commentary Matthew 26

1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, 2 Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.

     If Jesus was crucified on Friday (which I believe), then at this moment it was probably Wednesday after nightfall. The sayings of the previous two chapters took place on the Mount of Olives (Mat 24:3), where Jesus would spend the nights during the last week of His life (see note for Mat 21:1; Luke 21:37-38).

     In the NT, the feast of the Passover is also called the feast of Unleavened Bread, but the two are technically different events (Luke 22:1, Mark 14:1). The Passover was simply a family supper of lamb, prepared and eaten as the Mosaic Law prescribed. The seven-day feast of Unleavened Bread began the very next day. Together, these two feasts formed the most important festival event on the Jewish calendar, and were instituted by God to celebrate the day that the Israelites came out of Egypt, carrying the spoils of their enemies with them. The prescribed details of the Passover, although given 1500 years prior, were carefully designed by God to foreshadow this very time that Jesus and His disciples gathered together. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us (1Cor 5:7)

    The Passover was the first feast of the Jewish calendar. The rituals commanded in the Law actually made its beginning 4 days before the feast day, on the tenth day of the first month (Ex 12:3), when each family would carefully separate a perfect, unblemished lamb from their flock. In the week that Jesus died, that would have been Monday, two days prior to this verse, and the very day of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (see note on Mat 21:1). For four days, each family was to keep their lamb alive in a separate place, observing and watching for imperfections. On the evening of the 14th day of the first month the lamb was to be killed. That was the very time and day that Jesus died on the cross, and the four days prior parallel the daily testing that He passed before all the Jews (chapters 21-22).

     The next day, the 15th, marked the official beginning of the seven-day feast of Unleavened Bread. Jewish days began at sundown, and since the Passover was to be eaten at even  (Ex 12:6) the supper itself was often eaten during the first hours of the 15th, though the lamb was always killed on the 14th. The first day of Unleavened Bread (the 15th) was to be observed as a sabbath, regardless of whether it fell upon a Saturday or not. The people were to assemble a holy convocation, and refrain from all work on that day (Ex 12:16). In the year of Jesus’ death, the 15th happened to fall on the normal sabbath day, making it a high day (John 19:31).

     Additionally, the Law commanded a special ceremony for the day following the first Saturday-sabbath within the feast of Unleavened Bread. This ceremony was called Firstfruits, and was to be observed in the Temple at daybreak. The finger of God designed this to be the very Sunday, at the very same time of day, that Jesus rose from the grave! Note that only certain years would this day fall on the 3rd day following the Passover feast, but it was all pre-ordained by God that Messiah the Lamb would die this year.

     The Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. Again Jesus told the disciples plainly that He would be given over to the Jews to be killed, yet they did not understand. Maybe they thought He was speaking spiritually, as He so often did. Maybe they thought of the first time He had told them this, and remembered how He had denounced Peter for reprimanding Him (Mat 16:21-23).

3 Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him.

     After three days of uninterrupted failure on the part of the Jewish leaders to overthrow Jesus the Nazarene in the eyes of the people, the chief rulers had had enough. They plotted to kill Him, this time in earnest. But they would have to move quickly, because they did not want to have Him killed during the feast, which was just a few days away. This assembly included the highest rulers in Israel, and took place in the palace of the high priest (Mat 26:58). The High Priest was supposed to be the eldest son in the Aaronic line (known as the Levites), but at the time of Jesus the Romans had taken away the right of the Jews to select their own High Priest and the person changed often (see note John 11:49).

     By subtility. That is, without inciting the people (Luke 22:6). They could not arrest Him while He was teaching, because everyone admired Him and came to hear Him. They must do it secretly and quickly, to avoid an uproar among the people. And they mostly succeeded, arresting Him at night and assembling the Sanhedrin very early in the morning to condemn Him and then send Him off to Pilate to be executed. The whole thing, from Judas’ betrayal to His death on the cross, took place in about 14 hours.

5 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.

     The word “day” is not in the Greek, and should be left out:  “Not during the feast.” The feast (or “festival” in contemporary English) officially began on the 15th Nisan and lasted seven days. The Passover lamb was killed and eaten the day before the Feast began, on the 14th Nisan. Unlike the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (which was a holy sabbath), the Passover day had no work restrictions or special rules until the afternoon, when the lamb was to be killed and eaten. Jesus was apprehended in the Garden of Gethsemane at midnight on the 14th Nisan (remember that the Jews began their day at evening), and died in the late afternoon of the 14th Nisan, at the very hour that the Paschal lamb was being offered in the Temple.

     The Synoptic Gospels contrast with John, implying that Jesus ate the Jewish Passover with His disciples the day before He died, which would put the crucifixion on the 15th Nisan (see our harmony of the Gospel accounts in Mat 26:17). Here however, Matthew himself disposes of the idea that Jesus was arrested on the day after the Passover meal, because that would have been on the feast. It would also have been upon the holy convocation festival day, when no work was allowed. And this year it was extra-special, for it fell directly upon the regular sabbath-day, making it an high day sabbath. Although it is of questionable accuracy, the Jewish record says that “Yeshua was killed on the evening of Passover, the day before the Sabbath” (Babylonian Talmud, folio 43).

     According to Clarke, it was common to punish criminals during the feasts, but in the case of Jesus it would have been dangerous, for He had become very popular among the people. The Jewish rulers risked an uproar. As many as three million Jews crowded into Jerusalem at the time of the Passover, coming from all over the Roman world.

6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,

     At least twice in Jesus’ ministry, a woman is seen anointing Jesus with ointment. Only Luke records the first one, which took place at a Pharisee’s house in Galilee earlier in His ministry (Luke 7:36-50). The second anointing took place during the last week of His ministry as described by Matthew, Mark and John. Matthew and Mark say it took place in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, but do not name the woman (Mark 14:3-9). John notes that the woman was Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus who lived in Bethany, and says it happened six days before the Passover (John 12:1-8).

     Because Matthew 26:2 seems to indicate that the anointing took place two days before the Passover, some scholars propose two separate anointings just four days apart. Yet it seems unlikely that Judas Iscariot would pronounce the same complaints and Jesus would give the same reprimand so close together. I believe Matthew, Mark, and John all relate the same event, but that while John gives the correct chronology (the anointing happened 6 days before the Passover), Matthew and Mark record the occasion topically and connect it with Judas’ decision to betray Jesus. For it was Judas who was indignant at Mary for wasting expensive ointment (John 12:4-8), and although the Gospels do not directly say so, it appears that this very incident triggered his decision to betray Christ to the chief priests. So Mary anointed Jesus upon His arrival in Jerusalem six days before the feast. Judas meanwhile, after four days of lingering bitterness and indignation for being reprimanded by Christ, decided to become a traitor (two days before the Passover according to Matthew). See also our notes for John 12:1-3.

7 There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.

     The woman was Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus (John 12:3). This took place not many days after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. Some think Mary was thanking Christ for that unthinkable miracle. The ointment was very expensive, worth about one year’s wages for a working man (John 12:5).

     The gospel of John says she also anointed His feet, which some think contradicts Mark and Matthew’s account. Yet according to Luke 7:46, anointing the head was not uncommon (Luke 7:46). The head and feet appear together in the NT on several occasions and have symbolic implications. The head symbolizes power and authority; the feet are used symbolically of dominion. The Mighty Angel of Rev 10:1 has a rainbow upon His head and pillars of fire for feet. See also 1Cor 12:21; Eph 1:22; Rev 12:1.

     The alabaster box was probably a flask or jar made of alabaster. Mary brake the box (Mark 14:3), and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment (John 12:3). Spikenard was a very expensive and well-favored perfume/ointment used by kings and the very rich; where did Mary get it? (see Song 1:12; 4:14). Jesus said this anointing predicted His burial (Mat 16:12), and there are indeed several interesting parallels: 

• Like the alabaster box, Jesus’ body was broken for us (1Cor 11:24).
• Like the very costly ointment, Jesus’ precious blood was poured out (1Pet 1:19).
• Like Mary’s beautiful act, Jesus’ death was an action of pure love (Rom 5:8).
• Like the expensive ointment, Jesus’ blood cost the Father very much (1Pet 1:19).
• Like the room filled with fragrance, so the world is filled with the savour of His knowledge, grace and victory (2Cor 2:14)
• Sadly, just as Mary’s anointing was criticized by some, so is Christ’s death often cause of strife and criticism (1Cor 1:23)
• Yet where-ever the Gospel is preached, the truth of God’s love is told and retold down to this very day (Mat 26:13).

