Sunday Morning Service

Matthew 26:1-30 (Click title for audio access)

"Values: Ours And His!"  •  2.27.11  •  Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- Matthew's gospel has taken us along on an amazing journey which culminates in what we have before us now. His entire gospel has been leading us here to these momentous chapters.

- For the Christian, these are the chapters that make up their entire lives. What happens now ratifies everything that Matthew has been trying to prove!

- In essence, our Christianity would be empty and meaningless without the contents of these final chapters of Matthew.

- Today, I want us to consider one word that will help guide us through this first section of Matthew 26: Value.

Text

•  Matthew 26:1,2  :  "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.'"  : Jesus has just finished telling the disciples of His coming glory in the Olivet Discourse.

- Think about the shock of being brought back to their immediate present. "I will be King then, but I'll be crucified by the end of the week!"

- Jesus has told His disciples of His sufferings three times before this. He reveals now that it would occur this Passover day, just two days from this point.

- It's important here to understand that God is setting the table. He is saying when things will take place. It is going according to His plan.

- In Matthew 16:21 and Matthew 20:18, He tells them that the elders, the chief priests and scribes will be responsible for what is about to take place.

- He will be crucified on the Passover, a day inaugurated by the Lord thousands of years earlier, when He led the people of Israel out of captivity from Egypt.

- The people were to select a sacrificial lamb four days in advance without spot or blemish. It was to be slain for an entire family.

- It's blood would be spread out over their doors, on the top and sides. When the Angel of Death came, if He saw the blood, He would Passover the house.

- This whole historical episode was give as a picture of who Christ would be. He would fulfill the type and be the Lamb that was without spot or blemish, signifying both His sinless birth and life.

- Jesus would be chosen just like one of the lambs from flocks around Israel, though the men that chose his death would miss the significance.

- Jesus had been presented on Monday in His Triumphal entry and He will die exactly during the time when thousands of Passover lambs were slain on Friday, perfectly fulfilling the type.

•  Matthew 26:3-5  :  "Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. But they said, 'Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.'"  : Matthew gives us a view of what is happening in the meantime over in the palace of the High Priest.

- Caiaphas was the High Priest, by marriage into a family and by Roman appointment. A testament to his political prowess was his longevity, serving almost two decades.

- This group of people with him were likely the aristocratic party of the Sadducees.

- The number one item on their agenda was how they would kill Jesus. As a people, Israel did not have the ability to carry out capital punishment.

- Complicating the matter was the innocence of Jesus, therefore trickery was needed.

- The timing was also a factor. The city of Jerusalem swelled in size as the Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread brought in over 2 million people, many very enamored with Jesus.

- If Jesus was taken, there would be a riot, which could result in a violent Roman response.

- They wanted to do something quickly, but not that quickly. They thought they'd wait 8 days.

- The irony is that they are supposed to desire to cooperate with God in His program. By not wanting to cooperate in recognizing Jesus, they are in fact, cooperating with God's program!

- Here is all their religion in action: Let's find a way to kill Jesus! That's the spirit of religion right there: Let's get Jesus out of the way! He just complicates things!

- They had tried to trap Him in His words, and had been bested every time.

- They knew that they could not beat Him and they were not going to join Him, so the only thing left to do was to kill Him. They wanted badly to do it right then!

- To these Sadducees, Jesus was worthy of death.

•  Matthew 26:6,7  :  "And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table."  :  Bethany is a small village near the mount of olives, and was the home of Simon the leper.

- Matthew organizes his material according to topic, not chronology. This episode might have happened several days before but it will serve an important purpose.

- Jesus had healed this man Simon and now he had brought Jesus into His home, a fitting picture of what should happen.

- According to the other gospel accounts, Lazarus, and his sisters were there as well.

- While they were in the house, this unnamed woman interjected herself. The other gospels identify her as Mary. She came in with a purpose and a desire to give something special to the Lord.

- She brought an alabaster flask, meaning a carved piece of soft stone, imported from Egypt and artfully crafted, filled with a valuable oil.

