INTRODUCTION

After the Olivet Discourse, Jesus “finished all these words” (26:1; cf. 7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 19:1).  His public ministry of teaching Israel is over.  Like Moses (Deuteronomy 32:45), nothing remains for Him but to die.

THE TEXT

“Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings,  that He said to His disciples, ‘You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.’ . . . ” (Matthew 26:1-16).

PASSOVER PLOT

“After two days,” the Passover begins (v. 2).  That is, on the “third day” Jesus the Passover Lamb will be slaughtered, just as He will be raised on the “third day.”  Herod (2:4) and the Pharisees (12:14) have plotted against Jesus before, but now the priests and elders of Israel conspire in earnest, gathering in the court of the High priest like the Gentiles who gather against the Lord’s anointed (Psalm 2; cf. Psalm 31:13 and many others).  Jesus’ assault on the temple has stung them, and they have to put Him down.  To avoid a riot, they decide not to seize Jesus during the feast (v. 5).  Jesus knows better, that He will be killed during the feast.

ANOINTED FOR BURIAL

During the last week of Jesus’ life, He has been traveling back and forth from Bethany to Jerusalem (21:17), and after He ends His discourse He and the disciples go back to the village to stay with Simon, identified as a leper (v. 6).  Apparently, he is a cleansed leper; it is unlikely that a leper would host a dinner party.  Healed or not, he is one of the marginal, “poor” Israelites with whom Jesus identifies.  At dinner, a woman anoints Jesus’ head with oil (v. 7), an extravagant act of devotion.  Jesus says it is for His burial (v. 12), but the anointing also identifies Jesus as King and Priest.  He goes to the grave not as a victim but as a triumphant conqueror, the Christ, the son of David.

THE POOR ALWAYS WITH YOU

When the disciples complain about the expense and suggest that the money used for the ointment should have been spent on the poor, Jesus defends the woman.  She has done a “good deed” (v. 10).  Jesus’ words sound cold, as if He is telling the poor to wait their turn while He bathes in luxury.  Of course, the church’s first love is Jesus, her Lord, but in the previous chapter, Jesus identified ministry to the poor and ministry to Him (25:31-46).  For Jesus, extravagant generosity to the poor and extravagant devotion to Him amount to the same thing.  The issue is one of timing: While Jesus is among the disciples, He is the “poor one,” who doesn’t even have a tomb of His own; once He is gone, the disciples will have ample opportunity to minister to the poor as a way of serving Jesus.

THIRTY PIECES

The woman spends a great deal of money to honor Jesus; Judas betrays Jesus for a pittance.  Thirty pieces are the price for a slave (cf. Exodus 21:23), but that is the “lordly price” prophesied for the Shepherd (Zechariah 11:12).  Once Judas’ appears, the priests and elders abandon their careful plans and carry out their plot during Passover.  The conspirators are not in charge: Their plots are comically overridden by the Lord’s own plans.