8 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? 9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.

     It appears that Judas Iscariot was the one with critical thoughts toward Mary. These he articulated among the disciples (John 12:4). It also seems that he could not accept Jesus’ reprimand (Mat 26:10-11; John 12:7-8), and his unforgiving, vindictive attitude caused him to betray his own master.

     The “waste” could be either monetary or in the quantity of ointment, for both were excessive (John 12:3-5). To use a whole pound of perfume for one person at one occasion appeared entirely too extravagant for Judas and probably the rest of the disciples too. Think of using a year’s worth of money on one sprinkling of perfume! But clearly, Mary did not skimp when it came to expressing her love for Christ. Like the woman who contributed her only mite to God, Mary gave everything. What motivated her act of love? The Gospels are clear that the disciples did not understand when Jesus explained that He must be crucified and die (v2); but did Mary’s heart faintly grasp it? Jesus answer hints that perhaps she had. She did it for my burial (v12). Whatever the case, Mary’s devotion and self-sacrifice are clear examples for the believer to appreciate.

     It is an unfortunately common ploy, even among Christians, to denigrate or dismiss someone’s good deed by proposing that a more righteous deed should have been done. While all along they themselves have done neither!

10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. 11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. 12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.

     Jesus had earlier said of Mary, that she hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her (Luke 10:42). On that occasion, Mary had been too busy conversing with Jesus to be concerned with helping her sister prepare the meal, and Martha asked Jesus to force her to help.

13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

     What a prophetic promise! And how truly it has been fulfilled. That a simple Israelite woman would be remembered as long as the world stands for this one deed is incredible. Yet, above all the great stories of emperors, conquerors and intellectuals, the story of Mary anointing the head and feet of Jesus is known and admired! It has been told over and over down through the years, blessing and encouraging many. For if a cup of water given in the name of disciple merits a reward (Mat 10:42), how much more the anointing of Jesus for His burial?

     In the time of Jesus, a Jewish woman not only had a hard life, she had few rights under the OT law. The coming of Christ and the Gospels began to change things. Jesus often recognized and exalted the deeds and faith of women. It was a group of women who followed Him to the cross and they became the first witnesses of His resurrection. My personal favorite is the Gentile woman who, in spite of being opposed by all, refused to give up until Christ blessed her (Mat 15:21-28).

14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

     The chief priests could not believe their good fortune. Judas, one of the Jesus’ elite inner group, was offering a way to implement their earlier scheme to have Him killed. It needed to be done carefully, for He was a very popular figure in one segment of the population. They needed to apprehend Him quietly to avoid making a scene (Mat 26:3-5), but they also needed to depreciate His rising reputation to avoid provoking a revolt (John 12:19) Jesus was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver, a fact that was foretold by the OT prophets (see note Mat 27:3, Zech 11:12). Joseph, who is a type of Christ’s perfection and sinlessness, was sold for twenty pieces of silver (Gen 37:28). The symbolic meanings of these numbers might add to the signification of these types.

     According to Josephus, one shekel of silver was worth about 4 denarii (or pence), which would make the total 120 pence. The ointment with which Mary anointed Jesus, which had provoked Judas’ outrage, was worth 300 pence. One penny was worth about one day’s wages (Mat 20:2). The blood money amount seems low; how could Judas so meanly value his Master? The contrast in Mary’s gift and Judas’ graft illustrates the true follower of Jesus giving his very best and doing his utmost to honor the Master, while the insincere follower gives Him the seconds that are left over in his life. Perhaps without even realizing it, they count His blood to be a cheap thing (Heb 10:29). Many begin with Christ, but end betraying the Lord.

     There is an astonishing parallel between Jesus’ betrayal and disgrace before the people and David’s betrayal by Absalom in 2Samuel 16. Read our notes in that chapter.

17 Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?

     The disciples came to Jesus on the 13th Nisan, the day before the Passover lamb was required to be slain and eaten. The text implies that it was on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (also Mark 14:12; Luke 22:7), but technically speaking it could not have been, for the official first day of that feast began on the 15th, or one day after the Passover. 

     The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was a holy, festival day during which no servile work (see note John 13:1) was permitted and all Jewish males were called by holy convocation to the Temple (Ex 12:14-20). This particular year, the first day happened to fall upon the normal sabbath day, making it a high day. When the Gospels say, the first day of Unleavened Bread, they refer to the unofficial first day of that Feast, for there were several ceremonies that were required to be performed in the days prior. One of these was a careful ritual whereby all leaven was removed from the house two days before the special sabbath day that officially marked the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (see below). And so, far from being erroneous, this verse is accurate to the Jewish customs in observing the Feast. Strictly speaking, the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were two separate ceremonial events, but since the Passover ended on the 14th and the Unleavened Bread began the 15th, the whole Passover/Unleavened Bread celebration was called, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or simply, the Passover (Luke 22:1).

     In the Law, the Passover began with the careful selection of an unblemished lamb on the 10th of the month, four days before it was killed and eaten (Ex 12:3). This corresponds to the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, and also to the days of testing and proving that He passed in the temple with the scribes and Pharisees. The main preparations for the Passover however, began on the night of the 13th, when by special family ritual the house was prepared for the next day’s ceremony. The chief purpose of the ritual was to remove all leaven from their houses for seven days according to the Law (Ex 12:15). In effect this became 8 days, for the leaven was removed the day before the Feast of Unleavened Bread began (note that the evening of the 13th was legally the 14th because the Jewish day began at nightfall). To the present day, the real preparations for the Passover take place on the 13th Nisan, when bitter herbs and other specialties are purchased and prepared, and the house is carefully searched and cleaned (often by candelight at evening) to make sure that all leaven has been completely purged. Even the cracks of the cupboards are thoroughly swept and any utensils that have had leaven in them are either boiled or put outside until the Feast of Unleavened Bread is over. Every room of the house is checked and swept clean, and if any chametz is found, it is burned. In some Jewish quarters, a special seder meal is eaten that same evening, followed by a ritual known as the “fast of the firstborn.” In the year that Jesus died, the 13th would have fallen on Thursday, the day before His passion. John’s account, which was written 40-50 years after the Synoptics, seems to have purposely clarified parts of the earlier Gospels. And notably, the Last Supper and day of Jesus’ crucifixion is one of the topics he elucidates.

     The famous disagreement of the Synoptic Gospels with John over the day that Jesus was crucified has been a topic of considerable dispute. At issue is that John carefully and emphatically describes Jesus’ death as occurring at the same time that the Passover lambs were slain in the temple (afternoon of 14th Nisan), yet the Synoptics say Jesus and His disciples ate the Passover. Current scholarship has assigned higher value to the Synoptics and declared that John did not intend to say that Jesus died on the Passover. I have read these treatises and find them deficient, first by dismissing John’s very clear historical details and second by ignoring the traditional events surrounding the Jewish Passover that clear up the Synoptics’ account. There are too many specifics in John that require a Passover crucifixion (John 13:1-2; 13:29; 18:28; 19:14). See also my note on John 13:1.

     The following facts convince me that Jesus died on 14th Nisan, the same day and time that the Passover lambs were killed in the temple just as the Apostle John has shown. First, the typology and the year-date/day combination as detailed by John are overwhelming. Can anyone sincerely believe that the Jewish leaders would have so violated the Sabbath (the high day Unleavened Bread Sabbath!) by convening two Sanhedrin meetings and three Roman governor meetings upon it, and then having Jesus killed that day? Even the Synoptics say that the Jews had decided to be sure not to arrest Him during the feast (Mat 26:5; Mark 14:2). It is incredible to think that they would have gotten up from their Passover meals and followed Judas in direct violation of this holy, high day Sabbath which had already begun about 6 hours earlier at sundown! Moreover, this would conflict with the Synoptics themselves, for they all say that Jesus did not die on a Sabbath day (Luke 23:54; Mark 15:42; Mat 27:62).

     Why then do the Synoptics say that Jesus observed the Passover with His disciples the day before He died? How can these things be? Following are two ways to harmonize John with the Synoptics such that both give an accurate, single account. While some of these conclusions are my own, I am largely indebted to Adam Clarke’s notes on Mat 26:75.

1. At the Last Supper on the 13th Nisan, Jesus and His disciples observed the full requirements of the Jewish Passover, but one day earlier than the rest of the Jews.
   1. At the Last Supper on the 13th Nisan, Jesus did not observe the Jewish Passover, but the new Christian “Passover,” the Holy Communion of the New Covenant which was to replace forever the Passover of the Old Covenant.