- The word "costly" would better be translated "very precious," speaking of it's profound value. Most commentators tell us that It would have been the equivalent of one man's yearly wage.

- She came straight to Jesus, broke the seal of this and poured it on His head. In those days, visitors would be annointed with fragrant oil because of the dynamics of personal hygiene.

- She poured all of it out upon Jesus! Every drop was used for her Master. Without hesitation, she poured out this valuable oil upon Jesus.

- She came with the direct intention of taking that which was most valuable to her and pouring it out on Jesus. What is your response to this? What would your thoughts be at this moment?

•  Matthew 26:8,9  :  "But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, 'Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.'"  :  His disciples. The men closest to Him. The men who loved Him the most witnessed this and they were beyond themselves.

- "What a waste of money!" This woman's expression of worship unto the Lord, was seen as a waste by His disciples!

- Sometimes even the most spiritual men can find reasons to discount a believer's expression of love toward the Lord.

- In this case, they offered the thought that they could have used the sale of this oil to give to the poor, a noble gesture on the surface, to be sure.

- The Apostle John mentions that the person behind this line of thinking was Judas the treasurer, who was liberal when it came to helping Himself!

- Here, the disciples give an alternative to worship. There's no value in just pouring this out on Jesus. Let's pool our resource and give to those who have nothing!

•  Matthew 26:10-13  :  "But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, 'Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.'"  :  Jesus acknowledges that this woman had done a good work for Him. What had been done?

- She came intentionally. She offered what was most valuable to her freely. She did this in the view of His friends and disciples publically. She did this according to her faith. She did it for His burial.

- When the disciples worried themselves about the poor, still not understanding how imminent Christ's death was, this woman took advantage of the moment to show that she heard His Word.

- She had heard it, believed it and acted upon it!

- The poor, or any other social activity that worshippers want to embrace, will always be around. For all the programs and fund raising, povery on earth has not been erased.

- We must take advantage of the opportunity to bless people in front of us, but never as a substitute and never before the priority of the good work of worshipping Jesus.

- Whenever we see Mary, she is at the feet of Jesus and is commended by Jesus for it!

- There must be a priority in the heart of those who love Jesus to pour out their best upon Him.

- That is the message of priority that she teaches us today. To Mary, Jesus was worth it all!

•  Matthew 26:14-16  :  "Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, 'What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?' And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him."  :  One of the twelve. One of the chosen men. One of the guys who has been privy to the most amount of information.

- He has watched the Lord live and sleep. He has heard all of His teachings. He has seen all of His miracles and wonders. But now, Judas has seen enough.

- There are those who are willing to find some noble cause for Judas' betrayal. It really seems that his was simply a love of money. It's not crazy; Men have betrayed their Lord for less!

- When Judas saw that Jesus was willing to be party to a great amount of waste. The oil that would have brought Him a great amount of money, slipped through His fingers.

- Now, the reality is sinking in: Jesus is going to die and the opportunity to make money off of Him is going to die right along with Him. It's time to get out.

- This is where Judas found his final source of revenue. He went to the Lord's enemies to find out what they would give him for Jesus.

- What would they give Him? What did they value Jesus at? Thirty pieces of silver. This was the price of an animal and the price of a slave!

- It's worth noting the difference between the value that the worshipper placed on Christ, and the value that these supposed worshippers put upon Christ.

- From that point on, knowing the price that Jesus' betrayal would bring, Judas waited for the right opportunity. He would be the answer to the Caiaphas' problem.

- To Judas, Jesus was worth the price of a slave!

•  Matthew 26:17-19  :  "Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, 'Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?' And He said, 'Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, 'My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.' So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover."  : Jesus ate of the Passover on the same day, Thursday evening, but at an earlier hour before lambs were slain. This was a Galilean custom.

- Some will wonder about this being the first day of the Feast. "I thought that the Passover happened first?" In Christ's time, the Passover and Feast were often lumped into one.

- Because of the crowds, finding a place to celebrate this Passover would be difficult.

