Matthew 26:26-56 – Betrayal, Rejection, and Friends

Judas has left the building and, unbeknownst to the remaining disciples, his departure began a chain of events from which there was no turning back. I imagine Judas scurrying down the street to meet the chief priests, every once-in-a-while stopping to look back, wondering if he was doing the right thing. But each time he stopped, his mind’s eye saw the exorbitant splashing of perfume upon Jesus’s head and that vision spurred him forward. By the time he arrived at the temple, his confidence had grown to the point where all he knew was anger and disdain, erasing the last vestiges of doubt.

While Judas trudged down his tempestuous path, Jesus lounged at the table finishing his final Passover meal with the other disciples. Matthew wrote,

26 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.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Matthew 26:26-28

Jesus faced certain death — he knew it, we know it, but the disciples were still clueless — but instead allowing anxiety to fill his heart and mind, Jesus did not appear to be overly concerned with the events about to unfold. Instead, Jesus took some bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. He then took a cup of wine and passed it around the table. These simple and unhurried actions were performed so his disciples would later have symbols to remember what Jesus did for them on the cross. But Jesus did not institute communion solely as a reminder; this meal was intended to be a promise of a future celebration. This is why Jesus added the following words,

29 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.”

Matthew 26:29

Jesus knew what evil was coming his way, yet he promised another day would arrive when he would once again raise a cup of wine in celebration with his disciples in his Father’s eternally powerful and glorious kingdom. Even though the battle raging behind the scenes would take his life, the greater war to establish his Father’s kingdom would be won, conquering all evil. I can think of no greater source of confidence upon which we might stand as we pray for the Father’s deliverance from evil than the confidence Jesus displayed in the face of his certain death. Jesus’s example shows us that our prayers for the Father’s help, while frequently and properly offered for immediate circumstances, should always keep the Father’s larger plan of his eternally powerful and glorious kingdom at the center of our requests. In this way, any prayer for deliverance from evil, when prayed with the Father’s larger plan in mind, is ultimately a prayer of hope for the future celebration promised by Jesus when he told his disciples he would drink the wine with them on some future day.

After leaving his disciples with a symbol by which to remember and celebrate, Jesus led his disciples out of the city. Matthew writes,

30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Matthew 26:30

I would love to know what hymn Jesus sang as he was faced with certain death. However, even though we don’t know the exact hymn, it is probably safe to assume that Jesus sang a hymn celebrating the promised future joy of being reunited with his disciples in his Father’s kingdom. Jesus did not allow the pain of the coming evil to tear his eyes away from the hope that stood beyond the shroud of evil. But, this doesn’t mean he was oblivious to the coming evil. After they sang a hymn, Jesus put an exclamation point on his numerous reminders about his coming death when he told the disciples something they were unwilling to hear. Matthew writes,

31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”

Matthew 26:31-32

Jesus was telling his disciples they would fall away while Judas was leading the high priest’s guards to find and arrest Jesus. This moment was one of complete betrayal and rejection, yet Jesus did not run away or hide. Rather, Jesus spoke with confidence and optimism when he told the disciples where to meet him after he was raised from the dead. The disciples, however, were either unable or unwilling to accept what Jesus had to say. Matthew writes,

33 Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

Matthew 26:33-35

I admit I could be wrong about this, but I think the disciples, even though Jesus continually spoke about his death, still thought that what Jesus really meant was that he was about to usher in the kingdom of heaven here on earth. When Jesus said, “but after I am raised up,” they heard him claiming that he would soon be placed — lifted up — upon a throne. Again, I could be wrong about this, but given what is about to happen, it seems like a likely possibility. They placed their hope, not in the real Jesus, but in the Jesus they wanted him to be. The real Jesus was going to die so the Father’s heavenly kingdom might begin, but their Jesus was going to conquer Rome so their earthly kingdom might begin.

We must not, however, be so quick in judging the disciples for their false Jesus; all of his followers, us included, have been doing the same thing for centuries. Would the real Jesus have ridden a horse into Palestine during the Crusades? Would he have been a Democrat or Republican? Would he side with my team or your team? Would he promise health, wealth, and prosperity: our best life now? Would he…? If there is a Top-10 list of evils, I think that following a false Jesus has to be on it. This evil rears its ugly head every day unless we continually study the Bible and pray for the Father’s hand of deliverance from following a Jesus of our own construction. We must strive to follow the real Jesus as he came to earth, lived and died, and now sits alive at the right hand of the Father. This Jesus — the real Jesus — may not always be who we want him to be, but he is always the Jesus we and the Father need him to be.

