Matthew 26:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."

NIV: "As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."

NASB: You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.'

CSB: "You know that the Passover takes place after two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."

NLT: As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.'

KJV: Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.

NKJV: “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

Jesus has concluded His significant teaching to the disciples (Matthew 26:1). Following an extended time in the temple teaching about and confronting the Pharisees, Jesus took the disciples to the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24:3) and taught them directly about future events that would follow His death, resurrection, and return to heaven.

Now, though, Jesus returns His focus to the events of the week before Him. For the fourth and final time in Matthew, He tells His disciples directly that the Son of Man, meaning Himself, will be handed over to be crucified. He has been even more specific about what is to come in earlier statements (Matthew 16:21; 17:22–23; 20:17–19).

This is the first time, though, that Jesus connects His crucifixion directly to Passover. God commanded Israel to celebrate the Passover annually as a way of remembering how He saved them and brought them out of Egypt when they were slaves (Exodus 12). God's angel brought death to the houses of the Egyptians, but it passed over the houses of Israelites marked with the blood of a lamb.

The Passover celebration began each year with the killing of a lamb. This year during Passover, Jesus, the Lamb of God, will also be killed. Those covered by the blood of the Lamb will be saved from the wrath of God for human sin.

Jesus says Passover is coming after two days. Scholars debate the exact day of the week on which these events occurred, but the literal day of the week is not especially important for understanding what happens.

Matthew 26:1–5 shows that Jesus knows exactly what is going to happen to Him in the next few days. He tells the disciples He will be handed over for crucifixion at Passover. Meanwhile, the high priest, chief priests, and elders are plotting to arrest Jesus secretly and have Him killed. They decide to wait until after the Passover feast so as not to provoke the crowds to riot in defense of Jesus.

The Jewish religious leaders further their plots to arrest and kill Jesus, finding a willing traitor in Judas Iscariot. A woman anoints Christ with oil during a dinner at Bethany. Next, Jesus and the disciples hold the Passover meal in an upper room where Jesus predicts His arrests and introduces the sacrament of communion. Then Jesus prays in unimaginable agony in the garden of Gethsemane before being betrayed by Judas and captured. The disciples scatter. Before the high priest, Jesus explicitly claims to be divine. They convict Him of blasphemy and sentence Him to death. As this happens, Peter denies knowing Jesus and runs away in shame.

After a long series of teaching (Matthew 24—25), Matthew 26 begins with Jesus saying He will be delivered up for death. Christ is anointed at a dinner in Bethany and Judas agrees to turn Him over to the chief priests. Jesus holds a Passover meal with the disciples, predicts an act of treachery, and introduces the sacrament of communion. He tells the disciples they will run in fear and that Peter will deny Him, which happens just as prophesied. Christ prays in great sorrow in a garden and is then arrested and taken away and unfairly sentenced to death. After this, Jesus will be taken to the Roman governor, where Jewish leadership will press for Him to be executed as an insurgent.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.