     The arguments for option one are as follows. There are reasons to believe that the Jews permitted the Passover meal to be observed on both the 13th and 14th Nisan this particular year. The Jewish calendar was not like our own and needed to be re-calibrated often. By an official ceremony, the Passover date was fixed about two weeks before by a senate which convened at the end of every month to establish the appearance of the new moon marking the beginning of each month. When enough approved witnesses testified that they had seen the new moon, the first day of the month was ratified and the calendar dates for the feasts were fixed. Sometimes, perhaps because of bad weather, there were no witnesses for the new moon and the senate was forced to calculate the first day of the month using the previous full moon as reference. But if later witnesses came and proved the senate wrong, the calendar had to be changed. In these cases the Jews allowed both days to serve as acceptable feast days. Thus it came to be that the Passover was observed on both the 13th and 14th Nisan. Several ancient Jewish authorities meticulously describe these processes, yet do not give the particular years in which they were employed. A second reason has been advanced that would allow for the official Passover to be observed on both the 13th and 14th Nisan. It is proposed that the Jewish population had grown so much that there was not enough time to slay and process over a quarter million lambs (Josephus’ number) at the brazen altar of the temple in the 3-4 hours mandated by the Law. It is supposed that the Jews had expanded the time period to include the evening before, such that the lambs would have been slain on two occasions, on the 13th Nisan and the 14th Nisan.

     The second option argues that Jesus did not eat the normal Jewish Passover, but a special one at which He instituted the ordinances of communion and feetwashing. This new Christian “Passover” was the Holy Communion of the New Covenant which was to replace forever the Old Covenant Passover. At the death of Christ, the Law officially ended and the Era of Grace began. The significance is this: the Passover of the old and the Communion of the New point to the same event, one looking forward and the other looking back. So while the Synoptics rightly associate Christ’s death to the last Passover, John highlights the first Communion and clarifies that the actual Jewish Passover ceremony took place while Jesus was dying on the Cross. Thus, John says before the feast of the Passover Jesus held a supper with His disciples (John 13:1-2; 13:29; 18:28; 19:14), the same supper at which the Synoptics agree that He officiated the first communion. The “Passover” that Jesus so desired to eat (Luke 22:15) was a spiritual, mystical one at which He substituted bread and wine for the lamb. And ever since, nothing has been so universally held sacred among the varied Christian divisions and denominations as the rite of Communion. The Synoptics would then give an accurate account of the disciples preparing for the normal Passover lamb on the 13th Nisan exactly according to the tradition we described above. Perhaps they had lamb and bitter herbs, perhaps not; none of the Gospels are clear on that. This option brings out the types and prophecies of the death of Christ contained in the Passover, for after showing the links between the two, John says that at the Last Supper Jesus instituted Communion and Feetwashing to replace forever the old rites of the Passover.

18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.

     The other Gospels supply more details, saying that Jesus sent Peter and John ahead into Jerusalem (Luke 22:7-13) with instructions to follow a man whom they would see walking with a pitcher of water. At the house where the man stopped, they should tell the owner that the Master wanted to use his guestchamber to eat the passover with His disciples (Mark 14:12-17). The manner in which the house was obtained must be counted a miracle which parallels the way Jesus obtained the colt for His triumphal entry into Jerusalem a few days earlier (Luke 19:28-34).

     My time is at hand. Why did Jesus wish the disciples to tell the man this? See Mark 1:15; 2Tim 4:6; Rev 1:3.

     Made ready the Passover. Meaning (to my mind) that they bought the special herbs and unleavened bread, and prepared the room by carefully searching out and disposing all leaven. This practice is still done today on the day before the lamb is killed and eaten (see note on v17). Those who believe that Jesus ate the Jewish Passover on the same night of His betrayal understand it differently. To them, that Peter and John made ready the Passover means they ceremonially slaughtered the lamb in the temple and roasted it according to the prescribed manner. It should be noted however, that the Greek verb for made ready (hetoimazo) is never associated with preparing the Lamb, or any other sacrifice for that matter, even though it is a fairly common word in both the New Testament and the Septuagint.

20 Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. 21 And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. 22 And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

     There is little in the Gospel accounts that might be taken to describe a typical Passover meal at this Last Supper. Rather, it seems to have been a normal Jewish meal of broth, bread and wine, in which Jesus sat down with the twelve (Mark 14:18; Luke 22:14; John 13:4). The Law however, says the Passover was to be eaten standing up, clothed for service and with staff in hand (Ex 12:11). Scholars who advocate that Jesus ate the Passover lamb believe the Jews no longer followed that rule. The meal-time custom of the day was to recline on one’s side upon low couches around the table, with the feet away and the head close to the table (as John 13:23).

     Jesus’ stunning revelation that someone in that very room was going to betray Him is given much attention by all four Gospels (Mark 14:17-21; Luke 22:21-22; John 13:18-30), but John’s detailed account most clearly describes the Twelve’s reactions. While Jesus’ words were clear, the disciples somehow did not grasp that that very night one of them would betray Him. They also did not understand that He was going to be crucified, although He had told them plainly (Mat 26:2). How did they not see these things? Apparently God, who had carefully designed all these events, kept their minds from understanding, for it was not intended that the disciples interfere, either with Judas’ betrayal or with Jesus’ crucifixion. Earlier, the hands of the wicked Jews were supernaturally withheld when they had tried to arrest Christ, for His hour had not yet come (John 7:30; 8:20). And so, nobody stopped Judas as he left the table to begin his wicked deed (see note John 13:29).

     Is it I? This self-examination of every disciple before the Lord pre-figures the spiritual self-examination that is commanded before each Communion service (see note v26). This time the disciples did not look sideways at their brother, suspecting this one or that, but each one was honestly troubled for his own heart. And it is a vital concern for every person: who can know what is in the depths of a man’s heart? (Jer 17:9). The case of Judas illustrates that a man can know Christ, even be His follower, and then betray Him!

23 And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. 24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

     In those days, people did not use plates, forks and spoons. Instead, everyone ate from the same dish. If there were too many people to be able to reach one dish, more dishes were added. By saying that His betrayer was even then eating at the same table, Jesus was loosely quoting David, who wrote of his betrayer Ahithophel, Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me (Ps 41:9). This is more clearly seen in the Fourth Gospel (see John 13:18).

     Judas’ sin was great. The punishment he must eternally endure for betraying the Lord make it better that he had not been born. This is true of every man who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back (Luke 9:62). The false doctrines regarding Hell cannot stand before this verse, for it depicts Judas and like unrepentant sinners with no hope of restoration nor end to their suffering. If there were an end, it could not be said that it would be better for that man to not have been born. Judas did not repent of his sin, so this decree against him is merited. Peter sin was also great; he denied three times that he even knew a Jesus of Nazareth. Yet Peter repented and was forgiven (see note Mat 27:5).

      As it is written of Him. Jesus’ betrayal and death is probably most strikingly foretold in Isaiah 53, but see also Dan 9:26, Ps 22:1-31, and 2Sam 16. Of course, the Apostles did not understand this until after His death and resurrection, but then it struck them like a lightning bolt. The Old Testament Scriptures were suddenly opened to them in blazing truth that grew ever brighter as they progressed in experience and knowledge (2Pet 1:19). It was so compellingly strong that all but one would give his life for boldly preaching Jesus Christ. But at this point, the disciples’ minds did not grasp those truths. Peter even tried to correct Jesus when He told them about His coming death (Mat 16:21-23).

25 Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

     From our privileged vantage point looking back at Judas’ terrible deed, we are appalled to hear him so callously ask, “Lord, is it I?”

     Of course he knew that Jesus was speaking of him! He had already conspired with the chief priests. He was minutes away from acting on his plan. It is possible that Judas didn’t expect Jesus to be arrested. For more than three years now, He had made fools out of all who tried to trap Him, whether by word or force. Maybe Judas, a secret thief according to John 12:6, saw a way to make some easy money. On the other hand, the manner in which Judas betrayed Jesus can hardly be explained within that theory. More likely, Judas was angry at Jesus for criticizing him a few days earlier and sought for revenge.