With the disciples apparently following one Jesus, Matthew takes us to the garden of Gethsemane where the real Jesus prays. He writes,

36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Matthew 26:36-39

When Jesus fell on his face and prayed for an easier path than the one laid out before him, he was not sinning. It is not a sin to ask the Father for an easy path around or through any coming trial or persecution. God created us with a capacity for pain, not because he wanted us to enjoy pain, but because pain is a warning that something is going wrong. Pain is an important part of our being — physically, emotionally, and spiritually — but it is not a feeling we are meant to embrace. Certainly, some pain is associated with the normal function of growth, but even that sort of pain informs us of weakness and tells us we must be careful. It is not my intent to write a manual on pain — C. S. Lewis already did that in The Problem of Pain — but I wish to stress that when Jesus prayed for deliverance from the pains he was about to experience, he prayed without sin. As such, when we pray for deliverance from pain and suffering, we also are not sinning…unless, of course, we are unwilling to submit to the Father’s will as Jesus did. Like any normal human being, Jesus had no desire to be crucified on a cross, but his aversion to pain took a back seat to his desire to always follow the Father’s will. Thus, when we, like Jesus, ask the Father to deliver us from the troubles placed before us, we must place our desires for a pain-free life under our submission to the Father’s will: pain may be the Father’s will for us as we walk these dusty roads of life. In such cases, like Jesus, we find ourselves in the middle of the pain, we must not bear a grudge against the one who brought it. The Father knows what he is doing even if we don’t, and most of the time, we don’t. When we pray for deliverance from evil, we must not only pray for deliverance from pain and suffering, but we must also pray to be delivered from the evil of second-guessing the Father and bearing a grudge against him once we have received his answer.

After praying to his Father, Jesus returned to the disciples. Matthew writes,

40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.

Matthew 26:40-44

I’ve always thought that when Jesus said “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” he was chiding the disciples for falling asleep, and perhaps he was. However, lately, I’ve been wondering if Jesus was saying that even though his spirit was willing his flesh did not want to endure crucifixion. When Jesus asked the Father three times if there was another way, he was battling his weak fleshly stamina. Jesus told his disciples “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak,” not solely because they were falling asleep but also because his flesh was weak. When seen in this way, Jesus’s prayer for the strength to overcome his flesh’s aversion to crucifixion we realize that he was paving a road for us to pray the same thing. We can pray for the strength to overcome our flesh’s longing to avoid pain and suffering because Jesus experienced the same thing. But like Jesus, we may not be relieved of the pains of the flesh, but we can find comfort in the knowledge that the strength Jesus received from the Father is also available to us.

Following Jesus’s third prayer, Matthew writes,

45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
47 While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” 49 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.

Matthew 26:45-50

The disciples were probably a bit groggy after Jesus woke them and when Judas entered the garden; it’s possible that the only thing they noticed was the crowd of people coming at them with swords and clubs. However, when Matthew was recording his Gospel years later, what probably stood out to him the most was the word with which Jesus greeted Judas, the betrayer. Jesus said, “Friend.” Jesus could have just said, “Do what you came to do” or, more accurately, “Get it over with you scummy betrayer,” but he said no such thing. Jesus greeted Judas, his betrayer, as his friend. Despite the many deep theological questions involving Judas over the centuries, that one word Jesus spoke to Judas makes me believe that Jesus never gave up on him. I think it is possible that Jesus, when he looked at Judas and said, “Friend,” was offering Judas a way out. Maybe not an exit at that moment — Judas was already committed to his actions — but a way back to him when Judas would come to his senses. Jesus’s eyes most certainly carried a look of disappointment, but I think, if Judas looked hard enough, he would have also seen an offer of forgiveness. We will discuss Judas’s response at a later date, but for us, regardless of how Judas responded to Jesus’s offer, I think we can conclude that even if we, after praying for deliverance from evil, succumb to it, Jesus will still stand in front of us and say, “Friend.” Such an offer of forgiveness is the foundation of the Father’s eternally powerful and glorious kingdom, and for such a kingdom we pray.

After Jesus called Judas, “Friend,” he was seized by the crowd. Matthew describes what happens next when he writes,

51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” 55 At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. 56 But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Matthew 26:51-56

Once the disciples shook off their sleeping stupor, the first thing they did was attack a servant of the high priest. Jesus had been telling them that he was about to be captured and put to death, he told them about the kingdom of heaven, he illustrated it, he lived it, and he even sent them out to bring it to the cities of Israel, but they still didn’t get it. They thought the great battle between good and evil was only a physical battle, but they were wrong. The great battle was the spiritual war being waged behind the scenes and spilling over onto the pages of history. Even though Jesus knew the outcome of that war, he could have asked for more heaven-power than earth could handle, but instead, Jesus looked his betrayer in the eye and said, “Friend, do what you came to do,” then, after the debacle with the sword and the ear, he willingly submitted to the mob while his disciples, in contradiction to the words they had spoken just moments before, fled.

We may never know the disciples’ minds at that moment, but we probably know ours in those moments when we have turned away from Jesus. We are driven away by the pain, discomfort, awkwardness, sadness, persecution, and rejection we think will come our way if we stay true to him. We turn our backs seeking safety and reprieve in material comforts, regardless of how extravagant they may or may not be. Even though we have told Jesus many times that we will never leave him, we give into the weakness of the flesh and forget how Jesus showed us that the Father will strengthen our spirit if only we ask.

Judas betrayed Jesus while the other eleven disciples fled from him, but the shepherd stood fast showing us that the honest prayer for deliverance from evil will be answered. He also showed us that the answer may not be what we expect, but we must have faith that any answer the Father gives is the best answer because the Father is always working to establish his eternally powerful and glorious kingdom, even if we don’t comprehend how. That is why we have faith, and that is why we pray.

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