Matthew 26-27

Notes for BSF

JUDAS BETRAYS JESUS (Matthew 26:47-56; John 18:1-11)

Peter reacted rashly
When the religious leaders came to arrest Jesus, Peter pulled out his sword and cut off one of the guard's ear. Although it was based on a tender and pure heart for Jesus that Peter took such an action to protect Jesus, this was not a well thought through plan. If Jesus had not intervened by stepping forward immediately and healing the guard's ear, Peter's action could very well have resulted in everyone getting arrested, or worse, killed. Further, it was a reaction out of hate, which is completely opposite of the two commandments emphasized by Jesus.

Jesus came to fulfill the law
Jesus knew the mission He had come to fulfill. Even His arrest, we should note, took place by His arrangement. Previous attempts to either arrest or kill Jesus always resulted in Jesus being able to successfully slip away -- because it simply wasn't time yet for His fulfillment of prophecies. When the time came, He prompted Judas' hand and forced His arrest to occur during feast celebrations (which under usual circumstance, the religious leaders would avoid this). He knew His time had come -- for He was the Passover Lamb -- and He thus allowed the soldiers to arrest Him. Even at His arrest, He had full control of the situation, fielding the guards for His disciples, protecting His disciples from the possible clash with the guards.

Matthew 26:53
Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?

Everything that took place that night was part of God's plan of redemption.

Matthew 26:56
All this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.


JESUS IS ILLEGALLY INTERROGATED BY THE SANHEDRIN (Matthew 26:57-68; 27:1-2; John 18:12-14, 19-24)

Before the night was over, Jesus were put through 6 trials, all of which were illegally conducted. First, Jesus was questioned by Annas, Caiaphas' father-in-law, before He was interrogated by Caiaphas himself.

During Caiaphas' examination of Jesus...

Phase I
The religious leaders paid people to be false witnesses against Jesus. These false witnesses were "bought" by the religious leaders.

Phase II
Caiaphas put Jesus on the trial, forcing Him to answer false accusations.

Phase III
Caiaphas condemned Jesus for blasphemy -- even though Jesus spoke nothing but the truth -- and the crowed beat Him for it.

Jesus publicly announced His Godship
When asked if he were the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus confirmed this as fact. For Jesus to make this claim, we can deduce a couple of possibilities:

1. If Jesus is NOT the Son of God yet claims He is, Jesus is either a liar or delusional -- even crazy.

2. If Jesus IS the Son of God, then He is telling the truth.

We could go for hours bringing up details after details why Jesus IS the Son of God. For starters, it is not everyday that nations become devoted followers of a lunatic. It is even rarer to have people readily die for a lunatic. During this illegal trial and subsequent trials, none of the "judges" could find any fault with Jesus -- Clearly, Jesus was no lunatic. Caiaphas falsely accused Jesus of blasphemy because despite all reasoning and evidence, he refused to accept the truth in order that he might continue to live and divulge in sin. Let us learn from his mistake. There is no escaping the truth -- It exists whether we want to believe it or not. We may be able to close our eyes for a while, but ultimately, all truths catch up with us.


PETER DENIES JESUS THREE TIMES (Matthew 26:69-27:10; Luke 22:59-62; John 18:12-27)

Peter denied knowing Jesus every time he was asked if he knew Jesus, just as Jesus had prophesied.

Peter and Judas both betrayed Jesus -- but one was repentant whereas the other was not
Judas regretted his betrayal, but he never repented -- He carried his guilt with him to his grave, but he never returned to God. Jesus gave Judas a chance to be truthful about the sin he was about to commit, and instead of repenting, Judas immediately ran to the religious leaders to arrest Jesus that night. God always gives us chances to make the right choice. And so, at the end of the day, we are always responsible for the sins that we each commit.

Peter also regretted his betrayal, but he repented. When Jesus was resurrected, Jesus gave Peter three opportunities to redeem his faith (for the 3 times that Peter denied Jesus) – and each time, Peter confirmed that he loved Jesus. Peter than went on to be the founding father of the Church!

Repent means to literally turn around. When we are repentant, we will stop doing what we’re doing and TURN AROUND so that we are no longer walking the same path – but a completely opposite path. 

Someone who is just sorry can surely feel regret. We can feel regret for a lot of reasons. We could feel sorry because we realize the choice we have made did not make us rich or made us lose something we really valued (like our jobs or our positions, etc.). Being sorry, without being repentant, means we continue to walk down the wrong path. We remain prideful in our previous decision and have no will to change. Judas died in this condition. I pray that none of us would repeat his path.


PILATE WANTED ONLY FAME FROM JESUS (Matthew 27:11-31; Luke 23:1-12)

When Jesus was born, Herod traveled all the way to Bethelhem because he knew the prophecy of Jesus’ birth was fulfilled and that the people called him as the king of the Jews. Herod came to seek the child not to offer his blessings but to murder Him -- because he didn't want to relinquish his position as Herod. Thirty some years later, Pilate was asking the same question. And on this day, Jesus confirmed it for Pilate.

Herod was not blind. He knew Jesus was the Messiah. Sadly, he had the knowledge, but he had no heart. 

It is not enough for us to just know who God is. We have to also willingly follow Him. We have to love Him with our heart. Knowing is not enough to solidify our relationship with God. We have to build it with trust and by walking with God.

Pilate found no fault in Jesus (cf. John 18:28-19:16)
Pilate realized that Jesus was speaking the truth and did not lie. Therefore, Jesus did not blaspheme, like what He had been wrongfully accused of.

John 18:37
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

The religious leaders wanted to persecute Christ by any means necessary
The religious leaders, however, were not interested in the truth. They just wanted to get rid of Jesus so that they could remain at the top of the food chain, so to speak. Before Jesus' arrival, the religious leaders had power over the people. They used religion as a tool for them to gain wealth and power. With His coming, Jesus changed all that. He rebuked the religious leaders for their wrong-doing, and most importantly, their sinful hearts. Instead of repenting, the religious leaders decided to kill Jesus instead, so that they could return to their sinful ways.

John 18:31-32 
The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,” that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.

The religious leaders, under Roman rule, could not execute anyone. In order to carry out the death sentence, they had to convince to Roman rulers the prisoner at hand deserves death. As we have seen, they were so desperate about getting rid of Christ, that they bribed people to be false witnesses against Jesus.

Pilate executed an innocent man in place of a guilty man
In not wanting to risk becoming an enemy of Caesar, Pilate, despite knowing the truth, released Barabbas in exchange for Jesus' life. That is, Pilate chose to please man than God.

John 19:12-13
From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.” When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is calledThe Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

Pilate, because of his eagerness to please man, lost his salvation. There is nothing worth enough in this world for us to trade our eternal salvation with. We really must learn from the mistakes of people like Pilate and make sure we never make the same mistake. Eternal life or temporary self-glory? Choose wisely!