     John describes more graphically Judas being exposed as the betrayer. Jesus, as He served the Communion bread, said, “The one to whom I give this piece of bread is he that will betray Me.” Then He gave it to Judas (John 13:21-26). And after eating the bread, Satan entered Judas’ heart (John 13:27, compare with 1Cor 11:27-32). This illustrates the difference between Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial. Judas allowed Satan to corrupt his heart and coerce him to desist from his decision to follow Christ; that led him directly to his sinful end. Peter, though he failed miserably in temptation, did not allow Satan to change his heart.

     Thou hast said. This is the first of three times in the next few hours that Jesus will say these words. First to Judas, then to the Jewish high priest (Mat 26:64) and finally to Pontius Pilate (Mat 27:11). See also Mark 15:2; Luke 22:70; 23:3; John 18:37. “Yes, it is so; it is even as you have said.”    

     Bible commentators have wrestled with the circumstances and implications involving Judas Iscariot. Jesus himself had chosen the Twelve; why then did He choose Judas? And was Judas an evil-hearted man always? What caused Judas to betray Christ? I believe that at the beginning Judas was a sincere, honest follower of Christ. Not one of the Apostles suspected Judas when Jesus said one of them would betray Him. Peter didn’t lean over to John and say, “It wouldn’t surprise me that He’s talking about Judas. He doesn’t seem quite like the rest of us…” No, Judas was an honest seeker. Yet like all men, he had his “besetting sins,” and one of those we know was greed. Additionally, the Gospels imply that he was prone to take offense. I believe that Judas allowed Jesus’ rebuke (John 12:2-8) to fester in his heart. The root of bitterness that he cultivated eventually brought forth the wish for revenge and retaliation (see note on Mat 26:6; John 13:26).

26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

     These verses describe the origins of the Christian ordinance of Communion. The parallel accounts are in Mark 14:22-26 and Luke 22:15-20. The gospel of John does not mention the Communion, but does record the ordinance of Feetwashing, which is missing in the other Gospels. The fourth Gospel is filled with details, events and information that the previous three had not included. Although omitting the event, John’s Gospel contains the best explanation of the symbolisms and spiritual purposes for the rite of Communion (John 6:51-58) which the Apostles only later associated with Jesus’ mystical words at the Last Supper, This is My body, which is broken for you. Interestingly Paul, the only Apostle who was not at this first Communion, presents the best case for it to be a perpetual ordinance in the body of Christ (see 1Cor 11:23-31).

     On the night before His death, Jesus shared a last, private meal with the Twelve, telling them many things in fairly plain language that they nevertheless did not grasp at the time. John records 5 whole chapters of Jesus’ final discourses with the Apostles, which especially concern His departure and the coming of the Spirit. His speech however, was sufficiently mixed with figurative language to temporarily veil the imminent future from them. 

     The Jewish Passover and the Christian Communion are ceremonies representing the same monumental event: the death of the Son of God for the sins of the world. For 1500 years, the Old Covenant ceremony of Passover looked forward in prophetic types and symbolism to this day, but now the New Covenant ritual of Communion looks back in commemoration. The Passover was an elaborate affair with many precise requirements: a particular day and time, the exact kind of food, how it must be prepared and eaten, meticulous details and prohibitions, etc. The Communion however, has no rules at all for its observance. In fact, the Gospels seem to be written to avoid commanding any details. No particular date nor time of day is specified and even the emblems are imprecisely given. Should the bread be leavened or unleavened? Jesus used unleavened bread, for the Jews removed all leaven from their houses the day before the Passover lamb was slain and were not permitted to use leaven for the next 8 days. Yet nothing is said about using unleavened bread in the Communion – even early church history is generally silent. And the wine…or is to be wine? In all four accounts it is called the cup. Some scholars have made a case for using water, following its symbolic meaning in passages like John 4:14. Jewish Passover tradition and Jesus’ later reference to the fruit of the vine (Luke 22:18) indicate that wine was the beverage used at the first Communion. Yet the question remains, is the emblem the fruit of the vine, or the cup, or both?

     Communion is a deeply meaningful and solemn ceremony which signifies the very basis of our salvation and perseverance in the Savior (John 15:4). The bread and the wine are symbols of Christ’s body and blood, the necessary foods that maintain spiritual life (John 6:51). These spiritual foods are not Christ’s literal body and blood, but His Word and His shed blood whereby forgiveness and cleansing is made available to the sons of Adam. The cup is a symbol of suffering for doing the will of God (Mat 26:39); it signifies the result of those accepting the primary emblems.

     In a sense, Communion is a periodic renewal of Baptism. Salvation results from believing that Christ the Son of God died for our sins and accepting His sacrifice in my life. This confession is physically demonstrated by Baptism (just once). The Communion affirms continued faith in one’s baptism by periodic commemoration of that monumental transaction whereby we have salvation and the future hope of glory.

     The early churches met every Sunday to break bread, or, eat the Lord’s supper (1Cor 11:20; Acts 2:42; 20:7). This pattern continued in Catholicism, early Anabaptism and even certain denominations today. Others, like most present-day Anabaptists, have a special service two or three times a year for the observance of Communion and Feetwashing (John 13:3-17). The meeting is dedicated entirely to commemorating those two ordinances. A particular benefit of periodically (as opposed to weekly) sharing the bread and cup is to practice “closed communion,” which is the custom of breaking bread only with those of like faith and practice. The Communion service is unique as an ordinance in that it is designed to be observed as a church body; not individually nor by family, but collectively as a brotherhood of believers united in faith and mutual love. See our notes in 1Cor 11:27-33.

     This is My body. The bread is not the literal body of Christ, but a symbol of it. The Catholics, and even some Protestants, believe that the bread and wine in some mystical way become the physical body and blood of Jesus. There is no possible benefit to such an Old Covenant based notion. The New Covenant is a spiritual reality. Yes, it is lived in the physical, but the soul is a spiritual entity that cannot be perceived by the physical senses. The Sermon on the Mount depicts the great change from the physical Old Testament to the spiritual New Testament. See especially our notes in Mat 5:1. 

     Taking the Communion as a spiritual metaphor does not decrease its significance in commemorating Jesus’ death. Rather, it enhances the meaning and importance of the ceremony. As a metaphor, Take, eat; this is My body, indicates that a deeper, essential spiritual action is necessary far beyond the literal eating of bread. It teaches and reminds the saints of God to identify with Christ in all aspects of faith and love (Php 3:10), and to rely entirely on Him for spiritual sustenance (Mat 4:4).

     This is My body. As with other metaphors that Jesus used (I am the door…the good shepherd…the vine, etc), the meaning of Communion is destroyed by literalism. Literally eating Jesus’ body serves no purpose in God’s plan for reconciliation and relationship with those He created in His own image. Nevertheless, for many Communion has become a virtual ceremony for supernatural empowerment, some deep mystical rite of secret spiritual potentials rather than what it was intended to be: a beautiful aid for Christians to consecrate and memorialize that all-important event of Christ the Son of God dying on the cross in my place.

     All through His ministry, Jesus taught with parables, figurative expressions and symbolic language. It is no surprise that He did so one last time with the institution of Communion and Feetwashing. Nor is it coincidental that Jesus chose a family supper as the background for this ordinance, for the church body is likened to a family often in the Scriptures. Five (the number of grace) themes emerge strongly in the observance of Communion.

• It is a memorial of the work of Jesus Christ in redeeming mankind from their sins (1Cor 11:23-25).
  • It is a re-commitment to lay down one’s will to do God’s will, to bear sufferings as Christ did (Mat 26:42; Php 3:10)
  • It is a time set aside for each Christian to re-examine his life to be sure that no weights or sins have crept in (1Cor 11:27-30).
  • It is a communion, or fellowship, of the local church body with Christ (1Cor 10:16-21).
  • It remembers and announces the imminent return of the Lord for His own (1Cor 11:26).

     All of these are daily aspects in the life of every true Christian and also of the local church. The Communion ceremony is an effective way to illustrate them and encourage their completion. Communion is presented again and again in the Scriptures as between Christ and the church body as a whole (Eph 5:32; John 17:21), although there is close communion between the individual and Christ as well. Ye(plural)are the body (1Cor 12:27).

27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

     Luke indicates there were two cups at the first Communion, one before supper and one after (Luke 22:17-20). The Pesach Mishna describes the seder of Passover with several cups of wine mixed with water. The cup as an emblem in the Communion service symbolizes suffering, commitment and submission to the will of God (see note v39), while the fruit of the vine symbolizes Christ’s shed blood.