- God had worked in the heart of this anonymous man to let the Lord have His final Passover celebration with His disciples.

- Jesus is nebulous with His disciples, likely to throw Judas off of the scent.

- When the disciples came to this man, he was ready to receive the disciples, who promptly prepared the Passover meal.

•  Matthew 26:20-22  : "When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. Now as they were eating, He said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.' And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, 'Lord, is it I?'"  :  Here is the early part of the evening, the beginning of the Passover day in the Jewish mindset. It was here, at this table that the Lord reveals this sinister plot.

- You can almost see these men sitting there, in the middle of chewing, when Jesus drops the bomb on them. "Without a doubt, one of you will betray me."

- It's "see food" all over the table! These men are shocked and dismayed. Indeed, each man thinking about what that meant was literally, violently thrown into deep sorrow!

- It went from moments of laughter, to great grief in one statement! One of His own would betray Him. As a testament to their own failings, each man wondered aloud, "Is it me?"

- This testifies not only to their own awareness of weakness, but also to the fact that Judas did not necessarily stand out as the obvious choice! He played his part well, at least to the disciples.

- It's not like Peter stood up and said, "Oh, by one of you, you mean Judas! Yeah, we know!"

- None of the men immediately suspected that it would be him.

•  Matthew 26:23-25  :  "He answered and said, 'He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.' Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, 'Rabbi, is it I?' He said to him, 'You have said it.'" : The picture in our minds is a table that these 12 men sat on the floor around.

- There were common dishes around the table that one could dip their bread into.

- Each of them had likely dipped into the dish with Him. It seems that the point was that this man was close enough to share this meal with.

- Jesus tells them that this betrayal was prophecied before this was happening.

- Even here, Jesus still reaches out to Judas and warns him: Don't do it! There is no way to make such a thing worse.

- When it came time for Judas, who was already in the midst of betraying Jesus, to come to Him and ask, Jesus simply said, "You have said it!" Judas was found out.

•  Matthew 26:26-30  :  "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.' Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.' And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives."  :  This brings us to this amazing passage. Jesus took the bread and broke it.

- He did this in order to pass it out, not to signify being broken. The scripture is clear that not one bone of His body was broken.

- He passed it around to His disciples and said "Take, eat, this is my body." Some have taken this to mean that Jesus changed this bread into His body. This is called "transubstantiation."

- Others believe that the bread and wine come alongside the physical bread and wine, a doctrine called "consubstantiation." This bread simply represents His body, given for them.

- The substance however, should be our faith that recognizes this symbol correctly. This body was slain for our sin.

- Then He took the cup and identified it as symbolizing His blood. They were to drink from that cup together.

- No Jewish man would ever drink literal blood and Jesus identifies this in the next verse as the fruit of the vine. It symbolizes His blood that was shed for us.

- From the beginning of God's revelation, the standard for every sacrifice and covenant has been blood. This new agreement between God and man will be forged in the blood of Christ.

- Notice: It is shed for many for the remission of sins! In all the world, for all of time, only many have received this gift. It is freely available to all, but specifically able to remit the sins of believers!

- This covenant will last from this point on, until believers drink it again with Christ in His Kingdom, where we will drink to remember!

Conclusion

- The religious people thought that Jesus was worthy of death. Some only want their ceremony and self-imposed religion.

- Mary, the true worshipper showed that she believed that Jesus was worthy of all.

- Judas valued Christ as worthy what he could gain out of his relationship to Him. "What does Christianity offer me?"

- Men and women had given their assessment of Christ's value to them. Today, what is His value to you?

- Now, this matters little, as the real point is this: In the midst of these flawed human thoughts about Jesus, what really mattered was not how we valued Him, but how He valued us!

- Throughout this entire section, what we have seen is God's dogged determinism to face the cross and bring about the redemption of souls.

- He has left nothing to chance, citing the when, where and by what method, Jesus would surrender His perfect life for us. Every detail shows the careful concern God had in offering Christ.

- We might be tempted to glory in our choice of Him, but we might better give thanks for His choice of us!