A Bittersweet Celebration - Matthew 26:14-30

Some events in life are an odd mixture of emotions. Often we feel conflicting emotions at the same time. We may celebrate a holiday with family while also mourning a family member who is missing. We may thank God for the life we enjoy now while also mourning the death of the life we had envisioned. There are lots of times when our lives take a twist we didn’t see coming, and this morning we are going to look at a time when Jesus’ story took a twist the disciples didn’t see coming.

We turn our attention this morning to two related accounts in Matthew 26: the story of Judas agreeing to betray Jesus and Jesus identifying him as the betrayer, and the story of the last supper (where our communion celebration finds its origin.) In these two accounts we will see God’s amazing providence, His perfect planning, and His great love for us.

Judas’ Arrangement

Our text starts with the account of Judas agreeing to betray Jesus.

14Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests 15and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. 16From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus. (Matthew 26:14-16, NLT)

Judas knew the religious leaders were looking for a way to get rid of Jesus. They were hoping to find some way they could charge him with a crime—and ultimately get him killed. We are told Judas went to them asking what they would give him to betray Jesus. The religious leaders, seeing a great opportunity, gave him 30 pieces of silver in return for his turning Jesus over to them. This would have amounted to about 4 months’ wages—not an insignificant amount of money, but a paltry sum to betray the Lord of Life.

Many have questioned exactly why Judas decided to betray Jesus. Some have concluded it was just about the money (John tells us that Judas had also been embezzling from the ministry), others think it was a way of trying to force Jesus’ hand, getting him to finally bring about the Kingdom of God, while others think Judas was disillusioned with Jesus and was looking for a way to cut his losses. We don’t know exactly what Judas’ reason was, but this much is clear: Judas loved something else more than He loved the Lord. He loved money, or comfort, or status, or even his own understanding more than He loved God. And he came to regret that decision for the rest of his (relatively short) life.

Judas’ story should be a cautionary tale for us. Judas was one of the twelve. He had spent 3 years in close proximity to Jesus and the other disciples. He was one of the few people who had the privilege of being truly close to Jesus when He was on the earth. Judas had the best opportunities to know Jesus, yet He never really did. He never trusted Jesus enough to submit to Him. He looked great on the outside, he appeared to be part of Jesus’ inner circle, when in fact his heart was far from Him.

It is easy for us to fall into this same trap. It is easy to conclude that because we know all the Bible stories, or the songs, or we have our own assigned seat in the church, or because we serve in a significant capacity, or give a lot of money, or do a lot of good things, it is the same as trusting in Jesus as Lord. Those are all good things, but they mean nothing if our hearts are not right before God. Judas did all the right things on the outside, but His heart was unchanged. Look at your heart—what is it that is most important to you? Are you willing to live as Jesus has told you? Are you seeking to be obedient to Him and to submit your life to His command? If not, be careful, lest you find yourself in the same place as Judas.

Preparations

This would have been a busy time in Jerusalem. With Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (which was the seven-day festival following Passover that commemorated God’s deliverance of His people from slavery in Egypt) coming up, the city would have been swollen with visitors. Places to have a meal for a large group would have been scarce. His disciples realized this and asked Jesus if He wanted them to make all the preparations for their meal.

17On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?”

18“As you go into the city,” he told them, “you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.’” 19So the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there. (Matthew 26:17-19, NLT)

In Luke’s gospel, we read that Jesus specifically sent Peter and John to go make these arrangements for the Passover meal. This means Judas likely wasn’t privy to the plans. Jesus knew what was going on behind the scenes. He had no intention of stopping Judas from betraying Him (after all, He knew He was going to the cross soon), but He was going to ensure it didn’t happen until the right time. Jesus wanted to celebrate the Passover with his disciples, so Judas (and the other 9 who weren’t sent) didn’t know the details about their meal, which meant he wouldn’t be able to interrupt the meal with his betrayal.

Jesus had made plans for the Passover already. Mark and Luke tell us they were to look for a man carrying water (which was typically a task women did), go with him to his house, then tell the owner of the house that the Master needed his guest room for the Passover. We don’t know how Jesus knew this man would be there or that his master had a room he would let them use, but Peter and John went and did as He said. Apparently things went without a hitch, because the very next scene has Jesus and his disciples eating the Passover meal in this upper room.

