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Bible Study Matthew

Matthew: Jesus’ Life on Earth was Drawing to an End

Jesus knew that his life on earth would end soon. Matthew now began to describe certain events. The final and greatest act of Jesus’ life was near (verse 2). Matthew told his story with great skill. He recorded several incidents.

Matthew 26:1–16

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you,[a] but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

14 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15 and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Jesus knew that his life on earth would end soon. Matthew now began to describe certain events. The final and greatest act of Jesus’ life was near (verse 2). Matthew told his story with great skill. He recorded several incidents.

First, Jesus chose to die. This contrasts with men’s evil plans. (Read verses 1–5.) Next, there was the action of the religious leaders. This contrasts with what Mary did. (Read verses 6–13.) Also, there was a contrast between Mary and Judas. (Read verses 14–16.)

Jesus chose to die for our sins. Nobody could force him to die. Earlier in his work, Jesus had said that he would die. (Read 16:21; 17:22–23 and 20:18–20.) But now he declared the time when he would die. He told his disciples the way that he would die too (verse 2). So, he emphasized that he was in total control. His death would not be just an accident. It was his plan and purpose to die. He would save his people from God’s punishment for their sin.

Jesus’ worst suffering now began. This was the greatest example of his teaching. His words in verse 1 probably applied to all of his teaching. But they certainly applied to the previous two chapters. Jesus showed his disciples that they must have unselfish love for people. (Read 25:31–46.) Now, Jesus showed his own love for all people. The rest of the section dealt with people’s reactions to Jesus. There were two bad examples. (Read verses 3–5 and 14–16.) But there was Mary’s good example. (Read verses 6–13.)

There was Caiaphas. He was the chief priest of the Jews. Writers of history in the first century described him. They said that he wanted power more than anything else. So, he did not like someone whose authority was greater than his authority. He felt that Jesus was a danger to him. His reactions were like those of some people today.

Matthew recorded a complete contrast. He gave a lovely example of real love for Jesus. (Read verses 6–13.) We can be grateful for Mary’s example. Like her, we can all show our love for Jesus in some way. Mary seemed to listen to Jesus better than most other people did. (Read Luke 10:38–42.)

Mary seemed to know that Jesus would die soon. The book of Mark records the name of the perfume. (This is a substance with its own special good smell.) Its name was spikenard. People used it to rub into dead bodies. Mary may not have realized the real meaning of her action. But Matthew gives the main reason why he recorded the story. It was because of her great act of love. In John 12:5, we learn that the perfume was worth 300 dinars. This was nearly a year’s wages.

The last case that Matthew recorded is in verses 14–16. We cannot be sure why Judas acted as he did. But Judas seemed to be disappointed with Jesus. Perhaps he thought that Jesus should have given him more. He was a disciple. Surely, he deserved some rewards. We cannot be sure about this. But there are people like that today.

Questions

1. Are you a person like Mary? Should we still show our love for Jesus in public?

2. We might copy Mary’s act when we are in church. But what would be wrong with that act today? It would be hard for it to be a natural act. It would be hard for it to have any reality. Could we really show our love like this? But we want to show our love for Jesus. So, what similar things could we do?

3. A person who is not loyal is sometimes called ‘a Judas’. Even people who do not know the Bible at all will sometimes use the words. Why did Judas behave like this to Jesus? Do we sometimes think as he did?