     Scholars do not agree on the meaning of the word, testament (diatheke). Some say it means a covenant between two parties (Heb 8:1-13) while others say it is a will which takes effect at death (Heb 9:15-17, but see our notes there). I see Jesus drawing a parallel between the Old Covenant given at Mount Sinai, where blood was sprinkled upon the people to ratify the book of the Covenant (Ex 24:8), and the New Covenant given upon another place called Golgotha, where His own blood sprinkled upon the people ratified their names in the Book of Life. See 1Cor 11:25; Zech 9:11.

     There is a point of textual interest in this verse. In both Matthew and Mark, the word new is not found in the Greek text that most modern versions like the NIV and NASB follow. Why would the same word be missing from both books, seeing that it is found in Luke and the Textus Receptus of Matthew and Mark? Study Mat 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20. This textual detail adds support to the belief of many that Matthew was the foundation text for the book of Mark. Additionally, some scholars believe Matthew was first written in Hebrew, although the text has never been found (see my note for Mat 1:1).

29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

     In the Scriptures, the Kingdom of heaven (or the Kingdom of God) are general terms that refer to both the Kingdom of Christ on earth and the heavenly state of the blessed after the world has ended (see note Mat 3:2). The Kingdom began when Jesus ascended into heaven after His resurrection, where He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high to reign for ever and ever (Dan 2:44; Luke 1:33; Mat 16:28; Eph 1:20-21; Heb 1:3). The Father’s kingdom however, seems to refer more specifically to the future, heavenly aspect of the never-ending Kingdom of Christ. Jesus is now reigning from a heavenly throne over a spiritual Kingdom (Heb 8:1; Rom 5:17; 1Pet 3:22; Heb 10:12-13) that spans heaven and earth (Eph 3:15), but someday the earthly aspect of Christ’s Kingdom will end, even as the apostle Paul describes: Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father (1Cor 15:24). And then shall the righteous shine forth in the kingdom of their Father (Mat 13:43; 25:34).

     The death of the World itself does not end the Kingdom of Christ, but signals a unique and transcendental metamorphic event at which all earthy things of eternal value will become heavenly (Php 3:21; Rom 8:21;1Cor 15:52; 2Pet 3:13). Jesus said, In my Father’s house are many mansions (John 14:2). It should be noted that the parallel passages (Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18) have the Kingdom of God instead of the Father’s Kingdom. Some therefore believe the three terms are entirely interchangeable and do not recognize the distinction we have assigned to the Father’s Kingdom.

     Regardless, it is clear that here Jesus predicts His imminent death by a specific sign: He would not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day He would drink it new with you in My Father’s Kingdom. According to the Greek dictionary, the word new (kainos) indicates “a different kind, of a new or novel sort.” A different Greek word (neos) is used to express new in relation to time. Jesus had promised that in the Kingdom, the Twelve would sit with Him, eating and drinking at His table and judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Mat 19:28). Luke has placed that passage at this very time and place (Luke 22:29-30). The implication is that with these words, Christ was saying the moment for Him to take the Kingdom had come. While the Scriptures do not directly say that Jesus drank wine with the disciples after His resurrection, it is strongly implied that He did (Luke 24:41-43; Acts 1:3; John 21:12).

     It would be injudicious to conclude from these passages that the heavenly experience will have literal thrones, tables, food and wine. I do not say it is impossible that these will be in heaven, but caution is certainly in order. The true eternal state of the blessed is not something the human mind can comprehend (1Cor 2:9; 2Cor 12:4). Physical bodies will be transformed into celestial bodies (1Cor 15:35-54; Php 3:21) and the present heavens and the earth will be made new (2Pet 3:13). Peter also used the word kainos instead of neos, which indicates that the new earth will be a different, novel kind of earth, not an earth simply remade as the present one. The Scriptures describe heaven using language that we can understand. That’s why the heavenly pictures of the Revelation have harps and palms, thrones and crowns, and linen garments and white horses. Will those items be literally found in heaven? I’m not one to say no, but I do believe the better approach is to take them as figurative, understandable descriptions of a spiritual reality that is incomprehensible to the present human mind.

30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

     The gospel of Luke records at this point Peter’s vow to die for Christ (Luke 22:33-34). Likely, their conversation began before they went out to the mount of Olives and continued on the way. John’s Gospel records much dialogue between Jesus and the Apostles as they moved from the Upper Room and passed through the streets of Jerusalem and out of the city that night. See note John 18:1.

     According to the Pesach Mishna, it was customary to recite the Psalms of chapters 113-118 at the Passover feast. Remember however, that the mishnas were written several hundred years after Christ, so it is not possible to certainly know if they accurately reflect the customs of Jesus’ day. Commentators often assume that they do and tend to write misleadingly to that effect. They virtually never alert their readers to the possibility of divergence.

     If, as I believe, the Last Supper took place the night before the normal Passover, this hymn might have been associated with the ritual and meal of that evening, when all leaven was removed from the house (see note Mat 26:17). On the other hand, they might have sung the normal, Passover hymns. After all, Jesus made this the “Passover,” even though it did not fall upon the 14th Nisan. Although it is enticing to speculate (as some have done) that the Apostles recited at this point the highly messianic Ps 118, the Gospels do not confirm that. In the original Greek there is no noun, so literally it reads: “After singing, they went out…” Perhaps they did recite Ps 118, perhaps Jesus led them to Is 53. The text does not say.

31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. 32 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

     Jesus’ closest disciples all forsook Him that very night, a fact that He foretold by quoting the prophet: Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the Man that is My fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the Shepherd and the sheep will be scattered (Zech 13:7). This prophecy was strikingly fulfilled. In just a few hours the Messiah would be arrested and smitten, and all of His followers would be scattered and hiding in fear. Even more striking is the revelation that the Messiah would be a Man and yet God (My Fellow).

     Christ also affirms that He would rise again and go before the disciples into Galilee to meet them there. After the crucifixion, the disciples remained in Jerusalem until the Feast of Unleavened Bread was finished (John 20:26). There He appeared to the women first and then to ten of the Apostles (John 20:19). A week later, He appeared to the Eleven (John 20:26), after which they travelled to Galilee and He appeared to seven of the disciples while fishing (John 21:1-14). He also met with them on a mountain He had chosen (Mat 28:16). Sometime afterward, they went back to Jerusalem for Pentecost, where Jesus bestowed upon them the Holy Spirit in the same upper room that He had shared with them the day before He died.

33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. 34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

     All four Gospels record this striking development. The parallel accounts are in Mark 14:29-31; Luke 22:31-34; John 13:38. Only a few hours before, Jesus had dropped a bombshell: one of His disciples was going to betray Him and deliver Him up to the Jews. Now He drops another: all of them would be offended that very night; they would all forsake Him. So much had happened this day that the disciples were probably overwhelmed, their heads spinning with questions. Peter was first to respond, asserting that he would never lose faith in Jesus, and would follow Him even unto death. The rest fervently agreed.

     Just a few hours later however, they would remember Jesus’ words with shock and bitter tears. Peter’s vow to never deny His Lord has echoed through the centuries for all to know and learn from. The Twelve would discover that it is easy to believe Jesus is the Christ when He is standing with you; but much harder when He has been suddenly taken away, apparently subdued by the very powers He had ruled and controlled at will. What a lesson for Christians today.

     Yet what a contrast in the after-effects involving Peter’s denial and Judas’ betrayal! After Jesus’ ascension into heaven, Peter became the point man for bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles, traveling far and to boldly proclaim Jesus the Nazarene as the Messiah of God. In the end, he lived up to his vow: he died on a cross for His Lord, crucified upside down because he did not think himself worthy to participate in the same manner of death as his Savior. The account of Peter denying Christ yet returning to be mightily used by God gives courage to Christians who have fallen into sin but are feeling God’s call to return to His control. Peter’s over-confidence in his own power and will is a warning for all Christians today. The Devil is far more powerful than man. We must have the power of Christ in us to defeat him!

    Luke adds that Jesus said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat (Luke 22:31-32). The analogy is to the good and bad being separating like the good wheat grain from the chaff (Mat 3:12). In Luke, the pronoun “you” is in the plural, which indicates that Jesus was speaking to all His disciples. This was testing time for the Apostles. Judas failed and was lost, Simon failed and was saved, Thomas too doubted at first but then believed.

35 Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.

