Gospel of Matthew
Conspiracy, anointing and betrayal
Chapter 26: 1 to 16
The conspiracy of the leaders against the Messiah
It was the afternoon of Monday, two days before Passover celebration on Wednesday that week. The Lord Jesus, for the fourth and last time, foretold to His disciples that He would be betrayed to be crucified on the Passover (the previous times were in chapters 16:21, 17:23 and 20:18).
Soon after, the religious, judicial and civilian leaders (priests, Levites, elders) met to plan a way to arrest and kill Jesus Christ. It was easy to find Him openly, but they feared the crowds and concluded they would only do it after the feast, subtly, not to cause uproar among the people.
But the Lord had already determined that it would be at Passover as indeed it was, once again demonstrating His sovereignty over all.
The anointing of the Messiah
Matthew then turns to an episode that occurred four days earlier in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper (a leper could not live with healthy people, so either he was away and they were using his home or he had been cured). We have more details in the Gospel of John 12:2-8, where we learn that Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha who served at the table were also present.
John identifies the woman with the alabaster flask containing very costly fragrant oil as Mary. She broke it and poured the expensive perfume on the Lord's head as He reclined at the table, and also on His feet, which she wiped with her hair. It was an act of great devotion, showing the high regard she had for Him and preparing Him for the death that He would suffer.
But there was criticism of the disciples (coming from Judas Iscariot according to John, but others probably agreed), stating that it was a waste because the perfume could have been sold for much money to give to the poor (John notes that the motive of Judas was selfish: he was not thinking of the poor, but to fill his own pocket with the proceeds of the sale).
The Lord readily rebuked the disciples and defended the woman, saying that she had practiced a good deed to Him, and that the time had been well suited for this. He accepted the anointing as a preparation for His burial (the women who, days later, went to His grave on Sunday to anoint His body arrived too late - Mark 16:1-6).
From this we can learn that to glorify the Lord Jesus is more important than the practice of charity. Christians should abstain from contributing to anything that prevents them from exalting the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are numerous campaigns in the world for raising funds, supposedly to alleviate hunger and contribute to the welfare of the needy, and later we find they were pocketed by intermediaries and influential politicians, little or nothing being done for the benefit of those on behalf of whom the campaigns were made. But when assistance is made in the name of the Lord Jesus, by His people in all sincerity, He has declared that it is a good work. We will always have the poor with us to give us the opportunity to do this good work.
The Lord also made a remarkable prophecy: that the action of this woman would be remembered by the entire world where His gospel was announced. He knew beforehand that the good news of salvation by grace through faith in His name would be proclaimed throughout the world, and so He could add this prophecy concerning an action that, at the time, might seem of minor importance compared with the extraordinary events that would follow in the coming days. The narration of this event was made in three Gospels, and no one can read them without being aware of the fact. It is being remembered again right now…!
It seems that among all the disciples only Mary, the sister of Lazarus, heard, understood and believed in all that the Lord had spoken to the point of making Him this last tribute, costly for her, before His death. It was a scene of love and praise to the Lord Jesus that preceded and contrasted with the bitter days in Jerusalem where He confronted the leaders of the people, culminating with His betrayal by one of his disciples, His rejection by the highest authorities of His people, His unjust condemnation by the representative of the largest imperial power on earth, and His death as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), the very day of the Passover sacrifice.
The betrayal of Judas Iscariot
All twelve apostles had been handpicked by the Lord Jesus to witness and later give testimony about His ministry to Israel, His teachings and the signs that were given in abundance to prove that he was indeed the Son of the living God.
But, according to what John tells us in his Gospel (12:6), Judas "was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it." Evidently he had never been converted, and followed the others just to take financial advantage for himself. The question then arises: why did the Lord allow him to do that? Nothing could be hidden from Him, so He knew the heart and thoughts of Judas, and his dishonesty. He has not revealed to us the reason, but there we can see His longsuffering, teaching Judas like the others and giving him the opportunity to repent and submit to Christ as the others. However, he never got round to doing it and finally it became too late as we will see below.
The previous episode, in the house of Simon the leper, was possibly inserted between that of the conspiracy of leaders of the Jews and that of the departure of Judas to them because that was what finally made Judas decide to betray his Master. Having expressed "pious" indignation at the act of Mary, Judas and the other disciples with him had been openly rebuked by the Lord. Judas, with a guilty conscience, knowing he had been caught in his hypocrisy, was filled with hatred and with that Satan entered into him (Luke 22: 3) and urged him on this opportunity to go and speak to the chief priests and captains of temple to negotiate the surrender of Jesus Christ to them. It is a warning to those who, assembling with brethren in the church yet reluctant to convert, may one day be taken by the enemy of our souls and lose forever the opportunity they had to save themselves.
There is another suggestion in vogue these days: perhaps Judas did not think that the Lord Jesus would die, but that, when arrested, He would exert His divine power to overcome His enemies and finally establish His kingdom. When this did not happen, he killed himself. But this suggestion omits that it was Satan who had impelled him to betray the Lord. God had already known beforehand what Judas would do, so that we find prophecies of this in Psalm 41:9, Zechariah 11:13. The Lord Jesus knew everything, which He showed later (verses 25,26).
Judas therefore went over to the chief priests and asked "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?", and accepted their offer of thirty pieces of silver, which they counted out to him. It was a mediocre sum, ten times less than the value at which he had rated the oil that Mary had used to anoint the Lord. The priests were glad because he had solved their problem, and they delayed the capture for after the feast. But Judas sought opportunity to betray Him from that time.
R David Jones
1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples,
2 "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."
3 Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,
4 and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.
5 But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."
6 And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,
7 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.
8 But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste?
9 For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor."
10 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.
11 For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.
12 For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.
13 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."
14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
15 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.
16 So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.
Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26, verseds 1 to 15