The Meal

The gospel accounts all tell us this was a Passover meal, which means the meal had a specific order; an order which everyone at the table would have been familiar with. Passover was a solemn night in which the Jews gathered to remember how God had delivered them out of slavery in Egypt, and to recount His promises to them.

Most of us have seen Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting depicting the last supper…but it probably didn’t look anything like that. At this time the Passover meal would have been eaten around a U-shaped table that sat very close to the floor. Everyone would likely have eaten it in a reclining position, with their heads toward the table and feet going away from it. They would have shared from food that was mostly in the middle of the U-shape. Hopefully this kind of gives you a picture of what likely happened.

At some point during the meal, Jesus dropped a major bombshell.

20When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the Twelve. 21While they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.” 22Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one, Lord?” 23He replied, “One of you who has just eaten from this bowl with me will betray me. 24For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!” 25Judas, the one who would betray him, also asked, “Rabbi, am I the one?” And Jesus told him, “You have said it.” (Matthew 26:20-25, NLT)

Jesus told the disciples that one of them was going to betray him. I suspect they may not have really known what that meant (that the betrayal would be handing Jesus over to the religious authorities to be killed), but they all feared they might somehow betray Jesus. Every one of the disciples asked Jesus if they were the one who would betray him. It is interesting that no one asked, “Is it Judas?” Judas had apparently managed to hide his actions from the rest of the disciples so that no one suspected him. It is also interesting that Matthew records Judas asking a different question than the rest of the disciples. The disciples all said, “Am I the one, Lord?” while Judas’ response was, “Rabbi, am I the one?” Judas did not call Jesus Lord, but Rabbi, which means teacher. Regardless, Jesus knew exactly what was going on and confirmed to Judas that He knew he was going to betray him. John’s gospel adds that at this point Jesus told Judas to go and do what he planned, though apparently none of the others really knew what was going on at that time. They didn’t know what was about to happen, but Jesus did.

Jesus knew He was about to be betrayed and endure great suffering, yet He didn’t stop it. He knew this was how God was going to bring about His purpose, so Jesus didn’t stand in Judas’ way. It is important for us to realize two points regarding Judas’ betrayal. First, it did not mess up God’s plan. Judas did not somehow cut Jesus’ life short or make things happen in a way other than how God intended it to. God used Judas’ sinful actions to accomplish His perfect plan. Second, Judas bears all the blame for his decision. It is tempting to think that since God used Judas’ actions to bring about His purposes that God made Judas betray Jesus, but that isn’t true. God does not make people sin. We do that on our own. And yet, God is not somehow hindered from accomplishing His purposes by our sinful actions. He accomplishes His will in spite of them. At times, He uses people’s sinful actions to bring about His good will. That doesn’t mean these things are good…they are still evil. But rather it means that God can bring good out of evil.

In God’s perfect plan, he allowed Judas to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. It was all Judas’ idea, but God wasn’t surprised and He wasn’t thrown off by it. Instead, God used Judas’ sinful act to bring about exactly what He had planned all along: Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross of Calvary.

Why do I labor this point? Because it’s important for us to remember that sinful and evil actions are not caused by God. Sinful people sometimes do some truly evil things. They are things that are tragic and awful. But that doesn’t mean that God’s plan is somehow thwarted. Instead, God in His infinite wisdom still manages to bring about His good purposes. This should be a comfort to us both when we sin and when we experience the consequences of the sins of others. God is still on the throne, He is still in control, even when we can’t see what He’s doing.

The First Communion

After Jesus warned about his betrayal he continued with the Passover meal. As I mentioned before, there was an order the meal was supposed to follow. The disciples would have been familiar with the order and surely looked forward to celebrating the meal with Jesus. But as Jesus often did, he changed up something they were all familiar with in order to take them deeper. Listen to how Matthew records it.

26As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” 27And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. 29Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.” 30Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. (Matthew 26:26-30, NLT)

It is a story most of us are familiar with because we frequently recite these words when we celebrate communion together. Unfortunately, many through the centuries have missed the bigger picture of this event and have instead gotten mired in all sorts of questions about the minutiae of it. Christians have argued about how often we are supposed to do it, what kind of bread we should use, whether we should use real wine or not, whether Jesus was speaking literally or metaphorically when He said, “This is my body”, and we even argue over what the right name for the celebration should be!