     Several times Jesus had informed His disciples that He must go up to Jerusalem and be killed by the Jews, but that He would rise again three days later. Somehow His disciples did understand, but the scribes and Pharisees remembered after they had killed Him (see Mat 27:63). At this juncture, the gospel of Luke appends a short prophetic discourse in which Jesus again explains His imminent death and that it would dramatically change the lives of the Apostles: “Now is the time for courage and faith, for this that was written must yet be accomplished in Me: And he was reckoned among the transgressors. For the things concerning Me have reached the end. Remember that when I sent you into the cities of Israel without money, food, or shoes, you did not lack anything? Even so now you will lack nothing if you have faith in My words, that I will arise from the dead just as I have told you. Nevertheless, this time is utterly unlike what you experienced in Judah. Then I told you to go unprepared, but now it is a time to take money, swords and coats” (Luke 22:35-38).

     Again the disciples misunderstood, but their minds seized upon one of His words. “Look,” they said, “We have two swords!” Two swords for twelve men? And yet the Lord responds, “That is sufficient.”

     Jesus was instructing His disciples to buy swords and garments. He was preparing them for what was going to take place. Later it would help them to understand that this was a different hour in His ministry, a stunning, surreal time so strange and difficult. Their whole world was about to come crashing down around them. “What I am doing now you don’t understand, but later you will” (John 13:7). The perfect foreknowledge of Christ is seen often in the Gospel records of those last few hours that Christ was alone with His Apostles. He chose His words so that later they would be powerful faith-building evidences of His identity and mission.

36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.

     Gethsemane was apparently a specific place on Mount Olivet. The picture is extremely powerful and moving: Jesus kneeling alone in prayer, caught in some awful and mysterious agony, suffering alone under a springtime tree on a dark and windswept night. Alone He wrestled with His mission, alone He sweated as it were great drops of blood (Luke 22:44; Is 29:16; 63:1-6). Gethsemane was His greatest trial, the beginning of that unfathomable task: to lay down His boundless power and authority and allow Himself to be spitefully abused by the powers of evil, taking upon His perfect, sinless soul all the dirty, sinful deeds of Man and bearing those sins to a miserable, lonely death, uncared for and unappreciated by the very ones He was dying for. If ever there was loneliness, it was this. Forsaken even by God, He felt; with nobody to understand and sympathize, nobody to help bear the emotions, pain and suffering. Gethsemane was a place of greatest agony, sorrow and internal struggle this world has ever known. A place where the fate of mankind hung in the balance as one Man fought the ultimate battle to save him.

     It was reading these verses that brought me to believe that when Jesus said He would spend three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (Mat 12:40), He was including Gethsemane. We count a partial day as one day, so beginning with these terrible hours in Gethsemane, Jesus spent Thursday night, Friday, Friday night, Saturday, Saturday night and Sunday in the heart of the earth – in the hands of wicked men and the spiritual powers of darkness (Luke 22:53). See note John 19:13.

37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

     Peter, James and John were Jesus’ closest friends. They were the ones He chose to accompany Him to the transfiguration (Mat 17:1-13) and to witness Jarius’ daughter being raised from the dead (Mark 5:37-43). Now Jesus asks them to accompany Him in the time of His greatest trial and distress. But they could not watch with Him even an hour (Mat 26:40). Tarry ye here, and watch with Me, Jesus asked them. These are key activities that He asks of us too. The Greek word for tarry is often translated abide (see John 5:38; 15:4-7).

     As Jesus prayed, He began to be sorrowful and very heavy (lupeo, ademoneo). The Greek words describe the most extreme sorrow and anguish imaginable, an inner torture of the soul. Was not this the beginning of Jesus bearing our sins in His own body? Of suffering the penalty required to release us from our sins? Each of the Gospels adds a little to this incredible scene of Jesus enduring tremendous sorrow and distress of soul, when the burden of all mankind’s grieves and sorrows were laid upon Him this night (Is 53:4). In the Greek, the words describing Jesus’ mystical and unfathomable inner anguish are the most powerful available: sorrowful, very heavy, sore amazed, exceeding sorrowful even unto death, in an agony (Mat 26:37-38; Mark 14:33-34; Luke 22:44). The conflict within His soul was so great that even His body showed it. Sweat began dripping off His face as He prayed more earnestly (Luke 22:44) that God would deliver Him from this hour of suffering and death if it were possible. It was not a battle with Satan or some other foreign power, but a battle with Self, for He must lay down His own wishes and do the will of the Father.

     The coming death of His body was not what troubled Him, but that incomprehensible act of God, who made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2Cor 5:21). Our limited knowledge of God and the spiritual realm makes it impossible to understand what this means, yet the Scriptures are clear that in some deep, spiritual way Jesus suffered in our place (1Pet 3:18) in order to redeem and deliver those He has chosen from the sentence of their sin, which is eternal separation and spiritual death in Hell (Rom 6:23; Mat 25:46). In Justin Martyr’s masterful exposition of Ps 22:14-15, he shows that it describes this very moment in Gethsemane: I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death (Dialogue, ch103).

     Theologians disagree on the details. Some say Jesus did not become sin for us, but that He became a sin offering for us. Others refuse the well-known expression that “Jesus paid the penalty for our sins,” saying this would mean Jesus suffered spiritual death in Hell. Yet somehow Jesus did suffer as a substitute for us, not bodily death (for all will die physically, saved or unsaved) but a terrible spiritual agony that we cannot understand or explain. I believe the transaction of a sinless Man “being made sin” truly happened, and yet I cannot fathom how that could be or what it means. The Scriptures say it, and we see the effects in Jesus’ terrible inner conflict on Gethsemane.

     To make Jesus’ suffering a simple physical death in our place not only confuses the terms, it demeans that great sacrifice to something that any human being could do (give his life for someone else). It confuses the terms by saying Jesus’ physical death can substitute for mankind’s spiritual death. Jesus’ body was the same as ours, although He was entirely without sin. Sin is a moral, spiritual term for an action or thought; it is not a physical debt nor is it physically imputed. Adam did not physically die the day that he ate the forbidden fruit, but he did die spiritually that very day. Finally, how can anyone believe that Jesus’ extreme anguish of soul was due to His concern about His approaching death when He also knew that just three days later He would be alive again? No, there was some terrible, spiritual suffering beginning here about which we can only speculate.

     Jesus came to make reconciliation for iniquity (Dan 9:24), which required that God laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa 53:6). He bore our sins in His own body (1Pet 2:24). The Greek word there is soma, not sarx (flesh). He suffered and died as a sacrifice, taking the place that we should have suffered (Heb 9:28; Is 53:12). He is our sin-bearer. Forgiveness is never free, nor does it have an end. When a person forgives another a debt of money, he not only releases the debtor from the obligation to repay, he agrees daily to himself bear the cost.

39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

     This is a model prayer for every suffering Christian! Jesus fully submitted Himself to the will of God, even while asking that God would intervene and make things easier. This act of humbling Himself to do God’s will brought Him the greatest honor and glory (Php 2:8-9; Heb 5:7-9). So will it be for His followers.

     Let this cup pass from Me. This was the hour that the power of darkness seemingly possessed His soul (Luke 22:53). Jesus knew it was the will of the Father that He suffer and die to make atonement for the sins of the people (Is 53:10; Luke 9:22; John 12:27). But He naturally recoiled at the thought. His prayer shows just how difficult it was for Him to agree to perform that terrible task. It also shows His obedience and willingness to do all that was required for the plan of salvation to be completed. Finally, His prayer shows how deeply He cared for and loved us, how highly He valued a real relationship with Man, and how much He was willing to sacrifice for that to be accomplished.

     The cup is one of the emblems of Communion (Mat 26:27-28; Luke 22:20; 1Cor 10:16; 11:25). Jesus used the phrase, “drink of the cup” as a metaphor of enduring pain, suffering some bitter experience at the hand of God (Ps 75:8; Is 51:22; John 18:11; Rev 14:10; 16:19). In taking the cup at Communion, the Christian is identifying with Christ’s sufferings (Php 3:10) and signifying that he is willing to submit his will to do all that Christ asks (John 18:11). See note on Mat 26:26.

     Some theologians link the cup to God’s wrath and anger against sin. They think that Jesus suffered the wrath of God when He bore the sins of mankind in His own body (see Poole). While I do not profess to understand the full spiritual details of Jesus bearing man’s sins and so satisfying that debt, it is very difficult for me to believe that Jesus experienced God’s wrath. His absence, yes (Mat 27:46); but His fury against sin? That does not sound like the Just One. Jesus was not the sinner but the sin-bearer. See notes at Mat 18:35; 20:28.

