself, came to earth to bear the wrath of God

Jesus came to rescue us and save us from our sins

He died on a cross to save us from our sins

All this because it pleased the Father

Jesus knew all of this ahead of time, and he still willingly went through it - because it pleased the Father

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

Verse 6 brings us to the next section: Jesus Anointed at Bethany

This was an unusual anointing - and it came in an unusual manner

This was not an anointing for his as king - but rather, he was anointed in preparation for his burial

The setting is inside a house, in the city of Bethany - just outside Jerusalem

All gospels have their own version of this story - some of the details are so different from this,

that in my opinion, there are at least two different similar stories

For today, I want to just stick with Matthew’s account

The scene opens with Jesus in the house of Simon the leper

We read that an unnamed woman approaches Jesus with an alabaster flask, filled with very expensive ointment

I looked up “alabaster” and found, in the context of the ancient world, refers to a type of soft, white, translucent stone that was often used for carving decorative objects, such as vases, jars, and figurines

[IMAGE]

Here are some facts I found on the internet:

Alabaster was highly prized for its beauty and durability, and was often imported from Egypt, where it was abundant

It was used by artisans in ancient Greece, Rome, and other cultures to create intricate and ornate works of art

And this woman comes right up to Jesus and pours this expensive ointment on the head of Jesus

Don’t think of this ointment as Vaseline - it had the consistency of oil - it poured on his head and down his hair

Imagine this scene

Jesus was probably reclining at the table for a meal

We don’t fully know who this woman was

Luke describes her as, “a woman from the city, who was a sinner”

I don’t know if this woman was the same woman from Luke’s account

But imagine - all the disciples are there - and seemingly without any announcement - in comes this woman who does this

She anoints the head of the Lord Jesus - the same head that will soon be wearing a crown of thorns

I can just picture Jesus pausing, and allowing her to do this - and the incredible, wonderful scent of this luxury ointment fills the room

The Bible says that when the disciples saw this, they became indignant

“Why the waste?” they said. “For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.”

Maybe the reason the disciples became indignant was because they never thought to anoint the head of Jesus

Then Jesus responds -

Matthew 26:10–13 ESV

But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

And that’s the story of Jesus Anointed at Bethany

Women in Matthew

Let me ask - can you think of another time someone in the Gospel of Matthew did something so sweet for the Lord?

We’ve been studying this gospel - and Jesus has been doing all the doing:

Preaching, healing, cleansing, forgiving, feeding, etc.

Can you think of one example where the disciples express such a beautiful act as this woman who anointed his head like that?

The only other times I can find are from other women - like in the parallel accounts of similar stories

And in Matt 8, where Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law - and she immediately begins to serve Jesus after he heals her

All women

As I was studying this, I was compelled to look at all the other times women are mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew

More than I remember

- Matthew 1, 12, 13 Mary (mother of Jesus)

- Matthew 1 Other women in the genealogy of Jesus

Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba (“wife of Uriah”)

- Matthew 8 Peter's mother-in-law

- Matthew 9 Woman with hemorrhage

- Matthew 9 The young girl Jesus healed

- Matthew 15 The faith of the Canaanite woman

- Matthew 20 Hopeful mother of the sons of Zebedee - who wanted her sons to sit on the right and left of Jesus in heaven

Finally, in Chapter 28, we read that “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary” were the first ones to discover the empty tomb

And those two women were the first to tell the disciples that Jesus had risen

Non-believers say all sorts of things

One of the new things (not really new) is that the Gospels are fabricated - they were written hundreds of years after Christ - it’s all made-up

There are several problems with this

It’s highly unlikely that back then, in a predominately patriarchal society that women would have been inserted into a made-up story

Let alone, several women in several stories

One of the problems with this - back then, the testimony of women were considered unreliable - no court testimony was allowed

If you were making this all up, why would you include women in your fake story?