These are interesting questions, but questions that really are secondary. I would argue that many of them don’t even matter! We must not get mired in debates that really don’t matter. So what does matter? What matters is what Jesus was trying to teach His disciples (and us) by this simple object lesson.

Jesus took the bread, broke it, and told his disciples to eat it because it was His body. Part of the Passover celebration was usually eating a specially prepared lamb. It served as a remembrance of how the Israelites sacrificed a lamb so they might be spared the plague of death. Jesus was saying that like a Passover lamb, He was laying down His life in order to save theirs. I suspect the disciples didn’t really understand what Jesus meant in that moment, but they did so dutifully. The next time they gathered though, they had a much deeper understanding of what Jesus had meant. They recalled seeing Jesus bloodied, beaten, and killed, and they knew He had given His life in order to bring forgiveness for their sins. This is what we are to remember when we celebrate communion as well—Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. We are to remember our sin, to remember His sacrifice, and to celebrate our forgiveness.

Later Jesus took a cup and said to drink of it because it was his blood poured out as part of a new covenant between God and his people. This was really off-script. In the Passover meal there were four times when they would drink from the cup. Each time was to remember a different promise from God. Most scholars believe Jesus said this during the third time they were to drink from the cup. The third cup focused on how God had redeemed His people from Egypt. Jesus changes the theme slightly and points out how His blood would redeem them and change their standing before God once and for all. Jesus was saying that because of His sacrifice our relationship with God would forever be changed. Again, I suspect the disciples probably struggled to understand exactly what Jesus was driving at, but later they began to see the fullness of what God was doing through Him.

After that Jesus told the disciples he would not drink wine again until He did so with them in the Kingdom of God. There was probably still one more time they were supposed to drink wine during their Passover meal: the fourth cup! This cup represented the promise of God that, “You will be my people and I will be your God.” Don’t miss this! Jesus had told his disciples he was going to die soon, but now He was also telling them that He would drink this cup together with them in Heaven. So Jesus was telling them that He would die, but that He would also be resurrected. And even more than that, He was telling them they would be resurrected because of what He had done! It is a wonderful promise to a group of guys who were about to have their world turned upside down.

The disciples also probably didn’t understand what any of this meant. I imagine them looking around at each other with somewhat puzzled looks, and silently going along with what Jesus said, trusting that later it would make sense. And of course, it eventually did—and took on a whole new significance to them. After that they sang a hymn (as was traditional) and left together for the Mount of Olives.

Conclusion

This was a night of utter confusion for the disciples. They came expecting to celebrate the Passover meal with their Lord, which they did, but they also discovered that one of them would betray Him. He told them He would soon be dead. But He also gave them a glimpse of what was going to happen through His death. He gave them an object lesson that would help them remember this night forever. It was surely a bittersweet night, and as we remember, it continues to be bittersweet. We remember that the cross was necessary because we are sinful. It makes us sad to remember that Jesus had to die because of what we have done. But it should also remind us of how much we are loved, because He willingly laid down His life in order to give us new life; a life that continues forever.

So what can we learn from this bittersweet night? I have a few things.

We must remember that it’s possible to look good on the outside but have your heart far from God. Be careful that you don’t fall into the same trap as Judas. Examine your heart and ask if you are really looking to follow Jesus as Lord, if you’re really seeking to submit every area of your life to Him, or whether you are just playing the game. Learn from Judas’ example, because they stakes are higher than you imagine.

We must remember that God is in control even when it seems like the world is out of control. When tragedy comes, it’s tempting to conclude that God is asleep or that His plans have failed. They haven’t. God doesn’t cause these evil things to happen, but He does work through them to accomplish His good purpose. So we need to trust when we don’t understand.

We must remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us and the promise He made as well. Jesus showed us how much He loved us by willingly laying down His life so we could enjoy new life. And He promises that one day we will be with Him in Heaven, for a celebration that is sweeter than we can possibly imagine. So we remember this life is not all there is…God’s plan is bigger than just the here and now.

This was the beginning of Jesus’ last night before his crucifixion. He had a long night ahead of Him, but He knew what had to be done, and more importantly, what it would accomplish. We are able to read this account with a different perspective because we know the outcome, but it is still a bittersweet celebration. We must always remember the sacrifice Jesus has made for us and celebrate it. It may be bittersweet as we realize the great cost of our salvation, but it should also remind us that God loves us so much more than we can comprehend. And that realization should lead us to humble and grateful worship in the way we live each and every day.