40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

     Jesus had asked Peter, James and John to accompany Him alone to Gethsemane. There He shared with them that His soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even to the point of death. He asked them to pray with Him during this time of trial and distress. The disciples began well, but the hour was late and they were tired. Before an hour had passed, they were sound asleep.

     Watch and pray. Jesus uses this event to teach about overcoming temptation. Within every man, a great war is being waged between the things of the flesh and the things of the Spirit (Rom 8:5; Gal 5:17; Rom 7:23). As Paul said, the will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not (Rom 7:18). The answer and example that Jesus gives is: “Be vigilant and alert, and pray without fainting for strength.”

    Why did Jesus speak specifically to Peter? (Mark 14:37). Did Peter think these three failures to stay awake and pray with his Master was the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy that before the night was over he would deny Him three times?

     This reminder to Watch reminds us of Jesus’ triple call to Watch given during the Olivet Discourse (Mat 24:42-43; 25:13). Three times Jesus had to wake the disciples; they had fallen asleep! The end of the world will find many sleeping spiritually.

43 And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. 44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

     Three times Jesus knelt to pray, three times He tried to get His closest earthly friends to join Him. In Biblical numerology, three is the number of the Triune God. Jesus prayed the same words three times, which signifies that the Trinity was in harmony concerning the plan of salvation.

     The disciples fell asleep because, in spite of the extraordinary events of the last 24 hours, they did not discern that this hour would mark the end of their time with Jesus on the earth. So too will it be at the end of the world. Even Christians will be caught unawares, sleeping when they should have been praying (see the parable of the ten virgins). Alexander Bruce writes:

“The breakdown of the disciples at the final crisis was due in part also to the want of clear perceptions of truth. They did not understand the doctrine concerning Christ. They believed their Master to be the Christ, the Son of the living God; but their faith was twined around a false theory of Messiah’s mission and career. In that theory the cross had no place. So long as the cross was only spoken about, their theory remained firmly rooted in their minds, and the words of their Master were speedily forgotten. But when the cross at length actually came, when the things which Jesus had foretold began to be fulfilled, then their theory went down like a tree suddenly smitten by a whirlwind, carrying the woodbine plant of their faith along with it. From the moment that Jesus was apprehended, all that remained of faith in their minds was simply a regret that they had been mistaken: “We trusted that it had been He who should have redeemed Israel.” How could any one act heroically in such circumstances?”

45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.

     Many versions treat Jesus’ first words to His disciples as a question, and this does make better sense of the passage (the original Greek had no punctuation marks). Using the parallel passages (Mark 14:41; Luke 22:46), we can paraphrase: “Returning to His disciples Jesus said, ‘Again I find you sound asleep? Resting when you should be praying? But you have slept enough now; behold, the hour has come that the Son of man must be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us face the one who is to betray Me, for he is now here.'”

47 And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. 49 And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.

     What a strange choice for a sign! A kiss of friendship. We earlier speculated that perhaps Judas did not expect Jesus to be taken, for He had always easily escaped (see v25). That might explain the kiss, but Jesus quickly showed that He saw straight through Judas’ plans. Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? (Luke 22:48). The words of David come to mind: Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me (Ps 41:9). Joab’s treacherous act of murdering Amasa involved a kiss of friendship too (2Sam 20:8-10).

     The sight of Jesus’ own disciple betraying Him with a kiss is jarring, yet the similarity to common Christian hypocrisy is no less jolting. Many say, “Lord, Lord, we love You,” but their actions continue in direct opposition to their words of affection and praise. They come to church on Sunday, singing songs and giving earnest testimonies, but then go out into the world and betray Him with their deeds. Christ knew Judas thoroughly, and He knows each one of us just as thoroughly. It is madness and highest stupidity to think that our praise and adoration can cover up disobedience to His commandments. True love is more than words; it is demonstrated by actions. Like Joab murdering Amasa while kissing him is the person who professes to love Christ while disobeying Him. He is in fact, crucifying the son of God afresh according to Heb 6:4-6.

50 And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.

     This is the third time in recent chapters that Jesus has addressed a selfish person as, Friend (see Mat 20:13; Mat 22:12). Christ acted honorably and justly always, even speaking kindly to His tormentors (Luke 23:34). John adds that at His words, the rough crowd fell backwards to the ground (John 18:6).

51 And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear. 52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

     According to John 18:10, Peter was the one who wielded the sword and cut off the servant’s ear. The man’s name was Malchus. Jesus immediately touched and healed him (Luke 22:51). Did he later become a Christian? Jesus had told the Apostles just a few hours earlier that the time had come for them to buy swords (Luke 22:34-39), but when Peter used his sword, Christ reprimanded him. Reading that passage, it is clear that Jesus was not commanding the disciples to defend themselves, but was speaking prophetically. A great change was about to take place. The kingdom of Christ on earth would face persecution, affliction and death (see note Mat 10:34).

     Put up again thy sword into his place. Someone has famously said that when He disarmed Peter, Jesus disarmed all His followers from that moment forward. Non-retaliation is one of the great differences between the Old and New Covenants which Jesus taught from the beginning of His ministry. At the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus “upgraded the rules” regarding Kingdom-Christians and the sword (Mat 5:38-44). The early churches of Christ took note, sincerely following His teaching on violence, war and self-defense. For three centuries all Christianity followed the rule of non-resistance and refused to participate in violence and war. The change began with the Catholic apostasy upon the fusion of the Church with the Roman state in the time of the emperor Constantine. Since then, the churches of Christ were divided into two general groups, the Peace churches and the State churches. 

     Meekness, self-sacrifice and peace are characteristics that shape well the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is confusion and contradiction to see the Kingdom of Christ wielding the sword, whether directly or through political powers. From the Catholic church to the reformers like Luther, Zwingli and Calvin, the result has always been bitterness, chaos and an increase in sinful activity. The New Kingdom is not of this world, else Peter and the rest of her citizens would take up the sword (John 18:36; Rev 13:10).

     Commentators who do not confess the doctrine of non-resistance are forced into odd interpretations of this passage. In general, they see Jesus warning the individual to not use the sword in vengeance, but that violence in self-defense or in support of the secular arm is acceptable. How can that be so? Peter was clearly wielding the sword in self-defense.

53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

     The reason Christians should not defend themselves is because God has said He will take vengeance upon the wicked and defend the innocent. The word presently in the KJV means “at this very moment.” Jesus could have called for twelve legions of angels and the Father would have immediately sent them, but He had determined to drink the bitter cup to the end. He was not overpowered by Satan, but chose to lay down His power and life. Twelve is the number of the elect, the chosen of God.

     From the types and shadows of the Law to the revelations of the Prophets, the Old Testament foretells a Deliverer-Savior who would die for the people, a Messiah who must be cut off, but not for Himself (Dan 9:26), the very Son of God who would be despised and rejected of men…smitten of God…wounded for our transgressions…brought as a lamb to the slaughter…his soul an offering for sin (Is 53:1-12). See also Ps 22. Jesus opened these Scriptures to the Apostles (Luke 24:44-46) and the Holy Spirit continues to expound them in great measure.

55 In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. 56 But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.

     They did not, could not take Him in the temple during the daytime because He spoke with authority (John 7:32, 45-46), and the people admired Him greatly (Mark 11:18). His arrest must be done secretly and quickly, before His supporters could react. Unknowingly, the Pharisees were fulfilling the Scripture in carrying their Savior to death. Therefore did Jesus give Himself into their hands, and let them bind Him (John 18:12). The eleven disciples, completely forgetting their fervent promises of just a few hours earlier to follow Him to the death, forsook Him and fled. Some of them followed secretly to see what would happen, but not one was willing to go with Him to die.

     Yet, what mighty change the eleven would evidence after they saw Him alive from the dead! All of them would go forth in astonishing conviction and power, proclaiming the Gospel until their own lives were taken by other wicked men. Atheists and Bible critics have no answer to such proof of Jesus’ resurrection. Perhaps one maniac might die in proclaiming a lie, but eleven men who were so weak that all fled in fear? Impossible. These men were invigorated with a Power and a Message beyond natural sources and means. 

57 And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58 But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.

     Here the Gospel of John explains that the band of Jews took Jesus first to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas the high priest (John 18:13-14), who then sent him bound unto Caiaphas (John 18:24). Annas was evidently a very important person in Jewish politics and religion, having been the high priest himself earlier; Luke says both were high priests (Luke 3:2). John and Peter followed Jesus to see the end (Mat 26:58; Luke 22:54; John 18:15). Because John knew the high priest (John 18:15), he was able to enter the courtyard to watch and hear the proceedings. Peter had to wait outside until John spoke to the doorkeeper on his behalf (John 18:16).