In fact, having marginalized people - like women were back then, inserted into your story suggested that none of this was done to perpetuate a lie

The fact that women are in the gospels suggests that the gospel writers were more interested in recording fact, rather than elevate a man-made agenda

Having women in the narrative is also a significant challenge to the expected gender roles of the time

especially since these women are portrayed as being capable of making their own decisions and expressing their devotion to Jesus

I would think, if a group of men were making all of this up - they would have to include the mother of Jesus (makes sense)

And maybe throw in one more story with a woman

Like, the story of Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law

That makes sense - she gets healed, and then immediately goes right back to serving men

But this story? A woman takes an expensive, luxury item - this expensive ointment in an expensive jar - and anoints the head of Jesus?

Right before Jesus was arrested and crucified?

If you were inventing Christianity, why leave-in this story?

After all, she does this sweet act of worship in front of an audience of men

John’s gospel says it was Judas who became indignant - the other gospels include the other disciples

Maybe it was Judas who said it - but I think they all agreed with him

They were probably thinking, “Look, Jesus - this woman has stepped out of line!”

But Jesus said that what she did was beautiful

And then he said that what she did will always be proclaimed - in her memory

Did you catch that?

Jesus so elevated the status of this woman - to the point, that no man could have made this stuff up in their imaginary religion

And Jesus said this was all done to prepare him for burial

I don’t really think the woman was actually thinking that -

I think the Holy Spirit guided her to do this

And what she did illustrates his death on a cross in order to save us from our sins

In Matthew, and in all four Gospels, when women are mentioned, they are highlighted as individuals, and not just part of the crowd

And so far, we’re talking about examples of real women in Matthew

We haven’t even gotten into the multiple parables that talk about women

Like the Parable of the Lost Coin in Luke

Or the Parable of Leaven, or the Ten Virgins

Or what about other real women in the other gospels - like the woman at the well in John 4

Moreover, they provide examples of women who are not defined solely by their relationship to men (e.g. as wives, mothers, or daughters) -

But who have their own identities and agency

Going all the way through the OT and the NT, the Bible is full of women who play various parts in redemptive history

Many of whom were used by God in strong roles as they were faithful in serving God

The gospels were simply not fabricated by a group of men who wanted to create a religion “hundreds of years” after Christ

That’s ridiculous - and it’s a lie from the devil

There is a criticism going around that in Christianity, women are made less than men

That because the wife is called to submit to their husbands - that they are considered less human than men

Some people have clearly not read their Bibles

And the critics who haven’t read the Bible love to take verses out of context

What do you think God thinks about all of this?

Paul tells us in Galatians

Galatians 3:28 ESV

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

We are equal in Christ - we have all put on Christ - we are all one in Christ

Close

Why am I saying all of this?

I’m not saying this to gain popularity with women

I’m saying that the way the gospels are laid out, it would be impossible for someone to make this up

Did you ever stop and think about how incredible it is that two of the gospels have genealogies for Jesus

That Jesus is not some mysterious prophet

No! We got the goods on Jesus!

We know where he lived - where he came from - we know all about his parents, and grandparents

We know his entire family back to David and back to Adam!

No one was trying to hide anything

The notion that these stories were made up - or that Jesus wasn’t real - totally impossible

Think about it

The life of Jesus doesn’t start with him as some mysterious sage

Who first appears coming across the desert on a camel

In the distance, he slowly makes his way into town - across the parched, hot landscape

Then he comes and appears to a group of religious leaders

And performs astonishing miracles - as he shows himself to be a wise, mysterious prophet

Like some First Century mystic

This is not Lawrence of Arabia

This isn’t a Clint Eastwood western

Matthew is showing us the details of Jesus - and specifically, Matthew does this for a Jewish audience

The Gospels are real. The Bible is real. Jesus is real.

Near the end of John’s Gospel, John is pleading with the reader:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

That’s why we study the Bible - and that’s why we’re learning more and more about Jesus

So that we will believe! And that by believing, we may have life in his name!

(Pray...)

Communion

(Pick one…)

Matthew 26:26–29 ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.