59 Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; 60 But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, 61 And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.

     It seems that the Sanhedrin was used to producing false witnesses to sanction its pre-determined course of action (see also Stephen’s martyrdom in Act 6:11-13). They had forsaken the law of Justice for the ever-changing law of doing “what was good for the people,” even if that meant the innocent must occasionally die (John 18:14). And so this fraudulent council, having decided that Jesus was bad for the people, determined to have Him put to death.

     Oddly enough, this time the Sanhedrin had problems producing two false witnesses. According to the OT law, two or three witnesses of wicked deeds were required before any man could be condemned to death (Deut 17:6-7; 19:15). They needed a charge of blasphemy, for that was grounds for the death sentence (v65), but the witnesses began to disagree with each other and argue over His exact words (Mark 14:59). This was however, the best accusation they could muster.

     The Jews had asked Jesus several times to give them a sign proving that He was heaven-sent, but Jesus would not oblige them (Mat 12:38-40). The miracles of healing, prediction, raising the dead and controlling the weather were enough. If they wouldn’t believe those, neither would they believe a sign from heaven (Luke 16:31). On another occasion (John 2:18), He answered with a cryptic sign: Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19). The Jews took Him to be speaking of the literal temple in Jerusalem (John 20:20), but He was referring to His own body (John 2:21).

     The basis for the men’s charge of blasphemy is not easily seen, even in their misquotation of His statement that He could destroy and rebuild the temple in three days. Perhaps a Jew might take that as threatening language, but blasphemy against God?    

62 And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? 63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.

     Jesus did not answer because He was following God’s plan. He must die for the sins of the world. All through His ministry, Jesus was able to take the chief priests’ hard questions and two-edged tests and completely confound them. No doubt He could have utterly put them to silenced here again, but He answered them not a word. This was a different hour. This time He must give Himself into their hands to be killed. And so, Jesus held His peace, fulfilling the words of Isaiah the prophet concerning the Messiah: As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth (Is 53:7), and also David’s words in Ps 109:1-5.

     Throughout these mock trials, Jesus refrained from correcting His accusers’ misstatements. How difficult to hear someone misrepresent our words! Yet the worst trial was still to come. While He hung on the cross, this same statement was mockingly repeated to Him: Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross (Mat 27:39-40). How easily and quickly He could have proven their words wrong! But He bore the shame soundlessly (Heb 12:2). Even later before Pilate and Herod, Jesus spoke only a few sentences (Mat 27:11-14; Luke 23:9).

     I adjure thee by the living God. The Greek word, frequently found in the Septuagint, is often used to put a person under oath. “Swear to me by the living God that you are the Messiah, the son of God” (compare Gen 24:37; Mark 5:7). They asked this in order to charge Him with blasphemy (John 10:33). They had seen His miracles, heard His authoritative teaching, knew that He could forgive sins; do they really need to hear from His mouth that He is the Messiah? Only so they can kill Him by proclaiming Him guilty of blasphemy. That’s why, when He solemnly affirmed that yes, He is the Messiah, they went berserk. They hated Him, were determined to put Him to death. Wickedness and error hates goodness and truth!  

     The Christ. Which is to say in the Hebrew tongue, the Messiah. See the parallel accounts in Mark 14:61; Luke 22:70.

64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

     Thou hath said. See note Mat 26:25. The parallel accounts add some details, showing that Jesus knew that any answer He gave would make no difference. They had already determined to kill Him (Mark 14:61-64; Luke 22:67-71). Nevertheless, here Jesus confessed outright to being the Son of God and gave them a warning. One day they themselves would see Him sitting on the right hand of power and coming to judge the World. In one moment the tables will be turned; He will be the Judge and they must come before Him to be examined.

     This great confession of Jesus, that He was the Messiah, is highly steeped in messianic language from the Jewish Scriptures. The High Priest immediately understood them. For that, he promptly pronounced His confession to be blasphemous. See Ps 110:1; Dan 7:13.

     The Greek translation of hereafter is difficult. The NIV has “in the future.” Others render it, “from now on” or “henceforth.” The same Greek construction is found in Mat 23:39; 26:29; John 1:51; 13:19. Luke’s account also has hereafter, but not from the same Greek (Luke 22:69), and again some translations have, “from now on.” It is true that immediately after Jesus’ resurrection He ascended into heaven and took the throne of the Kingdom, but the Jewish leaders did not see Him sitting there until after they died. And while all will see His coming in the clouds of heaven, that will take place at the End, at the consummation of the earthly aspect of the Kingdom of Christ. Not many months later this same council would hear from Stephen a similar testimony (Acts 7:54-60).

65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. 66 What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.

     Jesus had said the same thing earlier (Mat 16:27; 24:30; 25:31), although without directly professing to be the Son of God. His works and doctrine made that profession and ably proved it to be true. See this illustrated in His confrontation with the Jews in John 10:36-38. Mark’s account gives the Sanhedrin more reason (if only slightly) to charge Him with blasphemy. His answer, I am (Mark 14:62), is God’s own name (Ex 3:14). See note for John 8:58.

     The Old Testament forbade the high priest to rend his clothes (Lev 21:10). The Scriptures do not give another instance of that happening. Kings and prophets would rend their clothes as a sign of deep grief, but never the high priest. It seems that the high priest was so incensed by Jesus’ declaration that one day He would come to judge them, that his anger and hatred boiled over and he lost control of himself.

     That the judge should become the accuser shows how far removed this court was from examining fairly the case before them. Yet a semblance of order surrounded the proceedings, for Lev 24:16 does call for the sentence of death upon any person who blasphemes God. This was the legal avenue whereby the court prosecuted Jesus’ crucifixion.

67 Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, 68 Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?

     They could not contain their hatred and jealousy, and although there was no place in justice for these atrocities, they began to abuse Him, spitting in His face, hitting Him with their hands and mocking Him with vicious words (Job 16:9-10). These highly dignified doctors of the Law acted like a mob of hooligans. See it foretold in Isaiah 50:6; 53:3. Jesus did not return one word against their humiliating acts, so they became emboldened to mock Him even more. Blindfolding Him, they struck Him and demanded that He give the name of the aggressor (Mark 14:65; Luke 22:64).

69 Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. 70 But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. 71 And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. 72 And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. 73 And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. 74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. 75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

     By John’s gospel we learn that Peter and John had been able to enter the courtyard of the high priest, where they cautiously observed this shocking spectacle unfold (John 18:15-16; Luke 22:61). They were surely dismayed and stunned at the sudden turn of events. Just a few hours before, Jesus was invincible. What had happened? They did not understand.

     Many of Jesus’ disciples were from the region of Galilee, so when the people heard Peter speaking with a Galilean accent they began to suspect him of being a follower of Jesus who had infiltrated their company (Mark 14:70; Luke 22:59). And John 18:26 reveals that one of his accusers was a servant of the man whose ear Peter had just cut off in the garden of Gethsemane! Peter began to feel the heat of their suspicions. After the third person accused him of being a disciple of Jesus, he began to emphatically curse and swear that he did not even know the Man.

     Just as he finished saying the words, the rooster crowed. The sound penetrated Peter’s enflamed brain and he suddenly remembered his promise to Jesus to follow Him to the death, as well as Jesus reply, This night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice (Mat 26:34). Shaken to the core, Peter took a quick glance at the beaten form of his Master, and at that instant the Lord turned and looked upon Peter (Luke 22:61). What was in that look? Sadness? Condemnation? Forgiveness? Understanding? Whatever the case, Jesus and Peter communicated as much in their eyes as they could have with words. Immediately Peter was sorry, very sorry for his failure. He went out, and wept bitterly.

     Unlike Judas, Peter’s repentance extended to more than words. His boldness and commitment were renewed when Jesus rose from the grave. No Apostle more fervently preached Christ than Peter after the Holy Spirit entered his life. The special, personal talk Jesus had with Peter alone on the shores of lake Galilee a few weeks later (see John 21:15-19) forms a beautiful contrast to this moment in Caiaphas’ court.

     The gospel of Mark adds a small detail: This day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice (Mark 14:30). Then it records Peter’s first denial after the cock crew once (Mark 14:68), and again after his third denial (Mark 14:72). Peter himself is thought to be a primary source for Mark’s account.